The participant roles of bullying in different grades: Prevalence and social status profiles

Abstract

This study examined grade differences in the social status profiles and prevalence of bullying participant roles. Participants were 598 primary school students (grades 4–6), 545 students in the lower‐grades of secondary school (grades 7–8), and 1491 students in the upper‐grades of secondary school (grades 9–11). Students' participant roles, popularity, and social preference were measured with peer nominations. Bullies, assistants, and reinforcers (i.e., bullies/followers) were as popular as defenders in primary school, but more popular than defenders in secondary school. These differences depended on the gender of the reference group. Bullies/followers were more popular than defenders among other‐gender peers in the lower‐grades of secondary school but not among same‐gender peers. In the upper‐grades of secondary school, bullies/followers were more popular than defenders among all peers. Grade differences in social preference were small. The grade differences in popularity profiles of the roles were in line with grade differences in prevalence rates. Bully/follower roles were more common in secondary school than primary school among girls and the defender role was less common in secondary school among boys. This suggests that bully/follower roles are more rewarded with social status in secondary school than in primary school.

A developmental perspective on popularity and the group process of bullying

“…1). In this study, the bullying and follower roles were indeed more common in adolescence than in childhood (Pouwels, van Noorden, et al, 2018).…”

“…Thornberg (2015) also found that most adolescents indicate that youths bully because they want to obtain status and power in the peer group. Thus, several studies support the idea that priority of popularity seems to drive bullying behavior in adolescence, making it a possible explanation for why bullying and following are more prevalent in adolescence than in childhood (Pouwels, van Noorden, et al, 2018), as youths prioritize popularity more strongly in adolescence than childhood (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010). It is important to mention that the current bullying literature cannot directly confirm this idea, as developmental changes in the prevalence of bully/follower roles have not yet been associated directly with developmental changes in the underlying motivation for bullying, such as the prioritization of popularity.…”

“…Importantly, the increase in bullying/following by grade was only found for girls (Pouwels, van Noorden, et al, 2018). This may be explained by the fact that relational aggression is more strongly correlated with popularity for girls than for boys in adolescence (Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004), which may lead girls to increase their relational aggression as they get older.…”

“…Thus, the comparison of the age groups was confounded with other study characteristics, making the comparison somewhat inconclusive. Pouwels, van Noorden, Lansu, and Cillessen (2018) were able to directly compare the prevalence of the participant roles within one and the same study between primary school, the lower grades of secondary school, and the upper grades of secondary school (see Fig. 1).…”

Gender and age variables of bullying in organized sport: Is bullying “grown out of”?

“…It is also assumed that the role of the bully more often comes to prominence in adolescence because of the wish to be popular. Meanwhile, prevalence of the role of the victim may be decreasing with age, which is related to acquisition of social skills (Pouwels et al, 2018).…”