Teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying

Background. Comparison of teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying is important for considering the implications for reports of its incidence in schools, for the study of developmental trends in children's and adolescents' perceptions of the phenomenon and for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions designed to combat bullying. Aims. To investigate the effects of gender, teacher/pupil status and, for pupils, bullied/non‐bullied (target/non‐target) status and age on the definition of bullying. Samples. Teachers (N = 225: 158 women, 67 men) and pupils (N = 1,820: 466 boys, 460 girls were 11–12 years old, year 7, and 415 boys, 479 girls were 13–14 years, year 9) in 51 UK secondary schools participated in a questionnaire survey. A total of 557 of the pupils (117 girls and 117 boys aged 11–12 years, and 197 girls and 126 boys aged 13–14 years) reported that they had been bullied at some time in their present school. Methods. Written questionnaire responses to the question, ‘Say what you think bullying is’ have been content analysed to derive two sets of categories, one of bullying behaviour and the other of effects of bullying on the target. Results. Regarding both bullying behaviour and the effects of bullying on the target, teachers – by comparison with pupils – have been found to express more comprehensive ideas in their definitions. Specifically, pupils compared with teachers are more likely to restrict their definitions to direct bullying (verbal and/or physical abuse) and are less likely to refer to social exclusion, a power imbalance in the bully's favour and the bully's intention to cause the target hurt or harm and to feel threatened. Analysis of definitions on the bases of sex, pupil age and target/non‐target status show that: targets are more likely than non‐targets are to refer to the bully's physically and verbally abusive behaviour, and for Year 7 compared with Year 9 pupils, to suggest that bullies socially exclude targets; girls are more likely than boys are to mention verbal abuse and the effects on the target of ‘Feels hurt/harm’, but boys are more likely than girls are to construe bullying as involving repetition; older pupils are more likely than younger ones are to refer to a power imbalance in the bully's favour but, for bully targets, younger ones compared with older ones are more likely to invoke the idea of social exclusion in their definitions. Conclusions. The most important implication of the findings of this study that there are important differences between teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying is that teachers need to listen carefully to what pupils have to say about bullying and work with and help them to develop their conceptions of the phenomenon. Some teachers, too, need to develop their conceptions of bullying.     

广西中小学儿童受欺负现象调查研究

运用自编问卷在广西5所中小学选取792名中小学儿童进行调查,考察中小学儿童在学校和家庭中受同学、老师和家长欺负的比率及受欺负方式的特点。结果发现:1、中小学中存在普遍的受欺负现象,随着年龄的增长,儿童受欺负的比率呈下降趋势;但受教师和家长欺负到初中后反而呈上升趋势。2、儿童易受同伴的直接言语欺负;男生比女生易受同学直接身体欺负。3、儿童易受家长的直接言语欺负;小学阶段男生比女生易受家长的间接欺负;初中阶段女生比男生易受家长的直接身体欺负。4、教师对儿童较多使用间接欺负和直接身体欺负。小学阶段男生比女生易受教师的直接言语欺负;初中阶段男生比女生易受教师的直接身体欺负。     

Cyber Bullying Among Teenagers in Israel: An Examination of Cyber Bullying,Traditional Bullying,and Socioemotional Functioning

In this study, the relationships between cyber bullying and involvement in traditional bullying, with reference to social support and gender differences, was examined. Social support plays an important role in empowering victims of cyber bullying and has a significant influence on children and teenagers’ well-being. A sample made up of 458 Israeli junior high students (242 female, 216 male) in the age range of 11 to 13 completed 4 questionnaires. Results indicated that there is an overlap between involvement in cyber bullying and involvement in traditional bullying. The findings indicate that girls were more likely to be cyber victims than boys and that boys were more likely to be cyber bullies than girls. Examination of the relationships between gender and social support variables such as friends, family, and others, shows that girls who were cyber victims reported having more support in all 3 types than cyber bullied boys. These findings can serve as a basis for prevention and intervention programs to cope with cyber bullying.     

