Educational Psychology: Bullying in Schools

Repeated, aggressive behavior intended to harm or intimidate another person.

Bullying can include verbal abuse, physical violence, social exclusion, and cyberbullying. It can happen anywhere, including schools, workplaces, and online.

The negative effects of bullying can last long after the bullying has stopped.

Bullying can have a significant impact on mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts.

Students who are persistently bullied are more likely to drop out of school.

Individuals who were bullies in school are more likely to experience substance abuse, poor psychological health, and struggle in their careers later in life.

The impact of bullying can extend beyond the individual, affecting families and communities.

Research suggests that bullying can have a strong influence on future generations, with bullies' children more likely to display aggressive behaviors.

A type of aggressive behavior where the perpetrator exerts power over a weaker victim, often using intimidation, threats, and manipulation.

The imbalance of power between the bully and the victim is a key element. The victim is unable to defend themselves.

Bullying behavior is intentional and deliberate. The bully chooses to harm the victim.

Bullying behavior is repeated over time, creating a pattern of harassment and intimidation.

Verbal bullying includes name-calling, taunting, mocking, and making threats.

Indirect relational bullying involves excluding someone from a group, ignoring them, spreading rumors, or gossiping.

Cyberbullying is a recent type of bullying that uses electronic communication, such as text messages, emails, or social media.

Cyberbullying poses unique challenges because it's accessible 24/7, faceless, and permanent.

Traditional bullying involves direct physical or verbal harassment, such as hitting, kicking, shoving, name-calling, or threats.

The overlap between traditional bullying and cyberbullying, where victims experience both forms of harassment.

A system of interconnected elements, such as family, school, and community, that influence individual behavior and development.

A theoretical framework that suggests bullying is rooted in individual personality traits, such as cognitive deficits or lack of empathy.

A type of aggression that uses social manipulation and reputational damage to harm others, often seen in girls.

The tendency for females to experience higher rates of bullying, especially in relational aggression, while males tend to experience higher rates of threats of violence.

Cognitive deficits and a lack of empathy are two personality factors associated with bullying behaviors.

People prone to bullying struggle to understand and predict the mental states of others, affecting their interactions.

Victims of bullying develop a defensive response, interpreting neutral situations as hostile, leading to further conflict.

The idea that social information processing deficits, like interpreting social cues, lead to aggression.

The tendency to attribute negative intent to others' actions, even when the situation is ambiguous.

A social skills model explaining aggression and bullying through faulty encoding and interpretation of social cues.

When a group of peers encourages and supports bullying behavior, making it a social norm. They may laugh at the bully's actions or ignore the victim's suffering.

A type of bullying that involves spreading rumors, excluding someone from a group, or intentionally ignoring them to hurt their social standing.

The role of a bystander who supports the bully by praising their actions or laughing along, even though they don't personally participate in the bullying.

A bystander who takes action to stop bullying by comforting the victim, intervening on their behalf, or challenging the bully's behavior.

A response to bullying that involves calmly refusing to comply with the bully's demands, not giving in to their intimidation, and not reinforcing their behavior.

The tendency for individuals to affiliate with others who share similar characteristics, like gender, looks, race, and behaviors.

The theory that suggests bullying is more likely to occur during the transition to secondary school, when students are seeking to establish dominance and re-negotiate their social hierarchies.

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) uses statistical methods to separate and analyze the influences of individual and group factors on bullying behavior.

The phenomenon where bystanders passively observe bullying without intervening. They are present but don't actively support or oppose the bullying.

The influence of peers on individual behavior during bullying. Observing peers engaging in bullying can increase the likelihood of an individual engaging in bullying behaviors.

The tendency of individuals to conform to social norms and the behavior of their peers. In bullying, this can involve individuals imitating or mimicking behaviors witnessed in their peer group.

The theory explaining how bullying might become attractive, especially during adolescence, as individuals strive for independence and seek to separate themselves from their parents.

The idea that bullying is a social phenomenon influenced by a complex interplay of individual goals, social skills, and the social environment.

The role of peer culture in facilitating and reinforcing bullying behaviors. Peer groups can promote a culture where bullying is accepted, tolerated, or even encouraged.

In the context of bullying, individuals who are viewed as strong or dominant within their peer group are often more likely to engage in bullying behaviors.