Why do people bully?

Why do people bully others?

Do we choose to bully or are we innately compelled to bully? There are many forms that bullying can take such as verbal, physical, social, and even cyberbullying, additionally, it can be seen as a person attempting to assert power over another individual (National Centre Against Bullying, n.d.).

Nature vs. Nurture

The natural aspect of bullying can be seen in an individual’s personality. According to a study, bullies have been seen to obtain a high score for Machiavellism, as compared to the control group, which is the tendency to view others as prey in their interpersonal relations for manipulation (Sutton & Keogh, 2000 as cited in Mitsopoulou & Giovazolias, 2015). Bullies also tend to rank lower on agreeableness and conscientiousness which can be seen in the fact that bullies have a lack of sympathy and are hostile towards others (Tani et al., 2003). Bullies are also seen to be high in neuroticism (Mitsopoulou & Giovazolias, 2015). However, if we see bullying as behaviour, it can be nurtured by the individual’s environment.

As mentioned by Piaget, 1979, behaviour is the sum of all activities in a person’s environment. There are many factors in a person’s life that can influence them to bully others. There is a correlation between bullying and having a past of stress and trauma where parents also display aggressive behaviour (Batsche and Knoff, 1994 as cited in Ma, 2001). When these people are unable to react positively to their problems, they cope by bullying others (Connell et al., 2016). Next, having low self-esteem may also incentivize people to bully, more so if they themselves were victims of bullying (O’Moore & Kirkham, 2001). By bullying, they are able to displace the negative attention from them onto someone else.

Measures against bullying

The main thought which should come after facing bullying is how to avoid it. There are different options from which we could choose, and here are two of them: firstly, seeking help. It may seem effortless to ask for help from anyone, be it a teacher or parent, but it requires a lot of courage to do so, especially when a particular individual or even a group is being bullied. Secondly, raising one’s voice can be a way to warn people beforehand about unwanted future bullying. It can also alert others and make individuals stronger.

Overcoming bullying is not easy and some may suffer from various psychological disorders or insecurities which can affect them tremendously. Seeking professional help from psychiatrists or therapists is recommended to avoid these problems in the future.

References

1. Connell, N. M., Morris, R. G., & Piquero, A. R. (2016). Predicting Bullying: Exploring the Contributions of Childhood Negative Life Experiences in Predicting Adolescent Bullying Behavior. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(9), 1082–1096. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X15573760

2. Ma, X. (2001). Bullying and Being Bullied: To What Extent Are Bullies Also Victims? American Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 351–370. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038002351

3. Mitsopoulou, Effrosyni, & Giovazolias, Theodoros. (2015). Personality traits, empathy and bullying behaviour: A meta-analytic approach. Aggression and violent behaviour, 21, 61-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.01.007

4. National Centre Against Bullying. (n.d.). Definition of bullying. Retrieved from https://www.ncab.org.au/bullying-advice/bullying-for-parents/definition-of-bullying/

5. National Centre Against Bullying. (n.d.). Types of bullying. Retrieved from https://www.ncab.org.au/bullying-advice/bullying-for-parents/types-of-bullying/

6. O’Moore, M. & Kirkham, C. (2001). Self-Esteem and Its Relationship to Bullying Behaviour. Aggressive Behavior, 27(4), 269-283. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.1010

7. Piaget, Jean. (2006). Behaviour and Evolution (D.N. Smith, Trans.). Routledge.(Original work published 1979)

8. Tani, Franca, Greenman, Paul S., Schneider, Barry H, & Fregoso, Manuela. (2003). Bullying and the Big Five: A Study of Childhood Personality and Participant Roles in Bullying Incidents. School Psychology International, 24(2), 131-146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034303024002001