Gender differences in the relationships between bullying at school and unhealthy eating and shape‐related attitudes and behaviours

Background. Previous research has found links between being a victim of bullying and reporting more unhealthy eating behaviours and cognitions, particularly in girls. However, little is known about the factors that might mediate these relationships. Aim. The present study compared the relationships between bullying, emotional adjustment, restrained eating, and body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls. Sample/method. Self‐report data were collected from a sample of 11‐ to 14‐year‐olds (N= 376) on experiences of bullying, emotional symptoms, and unhealthy eating and shape‐related attitudes and behaviours. Results. Bullying, emotional symptoms, restrained eating, and body dissatisfaction were all correlated. Emotional symptoms were found to significantly mediate the relationships between verbal bullying with body dissatisfaction in girls but not in boys. Conclusions. Findings suggest that the experience of being verbally bullied places adolescent girls at risk of developing emotional problems which can then lead to body dissatisfaction. Longitudinal research is necessary to disentangle these pathways in more detail to facilitate the development of informed interventions to support children who are being bullied.     

Middle school victims of bullying: Who reports being bullied?

This study examined factors that influence a student's decision to report being bullied at school. An anonymous survey of 2,437 students in six middle schools identified 898 students who had been bullied, including 25% who had not told anyone that they were bullied and 40% who had not told an adult about their victimization. We investigated chronicity and type of bullying, school climate, familial, demographic, and attitudinal factors that influenced victim reporting to anyone versus no one, to adults versus no one, and to adults versus peers. Logistic regression analyses indicated that reporting increased with the chronicity of victimization. Reporting was generally more frequent among girls than boys, and among lower grade levels. Students who perceived the school climate to be tolerant of bullying, and students who described their parents as using coercive discipline were less likely to report being bullied. Implications for improving victim reporting of bullying are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 30:373–388, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Teachers' views and beliefs about bullying: Influences on classroom management strategies and students' coping with peer victimization

A multilevel design was used to test a model in which teachers' attitudes (beliefs) about bullying (e.g., it is normative; assertive children do not get bullied; children wouldn't be bullied if they avoided mean kids) were hypothesized to influence if and how they intervene in bullying interactions. In turn, it was hypothesized that teachers' strategies would influence how their students cope with victimization and the frequency of victimization reported by their students. Data were gathered on 34 2nd and 4th grade teachers and 363 ethnically-diverse students (188 boys; 175 girls; M age = 9 years 2 months). Results indicated that teachers were not likely to intervene if they viewed bullying as normative behavior, but were more likely to intervene if they held either assertion or avoidant beliefs. Moreover, avoidant beliefs were predictive of separating students which was then associated both directly and indirectly (via reduced revenge seeking) with lower levels of peer victimization. No grade differences emerged for teachers' views or management strategies; however, minor sex differences were detected which will be discussed.     

Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group

Bullying was investigated as a group process, a social phenomenon taking place in a school setting among 573 Finnish sixth-grade children (286 girls, 287 boys) aged 12–13 years. Different Participant Roles taken by individual children in the bullying process were examined and related to a) self-estimated behavior in bullying situations, b) social acceptance and social rejection, and c) belongingness to one of the five sociometric status groups (popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average). The Participant Roles assigned to the subject were Victim, Bully, Reinforcer of the bully, Assistant of the bully, Defender of the victim, and Outsider. There were significant sex differences in the distribution of Participant Roles. Boys were more frequently in the roles of Bully, Reinforcer and Assistant, while the most frequent roles of the girls were those of Defender and Outsider. The subjects were moderately well aware of their Participant Roles, although they underestimated their participation in active bullying behavior and emphasized that they acted as Defenders and Outsiders. The sociometric status of the children was found to be connected to their Participant Roles. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Comparing the Impact of Bullying and Sexual Harassment Victimization on the Mental and Physical Health of Adolescents

A sample of 522 middle and high school students from a school district in a northeastern state in the U.S. was used to address two questions about bullying and sexual harassment: Is one more frequent than the other, and are there gender or sexual orientation differences in this regard? And, does one have greater adverse health effects than the other, and, if so, for whom? Bullying occurred more frequently than sexual harassment for both girls and boys but not among sexual minorities. Girls were bullied or harassed as frequently as boys, but sexual minorities experienced higher levels of both. Compared to bullying, sexual harassment had adverse effects on more health outcomes. These adverse effects were especially notable among girls and sexual minorities.     

