W8 L2: Bullying I

bullying

  • strategic aggressive behaviour that the perpetrator repeatedly inflicts on a victim with the intention to cause harm, and occurring within a relationship in which there is an imbalance of power

  • bullying is not the same as conflict

  • different types:

  1. social/ relational/ covert - lying and spreading rumors, nasty jokes, encouraging others to socially exclude, damaging reputation

  2. cyber bullying

  3. verbal

  4. physical

definition

  • children normally define it as being physical

  • important to have a general definition/ be aware of thr different types of bullying so that it can be spotted and stopped

measurement of bullying bhv

  • self report - have you been a victim or done bullying

  • peer report - normally underreported - classmates typically have access to information that is hidden from adults

  • parent/teacher report - not always observed by adults - info about the whole class, useful when children are young (sometimes unaware)

how do we measure bullying bhv

  • different informants

  • songle item questions

  • bhv-based scale w/ multiple items

  • specific bullying bhv - verbal, physical, social, cyber

  • different frequency - scale and cut-off threshold

prevalence of bullying - study

  • design = cross-sectional across 25 countries in 11- to

16-year-olds

  • Measured bully, victim (and bully-victim status)

  • N = 113,200

- Standard definition of bullying presented

- Single item for bully and victimisation

- Cut off = 2 times or more per current academic term

findings

  • 11% of children were victims of bullying

  • 10% of children admitted bullying others in the current school term

  • 6% report being both bullies and victims

  • bullies tend to be less affeted by the bullying 

  • unless alcohol is in use

why do children engage in bullying bhv?

  • cognitive origins

- social information processing biases

- theory of mind

- moral engagement

  1. social information

  • measured using ambiguous and non-ambiguous vignettes

  • links between social adjustment and social info processing

  • aggressive children show distinctt pattern of biases in their social info processing

- attend to fewer social cues

- more inclined to attribute hostile intentions to others

- goals of social dominance

- choose an agressive solutions to social problem 

theory of mind

  • the capacity to attribute mental states - desire, beliefs, knowledge - to others to predict or explain bhv

  • bullying may be best achieved when the perpetrator has a strong grasp of the internalmental states of victims?

  • N = 193 7 – 10 year olds

    • Bully: active, initiative taking, leader-like behaviour

    • Assistant: active, but more of a follow than a leader

moral understanding and engagement

  • Moral sensitivity: understanding right and wrong and the emotional repercussions of

    moral transgressions

    o Gasser & Keller, 2009 compared moral sensitivity in 7- to 8-year-olds and

    found bullies both showed lowest moral sensitivity

    ✓ Moral disengagement = tendency to use cognitive mechanisms that can disengage

    self-sanctions and justify the use of violent and aggressive behaviours (e.g., kids can’t

    be blamed for misbehaving if their friends pressured them into it).

    o Gini (2006) looked at the association between moral disengagement and

    bullying à bullies engaged in significantly more moral disengagement

    compared to non-bullies.

why do children engage in bullying bhv?

social origins

  • diverse bullying roles

bully

victim

bully assistant 20-29%

reinforcer 20-29%

defender 17-20%

bystander

only 10% had no role

  • social goals

agentic: striving for dominance and leadership (bullies)

communal: striving for positive relationships with others (defenders)

submissive goals: keeping a low social profile (victims)

  • popularity

bullying linked to peer rejection

some bullies have a high social standing in peer group

perceived popularity - bullies often nominated the popular kids in class

  • school climate

poor school climate → greater bullying and victimisation

  • social inequality

bullying wasn’t associated with economic level of the country

it was associated with country-level income inequality

bullying interventions

  • parent involvement

  • playground supervision

  • teacher training

  • disciplinary methods

  • policies

  • classroom rules

  • poster campaigns

  • peer monitoring

  • curriculum and classroom learning