Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2010-07-15 Adolescents' Perceptions of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications for Prevention and Intervention Brian C. Johnson Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Counseling Psychology Commons, and the Special Education and Teaching Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Johnson, Brian C., "Adolescents' Perceptions of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications for Prevention and Intervention" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2181. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2181 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Adolescents’ Perceptions of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications for Prevention and Intervention Curt Johnson A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Educational Specialist Melissa Allen Heath, Chair Niwako Yamawaki Sarah Coyne Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education Brigham Young University August 2010 Copyright © 2010 Curt Johnson All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Adolescents’ Perceptions of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications for Prevention and Intervention Curt Johnson Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education Educational Specialist in School Psychology Recent bullying research contradicts the stereotypes that only females use relational bullying and confirms that males use this type of bullying equally or more than females. No existing research could be found which examined differences in how each gender interprets relational bullying. Using a survey adapted from research on the rape myth and four video clips, researchers sought to examine gendered difference in the perception of relational bullying by males among adolescents. Two video clips depict scenes of cross-gender bullying and two clips depict scenes of male to male bullying. In total, 314 students in grades 8-12 participated in the research (164 males, 150 females). Questions from the survey were loaded onto three constructs: minimizing bullying, blaming the victim, and excusing the bully. MANOVA results indicated a significant difference between genders but not age groups (middle school and high school). Results were analyzed clip-by-clip as each clip depicted a different scenario. Results indicated that males were more likely to excuse the bully, blame the victim, and minimize the bullying when both bully and victim actors were male. Both genders minimized homophobic bullying more than other types of bullying. This research suggests that homophobic bullying should be targeted with bully prevention efforts. In particular, males discounted homophobic bullying as normal behavior. Because gender differences is students’ perceptions were significantly greater than age differences, another suggestion when planning and implementing adolescents’ bullying prevention programs is to carefully consider gender issues, rather than simply accommodating for students’ grade level or age. Keywords: bulling, relational aggression, gender, adolescent, perception ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank Melissa Allen Heath for her significant contributions to all parts of this research, and for not losing patience or confidence in me during this overly arduous process. I would also like to thank Niwako Yamawaki and Sarah Coyne for the sharing of their expertise and contributions to the research. This research would not have been possible without the support of Greg Hudnall and Cathy Bledsoe who believe in the necessity of research to better our public school systems. Much appreciation is expressed for the principals who allowed this research to take place in their schools. This thesis is dedicated to my mother, who never doubted Ii would finish this. Most importantly, she taught me from an early age that bullying is degrading for everyone involved— not just the target. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………..………………….. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.………………………………………………….……………… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………….………………….. iv LIST OF TABLES…………………………………..……………………………………… vi INTRODUCTION…………………………………………...……………………………… 1 Overview of Bullying…………………………………………..……………………… 1 Bullying and School Safety……………………………………………………... 2 Bullying and Gender Differences……………………………………………….. 3 Bullying and Prevention Programs……………………………………………… 4 Purpose of Study………………………………………………………………………. 4 Statement of Problem……………..…………………………………………….. 5 Research Questions………………..……………………………………………. 5 Hypothesis………………………………….…………………………………… 5 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………...………………………………. 7 Nature of Bullying……………………………………………………………………... 7 Role of Bully, Target, and Bystander………….……………………………..….. 7 Types of Bullying………………………………………………………………… 8 Prevalence of Bullying……………………………………………………………8 Long Term Effects of Bullying…………………………………………………… 9 Population Differences..……………………………………….…………………. 10 Age Differences……………….…………………………………………… 10 Gender Differences………………………………………………………… 12 Reactions to Bullying………………………………………………………………….. 13 Perceptions of Bullying………...…………………………………………………13 School-Based Bully Prevention Programs…………………………………….… 14 Adolescent Relational Bullying….………………………………….………………… 15 METHOD..…………………………………………………………………………………. 18 Research Design……………………………………………………………………….. 18 Participants…………………………………………………………………………..... 18 v Recruitment of Participants…………………………………………………………… 20 Materials ………………………………………………….……………………………22 Video Clip Scenarios…………………………………………………………….. 22 Questionnaires…………………………………………………………………… 24 Procedures……………………………………………………………………………... 24 Statistical Analysis……………………………………………………………………. 27 RESULTS............................................................................................................................... 29 Group Differences…………………………………………………………………….. 30 Gender Differences by Clip…………………………………………………………… 30 DISCUSSION......................................................................................................................... 40 Summary of Research…………………………………………………………………. 40 Context of Video Scenarios ……………………………………………………………42 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………….. 44 Implications for School Bully Prevention Efforts……………………………………. 44 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………... 46 APPENDIX A……………………………………………………..………………………… 53 APPENDIX B………………………………………………………………………………. 56 APPENDIX C………………………………………………………………………………. 66 APPENDIX D………………………………………………………………………………. 67 APPENDIX E……………………………………………………………………………….. 68 vi LIST OF TABLES 1. Sample’s Descriptive Statistics…………………………………………………. 19 2. Racial Composition of Students Attending Public Schools…………………….. 20 Provo (UT) School District Demographics: Ethnicity, Gender, Subsidized Lunch 3. Special Education Enrollment, English Proficiency, and Selected Risk Factors………………………………………………………………………….... 21 Number and Percent of Participants Watching Video Clip and Description of 4. Video Clips ……………………………………………………………………… 25 5. Questionnaire: Questions, Scales, and Scoring………………………………….. 28 6. Multivariate Tests……………………………………………………………….. 31 7. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects………………………………………………. 32 8. Means and Standard Deviations by Gender for Each Clip…………………………35 9. ANOVA Between Genders for Cross-Gender Verbal Clip……………………… 36 10. ANOVA Between Genders for Cross-Gender Cyberbullying Clip……………… 37 11. ANOVA Between Genders for Male Party Invite Clip…………………………… 38 12. ANOVA Between Genders for Male Homophobia Clip……………………….. 39 Correlation Coefficients for Survey Questions with Combined Clips and All 13. Participants……………………………………………………………………… 67 14. Descriptive Statistics for MANOVA……………………………………………. 68 1 Introduction Dan Olweus (1993, 1994) began researching the topic of bullying in the early 1970’s, forging an international momentum to identify, investigate, and counter the harmful behaviors of bullying. His efforts continue today, supported by a massive body of research, school-based bully prevention programs, and fueled by professionals focused on improving school environments and eliminating bullying from schools (Berger, 2007; Felix & Furlong 2008). In fact, the sheer number of publications demonstrate the growth of this topic in professional literature; Based on a PsychINFO literature search, publications on the topic of bullying increased from 62 citations dated between 1900-1990, to 289 publications cited during the 1990’s, to 562 publications dated 2000-2004 (Berger, 2007). Overview of Bullying The standard definition of bullying involves three key aspects: (a) imbalance of power, (b) infliction of pain, and (c) repeated occurrences (Olweus, 1993; Peterson & Skiba, 2001). More specifically, repeatedly and over time an individual (or group of individuals) in a position of greater power inflicts physical or emotional pain on another individual or group of individuals. Those who participate in bullying take on various roles: the bully, the target (victim), and the bystander (Coloroso, 2002, 2005). Bullying behavior must be understood in context, considering the nature of school environment that encourages, ignores, or rejects bullying (Chan, 2006; Felix & Furlong, 2008). In particular, adults and students may actually