中小学生欺负问题中的性别差异的研究

本研究运用修订的Olweus欺负/受欺负问卷对我国城乡4726名中小学生进行调查,考察了欺负与受欺负的性别差异问题,结果表明1.小学生和初中生受欺负的发生率不存在显著的性别差异,而男孩中欺负他人的比率却极显著地高于女孩;2.中小学生对欺负问题的态度存在显著的性别差异,初中生对欺负的态度受性别和年级的交互作用的影响;3.中小学生不同欺负方式的发生率存在显著的性别差异,男生直接的身体欺负和间接欺负显著地高于女生,而言语欺负的性别差异并不显著.     

Students with Exceptionalities and the Peer Group Context of Bullying and Victimization in Late Elementary School

We examined bullying and victimization in 5th grade classrooms in relation to students’ education status and peer group membership. The sample consisted of 484 participants (258 girls, 226 boys), including 369 general education students, 74 academically gifted students, and 41 students with mild disabilities. Students with mild disabilities were more likely to be perceived as being bullies by both teachers and peers. Teachers also rated students with mild disabilities significantly higher for being bullied by peers. Academically gifted students were rated by teachers as the lowest for both bullying and being bullied. Associating with aggressive or perceived-popular peers increased the likelihood of being perceived as a bully. Social isolates were more likely to be bullied than students who did not associate with perceived-popular peers who, in turn, were more likely to be bullied than students who associated with perceived-popular peers. Students with mild disabilities who had aggressive and perceived-popular associates had more peer nominations for bullying than all others. In contrast, students in general education with neither aggressive nor perceived-popular associates had the fewest peer nominations for bullying. We discuss implications for research and intervention.     

Physical,verbal, and relational forms of bullying among German students: age trends,gender differences,and correlates

A revised version of the Bully/Victim Questionnaire [Olweus, 1991] was given to 2,086 fifth–tenth grader students from schools in two German federal states. The results were analysed in terms of frequencies of self‐reports of different forms of bullying (physical, verbal, relational/indirect; for bullies and for victims), gender and grade differences. Overall, 12.1% of the students reported bullying others and 11.1% reported being bullied (victimisation). We classified 2.3% of the students as bully/victims due to their self‐report. Significantly more boys reported bullying others, regardless of bullying form, and significantly more boys than girls were classified as bully/victims. Although there was no gender difference for victimisation at all, boys reported significantly more often than girls being bullied physically. Besides, self‐reports of pure and overlapping forms of bullying behaviour (relational, verbal, physical) were analysed. With regard to age trends, students from middle grades reported the highest rates of bullying. Self‐reported rates of victimisation were higher for younger students, regardless of form of victimisation. Furthermore, class size was not linked to reports of bullying and victimisation. Results from logistic regression analyses emphasised that the variables “gender” and “grade” add significantly to the prediction of self‐reported bullying; “grade” and variables measuring impaired psychosocial “well‐being” of students at school (e.g., feeling of not being popular, negative attitude towards breaks) add significantly to the prediction of self‐reported victimisation. The results are discussed against the background of other study findings, accentuating the significance of gender‐ and age‐specific forms of bullying/victimisation. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–15, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The social and emotional skills of bullies,victims, and bully–victims of Egyptian primary school children

