Consistency of gender differences in bullying in cross-cultural surveys

Abstract

Many studies have reported on gender differences in bully and victim rates, but with the majority of reports from a small number of countries. Here we report on such gender differences from five large cross-national data bases. We report on overall male:female (M:F) ratios, and variations in these by age (or grade), by survey time point, and by offline/online bullying. We also compare consistency of M:F ratios across countries, over the five surveys. The preponderance of male perpetrators of bullying is found consistently across surveys, and survey time point. It is also consistent by age, but HBSC data suggest a curvilinear trend in early adolescence. Males also tend to more frequently be victims of bullying, consistent across age and survey time point, but with variations by survey. There is some indication of a decrease in M:F ratio recently in mid-adolescence, possibly related to online bullying. At least relatively, females are more involved as victims of online than offline bullying. Comparing recent findings on M:F ratio across countries for the five surveys, correlations vary from high to near zero.Implications for the explanation of gender differences in different countries, the comparability of data from different surveys, and for gender-specific interventions, are discussed.

Coping with Cybervictimization: The Role of Direct Confrontation and Resilience on Adolescent Wellbeing

“…In addition, our results add some interesting considerations on the effect of gender and age. On the one hand, our data confirm that females are more at risk for cybervictimization, suggesting a relatively greater involvement in girls as cybervictims [56,57]. Our results also confirm a lack of resilience and more emotional symptoms among girls, as frequently reported in existing literature [32,36].…”

An Evaluation of the KiVa Anti-bullying Program in New Zealand

“…With regard to the gender differences in overall rates of bullying behavior, it appears that boys in this sample were engaging in more bullying behaviors than girls overall. Although this finding is line with international data (Smith et al 2019), the KiVa program appeared to have a greater impact on girls compared with boys-but not for girls in year 4 (8-year olds). These findings contrast most of the previous KiVa evaluations to date, but it is similar with the findings from Hutchings and Clarkson (2015), where there was a significant reduction in victimization and bullying for girls, but only a reduction in bullying behavior for boys in their sample of 9-11-year olds.…”

“…Bullying is more likely to be perpetrated by boys than girls (Smith et al 2019) and is related to a range of negative outcomes for all those involved. Victims are at a greater risk of mental health issues and peer rejection, and perpetrators have a higher risk of delinquency and future unemployment (Kokko and Pulkkinen 2000;Ttofi et al 2014;Vaillancourt et al 2013;Vanderbilt and Augustyn 2010;van der Ploeg et al 2016).…”

How Common Is Cyberbullying Among Adults? Exploring Gender, Ethnic, and Age Differences in the Prevalence of Cyberbullying

“…Past research on the topic has consistently yielded mixed results on gender differences in cyberbullying. 16 While one line of research presents no gender differences in the frequency of cyberbullying (see the cross-national survey by HBSC 2013-14), 11 others note that women are more likely to experience cyberbullying than men (see EUKO survey in 25 countries). 17 Moreover, gender differences may depend on the context of an online environment, with women reporting more abuse, via instant messages or social media, and men reporting more incidences during online gaming.…”

“…Furthermore, beyond age and gender differences, 7,16 little research has focused on ethnic differences (for details, see Kowalski et al 7 ). The present study is the first to examine ethnic differences in cyberbullying within the general population of New Zealand (NZ), a small ethnically diverse nation in the South Pacific in which *70 percent of the population report European ancestry, *15 percent report M aori (indigenous) ancestry, another 13 percent report Asian ancestry, and *8 percent report non-M aori Pacific Island ancestry.…”