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Bullying Behaviours

Bullying Behaviours: characteristics, biological and individual differences explanations

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 3 Section A

Overview

Olweus's definition of bullying and cyberbullying, twin, MAOA, evolutionary and hormonal explanations, and individual differences such as hostile attribution bias, narcissism and theory of mind in ringleader bullies.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Numbers

What does research suggest about hormones and bullying?

Numbers

How does narcissism explain bullying?

Key term

Which evolved gender difference in aggression did Bjorkqvist et al. (1992) report?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    State the three features Olweus uses to define bullying.

    Model answer

    The behaviour is intentionally harmful, it is repeated over time, and there is an imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the target.

  2. 2

    What makes cyberbullying different from playground bullying?

    Model answer

    It can follow the target home and continue at any hour, the audience can be very large, the perpetrator may be anonymous, and the material can persist and be re-shared indefinitely.

  3. 3

    What did Ball et al. (2008) find in their twin study, and why is "bullying genes" a loose label?

    Model answer

    Both bullying others and being victimised showed substantial genetic influence, with greater similarity in monozygotic than dizygotic pairs; no gene codes for bullying itself, only for dispositions such as impulsivity that a particular social setting turns into bullying.

  4. 4

    How does the MAOA gene feature in explanations of aggression?

    Model answer

    Caspi et al. (2002) found that a low-activity variant of MAOA predicted later antisocial behaviour mainly among boys who had been maltreated, illustrating gene-environment interaction rather than genetic determinism.

  5. 5

    Which evolved gender difference in aggression did Bjorkqvist et al. (1992) report?

    Model answer

    Boys used more direct physical and verbal aggression, while girls used more indirect aggression such as exclusion and rumour-spreading.

  6. 6

    What does research suggest about hormones and bullying?

    Model answer

    Meta-analytic work such as Book et al. (2001) finds only a small positive correlation between testosterone and aggression, and lower baseline cortisol has been reported in children who bully, so hormones are at most weak contributory influences.

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