This study examined whether bullies, victims, bully–victims (who are both bullies and victims), and students who reported no or low levels of bullying and victimization differed in their levels of social and emotional skills. Data were collected from 623 children in fifth and sixth grades from four Egyptian elementary schools; their ages ranged from 10 to 12 years. K‐means cluster analysis revealed four groups: bullies (n = 138), victims (n = 178), bully–victims (n = 59), and children who were not involved in bullying behaviour (n = 248). Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. The findings indicated that boys were more involved in bullying behaviour than girls, and both bullies and bully–victims were less likely to adhere to social rules and politeness than children who were not involved in bullying. Both bullies and victims were less aware of the physiological reactions of their emotions than uninvolved children, and were less able to apply social rules in social interaction. Both victims and bully–victims reported less likeability than children not involved in bullying. Verbal sharing, attending to others’ emotions, and analysis of emotions did not have a statistically significant relationship with the probabilities of classifying children to any bullying group versus children not involved in bullying. Social skills were more important than emotional awareness in predicting the likelihood of classifying children in one of the three bullying groups versus children who not involved in bullying. The main conclusion is that social and emotional skills together may provide an effective means of intervention for bullying problems.     

Is peer victimization related to body esteem in 10-year-old girls and boys?

Several studies show that a history of exposure to appearance-related teasing is linked to body dissatisfaction. This study extends those findings by examining the impact of bullying, and other forms of peer victimization, on different aspects of 10-year-old girls’ and boys’ body esteem. Participants were 960 Swedish 10-year-olds, 515 girls and 445 boys. Principal results show that social exclusion is related to 10-year-olds’ evaluations of their general appearance, to evaluations of their weight, and to beliefs about how others perceive their appearance. Furthermore, bullied girls have poorer body esteem in terms of beliefs of how others perceive their appearance than do bullied boys. Appearance teasing was associated with girls’ poorer body esteem in terms of general appearance and beliefs of others views of their appearance. For boys, teasing was associated with poorer body esteem on all dimensions. Thus, this study implies that a wider range of peer victimization relates to children's negative self-perceptions than was former known.     

Bullying and PTSD Symptoms

PTSD symptoms related to school bullying have rarely been investigated, and never in national samples. We used data from a national survey to investigate this among students from grades 8 and 9 (n?=?963). The prevalence estimates of exposure to bullying were within the range of earlier research findings. Multinomial logistic regression showed that boys were 2.27 times more likely to be exposed to frequent bullying than girls. A latent variable second-order model demonstrated an association between frequency of bullying exposure and PTSD symptoms (beta?=?0.49). This relationship was not moderated by gender. However, the average levels of PTSD symptoms as well as clinical range symptoms were higher for girls. For all bullied students, 27.6% of the boys and 40.5% of the girls had scores within the clinical range. A mimic model showed that youth who identify as being both a bully and a victim of bullying were more troubled than those who were victims only. Our findings support the idea that exposure to bullying is a potential risk factor for PTSD symptoms among students. Future research could investigate whether the same holds for PTSD through diagnostic procedures, but this will depend on whether or not bullying is decided to comply with the DSM-IV classification of trauma required for diagnosis. Results are discussed with regard to their implications for school interventions.     

The Perceived Roles of Bullying in Small-Town Midwestern Schools

Middle and high school students (N=207) in small-town midwestern schools were surveyed regarding factors that motivate and sustain bullying. Students failed to endorse statements that bullying teaches about behavior unacceptable to the group and that making friends with a bullied person would result in lowering one's social status. Students agreed that victims brought it on themselves, teasing was mostly done in fun, and that bullying helps people by making them tougher. Girls, but not boys, tended to agree that bullies held higher social status than did victims.     

Expecting the best: The relation between peer optimism and social competence

The present research evaluated the construct of optimism and its relation to children's social competence. An optimism questionnaire was developed that specifically assessed children's expectations with regard to their peer interactions and peer relationships. This measure demonstrated acceptable levels of internal and test–retest reliability and was consistent with a three-factor hierarchical factor structure. After removing effects attributable to grade and perceived self-competence, girls’ peer optimism was specifically and negatively associated with feelings of isolation and boys’ peer optimism was associated with a much broader range of social outcomes including higher sociometric status, more friendships, and lower levels of rejection, victimization, and loneliness. These findings highlight the importance of peer optimism for understanding children's peer relations.     

