Bullying affects most Adolescents, Popularity Increases the Risk of Getting Bullied

Bullying affects more than just those children who are seen to be isolated and marginalised, according to sociologists.

In fact, researchers have found that the 'popular' students are affected and may actually suffer more from a single act of social aggression.

"We did find that students who are isolated do get bullied," said Diane Felmlee, professor of sociology, Penn State.

Diane Felmlee

"However, for most students, the likelihood of being targeted by aggressive acts increases as a student becomes more popular, with the exception of those at the very top."

In a study of students and their friendship networks in 19 North Carolina schools, the researchers found that the risk of being bullied drops dramatically only for the adolescents in the top five percent of the school's social strata.

Bullying may be a tactical form of aggression, according to the researchers, who report their findings in the current issue of American Sociological Review (pdf).

Young people who are attempting to climb in status may increase their risk of victimization.

Robert Faris

"When youth are vying for status, they probably gain little from attacking students who are already marginalised, in fact, it might backfire," said Felmlee, who worked with Robert Faris, associate professor, University of California Davis.

"But, if adolescents put down someone who is trying to be a leader in their group, or who constitutes a threat to their status, then there is a lot more to be gained."

Faris and Felmlee also found that girls are more likely to be victims of both male and female bullies. Girls who date are at increased risk of physical violence.

"Girls may pose particular threats to other female students' social standing and represent potential rivals when it comes to securing a boyfriend," said Felmlee.

"For boys, girls who date represent rewarding, often popular and relatively easy targets who are unlikely to retaliate physically."

Students who have an aggressive friend tend to avoid being victimized. This may be further evidence that bullying is rarely an individual act, but associated with how friends establish and maintain hierarchies by protecting their own, according to the researchers.

There are serious costs associated with bullying over time, Felmlee said. Victims suffer elevated levels of anxiety, depression and anger. They tend to develop negative feelings about their schools, as well.

Bullying's detrimental effects can be even more pronounced among relatively popular students, according to the researchers.

Higher status students experienced significantly larger increases in depression, anxiety and anger than low-status students.

The friendships of these students also deteriorated.

"The effects of social aggression were magnified by the student's friendship status," said Felmlee.

"It may be that the kids who are extremely popular and rarely victimized had farther to fall than those more accustomed to being a target, so, although socially vulnerable youth suffer significantly from frequent harassment, more central victims of bullying, those who may be 'hidden in plain sight' face serious consequences."

The researchers examined data from the Context of Adolescent Substance Use study, which surveyed about 4,200 middle and high school students twice during the school year.

The surveys included questions on serious verbal and physical harassment, but did not include minor incidents, such as playful teasing.

The students were asked to provide information about their friendships, as well as information about students whom they believe they harassed and about those who they believe harassed them.

Bullying: Children who overestimate their popularity less likely to be bullies

Children who overestimate their popularity are less likely to be bullies than those who underestimate or hold more accurate assessments of their social standing, finds new research to be presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Jennifer Watling Neal

"The more kids overestimated their popularity, the less aggression they displayed," said Jennifer Watling Neal, an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University.

"This means that kids who were more accurate in their assessment of their number of friends or who underestimated their quantity of friends compared to peer report were more aggressive."

Past research has suggested that children who believe they are more competent or well liked than their peers or teachers view them are more aggressive.

Elise Cappella

"But our research suggests there are certain types of positive perceptual biases that have a 'bright side,'" said Neal, who co-authored the study with Elise Cappella, an assistant professor of applied psychology at New York University.

"When kids say they have more friends than their peers say they have, those children are actually less aggressive."

This finding was true for both overtly (e.g., hitting, kicking, or threatening to beat up others) and relationally (e.g., excluding others or spreading rumors) aggressive behaviour.

The study relied on a survey of 421, mostly African American, second through fourth graders from five public elementary schools in an urban midwestern city.

The survey, which was administered in individual classrooms, provided students with the opportunity to identify their friends and the friends of their peers in the class in which they were surveyed. Students also identified classmates who were bullies.

"Children who overestimated their popularity compared to peer report were less likely to be nominated by their peers as overtly or relationally aggressive," Neal said.

The researchers said there could be several reasons why students who overestimate their popularity do not feel the need to bully others.

"Kids who overestimate their social connections may also perceive that more peers are watching and judging their behaviours," Neal said.

"Children may be less likely to engage in aggressive behaviors that may be observed by, and place into jeopardy, their perceived social connections."

Another possible reason is that students who overestimate their social connections may be nice, sociable kids who believe they are friends with everyone.

"On the other hand, aggressive children—especially those who use forms of aggression such as rumor spreading—may be more exclusive in who they report as their friends, leading to less overestimation," Neal said.

As for why some students overestimate their social connections, Neal said, "Kids naturally vary in their ability to accurately perceive classroom social connections and their own social positions in the classroom. It's not surprising that some children think they have a lot more friends than they actually do."

More information: The paper, "The Bright Side of Positive Perceptual Bias: Children's Estimations of Network Centrality and Aggression," will be presented on Monday, Aug. 12, at 4:30 p.m. EDT in New York City at the American Sociological Association's 108th Annual Meeting.