Analysis of Bullying in Schools: A Psychology Report

This report analyzes a study examining bullying among students within schools, focusing on the effects of individual normative beliefs, self-esteem, and school climate. The study, involving 7,299 students aged 13-15 from diverse ethnic backgrounds, used surveys to assess bullying frequency and related factors. Findings revealed that bullying is more prevalent among male students and that school climate significantly impacts bullying behavior. Self-esteem and social integration were found to be inversely related to bullying victimization, with students with low self-esteem being more vulnerable. The study also highlights the importance of normative beliefs, as students who perceive harassment as acceptable are more likely to engage in bullying. Limitations include the reliance on self-reported data and a limited scope of communities studied. The report concludes with a call for more contextual studies and a focus on interpersonal interactions to address bullying effectively.

Student’s Name: Bullying 1
Gendron, B. P., Williams, K. R., & Guerra, N. G. (2011). An analysis of bullying among
students within schools: Estimating the effects of individual normative beliefs, self-
esteem, and school climate. Journal of school violence, 10(2), 150-164.
An Analysis of Bullying among Students within Schools: Estimating the effects of individual
normative Beliefs, self-Esteem, and School Climate
Purpose and Significance
This study explores the relationship between beliefs, social context, and school setting
and bullying among students. The study also examined whether personal attributes related to
violent behavior have adverse impact on the actual behavior relative to the school’s climate.
Hypothesis
The survey was offered in Spanish or English as per the participant's needs. Training
assistants collected the data using wireless devices in schools. Before starting the survey, the
assistants explained the study to the students and helped them log into the encrypted
questionnaire.
Participants
Participants were a sample of 7,299 students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Female students
were the majority of participants at 51%. The students who participated had the ages between 13-
15 years.
Strategy/Method
Data collected from the participants were grouped within institutions. More so, evaluation was
carried out using an ordinary least squares regression method.
Procedure
Harassment in schools was evaluated using an eight-item scale. The scale consisted of
five items drawing out from physical harassment. The remaining three items were collected from
verbal bullying. The eight items were linked to bullying by stating the frequency through which
the action was and if the victim was singled-out or weaker. Under the T1 items, students were
asked to check how frequent bullying has happened in the past year. Subsequently, in the T2
subset, they were to mark the frequency of occurrence since the start of the year. The items were
totaled up and divided by eight to achieve the average score. The students were asked to state
relative to how they felt when around other students. Normative beliefs related to bullying were
estimated using the six-item index. Participants were asked to give their opinion about bullying.
The students were asked to state to which degree they concurred with the statements about their
school’s ecology.
Results
It was found out that bullying is rampant among the youth between the ages of 12 and 13,
with male students having a higher tendency of bullying than female students. The school
climate has great significance in bullying (Waasdorp, Pas, O'Brennan, & Bradshaw, 2011). Self-
esteem and status quo were related to bullying. Students indulged in bullying to prove
themselves as superior and robust. On the other hand, students with low self-esteem or have poor

Student’s Name: Bullying 2
social integration are highly victimized (Ang, Li, & Seah, 2017). Also, bullied students have
been found to be physically weak. According to Swearer, and Hymel (2015) students who are
physically weak are vulnerable to victimization. The perception of the school climate was vital
about self-esteem and bullying. The attitude of self-confidence is dependent on the social
perspective. The social beliefs had a significant effect on bullying. Students who viewed
harassment as an approved habit were more likely to exhibit violent habits. More so, harassment
is linked with other health behaviors such as sexual addiction (Hertz, Everett Jones, Barrios,
David‐Ferdon, & Holt, 2015)
Limitations
The experiment was conducted only in nine communities, which constituted only 2%.
Additionally, the results are based on the self-response. Therefore, the credibility and the
accuracy of the response is not thoroughly convincing. More so, the perceptive on school climate
was also based on individual opinion. Individual perception regarding the social setting about
school climate and normalized understanding of bullying was essential in determining the
bullying behavior.
Conclusion
The study should be more contextual and include more schools. Bullying is the
relationship between the interactions between parties. Therefore, interpersonal interactions
should be addressed since violence among students is not only personal but also inter-relational.
The relationship between the youth and adults should be addressed to determine the relation
between respect to adults and bullying.
Reflection of Experience
It took almost two hours to thoroughly read through the whole study while taking down
short notes. After that, it took me close to an hour and a half to come with a summary draft, and
another thirty minutes to type the edited script. The most challenging part of this task was
understanding and interpreting the results I had to re-read the results section. The simplest parts
were identifying the participants and the hypotheses.

Student’s Name: Bullying 3
References
Ang, R. P., Li, X., & Seah, S. L. (2017). The Role of Normative Beliefs About Aggression in the
Relationship Between Empathy and Cyberbullying. Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology, 48(8), 1138-1152.
Hertz, M. F., Everett Jones, S., Barrios, L., David‐Ferdon, C., & Holt, M. (2015). Association
between bullying victimization and health risk behaviors among high school students in
the United States. Journal of school health, 85(12), 833-842.
Swearer, S. M., & Hymel, S. (2015). Understanding the psychology of bullying: Moving toward
a social-ecological diathesis-stress model. American Psychologist, 70(4), 344.
Waasdorp, T. E., Pas, E. T., O'Brennan, L. M., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2011). A multilevel
perspective on the climate of bullying: Discrepancies among students, school staff, and
parents. Journal of school violence, 10(2), 115-132.