elmer swanson
2004-04-10 11:51:33 UTC
In news that will doubtless come as no surprise to anyone who has
survived junior high, a study published in the December issue of
Pediatrics finds that sixth-grade bullies tend to be popular and
psychologically strong, and are often viewed as the "coolest" by their
classmates. Their victims, on the other hand, are typically miserable:
lonely, unstable, and socially marginalized.
Commonsensical as these findings seem, they fly in the face of
previous researchdutifully repeated by countless parents to their
bullied offspringsuggesting that bullies actually suffer from
depression and low self-esteem. Those earlier findings, it seems,
mistakenly relied on "self-reports of being a bully" while ignoring
the reality that, as the authors of the Pediatrics report dryly point
out, "it is unlikely that bullies as a group provide accurate
self-reports of how they treat others."
When researchers instead use a system that relies on the consensus of
a large group of students, it becomes clear that the only bullies
likely to suffer depression are those who are both bullies and
victimsvictims, that is, who take out their misery on students
unlucky enough to be even further down the junior high food chain.
"Bullying Among Young Adolescents: The Strong, the Weak, and the
Troubled," Jaana Juvonen, Sandra Graham, Mark A. Schuster, Pediatrics
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/04/primarysources.htm
'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
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survived junior high, a study published in the December issue of
Pediatrics finds that sixth-grade bullies tend to be popular and
psychologically strong, and are often viewed as the "coolest" by their
classmates. Their victims, on the other hand, are typically miserable:
lonely, unstable, and socially marginalized.
Commonsensical as these findings seem, they fly in the face of
previous researchdutifully repeated by countless parents to their
bullied offspringsuggesting that bullies actually suffer from
depression and low self-esteem. Those earlier findings, it seems,
mistakenly relied on "self-reports of being a bully" while ignoring
the reality that, as the authors of the Pediatrics report dryly point
out, "it is unlikely that bullies as a group provide accurate
self-reports of how they treat others."
When researchers instead use a system that relies on the consensus of
a large group of students, it becomes clear that the only bullies
likely to suffer depression are those who are both bullies and
victimsvictims, that is, who take out their misery on students
unlucky enough to be even further down the junior high food chain.
"Bullying Among Young Adolescents: The Strong, the Weak, and the
Troubled," Jaana Juvonen, Sandra Graham, Mark A. Schuster, Pediatrics
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/04/primarysources.htm
'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
sci.psychology.research is a moderated newsgroup.
Before submitting an article, please read the guidelines which are posted
here bimonthly or the charter on the web at http://psychcentral.com/spr/
Submissions are acknowledged automatically.