Bullying driven by wish to be at the top [educationmatters.ie]
- Published: 02 March 2011
A new study carried out at the University of California Davis claims that bullying is motivated largely by a desire to climb the social ladder.
The study looked at 4,000 high-school students in North Carolina, mapping their relationships and bullying habits. Overall, most students weren't aggressive.
"By and large, our study found that it [bullying] was about social status, even more than demographics or socioeconomics," said Robert E. Faris, co-author of the study and an assistant sociology professor at UC Davis.
A small percentage of popular students at the very top of the social hierarchy tended to be less aggressive, he said, probably because they had reached the summit and had no need to bully.
But other than that, the study found that the more popular students became, the more they acted out.
Boys were more prone to physical bullying than girls, who leaned more toward passive-aggressive acts and needling comments.
Those at the bottom of the pecking order were less likely to bully, possibly because they lacked the clout with their fellow students to get away with it.
Full Story: www.educationmatters.ie
