Section 12.6

Researchers have identified some patterns in children who are at a greater risk of being bullied:

-Children who are emotionally reactive are at a greater risk for being bullied. Bullies may be attracted to children who get upset easily because the bully can quickly get an emotional reaction from them. -Children who are different from others are likely to be targeted for bullying. Children who are overweight, cognitively impaired, or racially or ethnically different from their peer group may be at higher risk. -Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens are at very high risk of being bullied and hurt due to their sexual orientation.

Learning Objectives

-Define aggression -Define cyberbullying -Describe the bystander effect

Male aggression

-From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, human male aggression, like that in nonhuman primates, likely serves to display dominance over other males, both to protect a mate and to perpetuate the male's genes -Sexual jealousy

How do you think bullying negatively impacts adolescents (victims)?

Being the victim of bullying is associated with decreased mental health, including experiencing anxiety and depression -Victims of bullying may underperform in schoolwork -Bullying also can result in the victim committing suicide

Gender differences in how girls and boys bully others

Boys: tend to engage in direct, physical aggression such as physically harming others Girls: tend to engage in indirect, social forms of aggression such as spreading rumors, ignoring, or socially isolating others.

Aggression

Humans engage in aggression when they seek to cause harm or pain to another person -

Why do you think the bystanders didn't help Genovese (girl who got stabbed to death, regardless of yelling for help)? What are the benefits to helping her? What are the risks?

It is very likely you listed more costs than benefits to helping. -In this situation, bystanders likely feared for their own lives—if they went to her aid the attacker might harm them. -However, how difficult would it have been to make a phone call to the police from the safety of their apartments? Why do you think no one helped in any way?- Diffusion of responsibility

Theories as to why aggression exists:

Some researchers argue that aggression serves an evolutionary function -Men are more likely than women to show aggression

True or False: the effects of cyberbullying are just as harmful as traditional bullying and include the victim feeling frustration, anger, sadness, helplessness, powerlessness, and fear.

TRUE -victims will also experience lower self-esteem -recent research suggests that both cyberbullying victims and perpetrators are more likely to experience suicidal ideation, and they are more likely to attempt suicide than individuals who have no experience with cyberbullying

Women also engage in aggression:

Women typically display instrumental forms of aggression, with their aggression serving as a means to an end -For example, women may express their aggression covertly, for example, by communication that impairs the social standing of another person.

The bystander effect

a phenomenon in which a witness or bystander does not volunteer to help a victim or person in distress -Instead, they just watch what is happening. Social psychologists hold that we make these decisions based on the social situation, not our own personality variables.

It is more common for _______ to be the bullies and victims because cyberbullying is nonphysical and is a less direct form of bullying

girls -nterestingly, girls who become cyberbullies often have been the victims of cyberbullying at one time

Cyberbullying can take many forms:

harassing a victim by spreading rumors, creating a website defaming the victim, and ignoring, insulting, laughing at, or teasing the victim -

Aggression takes two forms depending on one's motives:

hostile or instrumental.

Cyberbullying

like bullying, is repeated behavior that is intended to cause psychological or emotional harm to another person. -What is unique about cyberbullying is that it is typically covert, concealed, done in private, and the bully can remain anonymous. -This anonymity gives the bully power, and the victim may feel helpless, unable to escape the harassment, and unable to retaliate

Bullying

modern form of aggression -Bullying is repeated negative treatment of another person, often an adolescent, over time/a repeated behavior -The negative treatment typical in bullying is the attempt to inflict harm, injury, or humiliation, and bullying can include physical or verbal attacks. However, bullying doesn't have to be physical or verbal, it can be psychological.

Instrumental aggression

motivated by achieving a goal and does not necessarily involve intent to cause pain -a contract killer who murders for hire displays instrumental aggression.

Hostile aggression

motivated by feelings of anger with intent to cause pain -EX: a fight in a bar with a stranger is an example of hostile aggression

Sexual jealousy

part of male aggression -males endeavor to make sure their mates are not copulating with other males, thus ensuring their own paternity of the female's offspring -provides an obvious evolutionary advantage for men

The act of bullying involves an imbalance of _______ with the bully holding more power—physically, emotionally, and/or socially over the victim.

power

The experience of bullying can be positive for the bully, who may enjoy a boost to _______-_________.

self-esteem -However, there are several negative consequences of bullying for the victim, and also for the bystanders.

Another theory that explains one of the functions of human aggression is frustration aggression theory

states that when humans are prevented from achieving an important goal, they become frustrated and aggressive.

Bullying involves three parties:

the bully, the victim, and witnesses or bystanders.

Diffusion of responsibility

the tendency for no one in a group to help because the responsibility to help is spread throughout the group -Because there were many witnesses to the attack on Genovese, as evidenced by the number of lit apartment windows in the building, individuals assumed someone else must have already called the police. -The responsibility to call the police was diffused across the number of witnesses to the crime.