Excluded by Laughter: Laughing Until it Hurts Someone Else

Can laughter cause social pain? Given the host of ways exclusion is communicated, we examined if exclusive laughter could produce the aversive consequences accordant with social exclusion. Using a validated recall paradigm, participants recounted a time of exclusive or inclusive laughter or a typical Wednesday (control condition). Participants recalling exclusive laughter felt more ostracized, increased social pain, thwarted basic needs, worsened mood, reduced relational evaluation, and increased temptations to aggress compared to inclusive laughter or a typical Wednesday; there were generally no significant differences between the inclusive laughter and a typical Wednesday. Participants recalling exclusive laughter also felt more verbally and emotionally bullied, demonstrating empirically, for one of the first times, a link between social exclusion and bullying.     

Do extraversion and neuroticism moderate the association between bullying victimization and internalizing symptoms? A three-wave longitudinal study

The current study examined the moderating roles of neuroticism and extraversion in victims of bullying. According to a stress-diathesis model, we hypothesized that adolescents with high levels of neuroticism and low levels of extraversion would react to victimization with increased symptoms of depression and social anxiety. A sample of 1440 adolescents (648 girls and 792 boys; ages between 13- and 17-years-old) completed measures of extraversion and neuroticism at time 1, as well as measures of bullying victimization, depressive symptoms and social anxiety symptoms at time 1, time 2, and time 3 (in intervals of six months). The results of multilevel analyses for longitudinal data indicated that there was a weak association between bullying victimization and social anxiety symptoms for the adolescents who scored high on extraversion. In addition, the adolescents with high levels of extraversion presented a greater reduction in depressive symptoms over time than adolescents with low levels. Although neuroticism predicted both depression and social anxiety, no significant interactions were evident between neuroticism and bullying victimization. Regarding gender differences, the association between bullying victimization and social anxiety was stronger for boys than for girls, whereas the association between neuroticism and depression was stronger for girls.     

Aggression and bullying

Models are presented describing how bullying others and being bullied are related to proactive and reactive aggressiveness. This was investigated among 1801 pupils in Norwegian schools at the end of grade five and among 2083 pupils at the end of grade eight. Pupils in the two samples were approximately 11 and 14 years old, respectively. The procedure of structural equation modeling with latent variables was followed using LISREL 8.30 to estimate the parameters. Analyses were conducted for boys and girls separately at fifth and eighth grades. Support for the assumptions of factor solution and factorial invariance of the concepts across gender and age was obtained independently from estimating structural parameters. Both proactive and reactive aggressiveness were related to bullying others and to being bullied at Level 5. Among the older pupils, there was a strong relationship between proactive aggressiveness and bullying others, while reactive aggressiveness was much more weakly related to bullying others. Being bullied, on the other hand, was only weakly related to proactive and reactive aggressiveness among the older pupils. Age was therefore an important factor in determining how proactive and reactive aggressiveness were related to bullying. When pupil gender is concerned, power‐related proactive aggressiveness in predicting bullying was a more important factor for boys, while affiliation‐related proactive aggressiveness was a more powerful factor for girls. Aggr. Behav. 27:446–462, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Same-gender and cross-gender peer acceptance and peer rejection and their relation to bullying and helping among preadolescents: comparing predictions from gender-homophily and goal-framing approaches

The relation between bullying and helping and same-gender and cross-gender peer acceptance and peer rejection was examined in a sample of preadolescents aged 11 and 12 years (N=1,065). The authors tested predictions from a gender-homophily approach vs. predictions from a goal-framing approach in which acceptance and rejection are seen as being generated by approach and avoidance goals, respectively. For preadolescents, both approaches predicted a central role for gender, but the gender-homophily approach predicted symmetrical effects for acceptance and rejection, whereas the goal-framing approach predicted strong asymmetries. The data supported the goal-framing approach. The most important findings were that for preadolescents, acceptance is much more frequent and much more gendered than rejection; the absolute impact of helping on acceptance is much larger than that of bullying (and vice versa for rejection); for acceptance, there is a prototypicality effect (i.e., boys accept bullying girls better than nonbullying girls, and girls accept helping boys better than nonhelping boys); and for acceptance, there is a cross-gender ignorance effect (i.e., boys ignore helping in girls, and girls ignore bullying in boys).