Girls More Likely Than Boys To See Bullying As Harmful: Study

Girls are more likely than boys to recognize bullying — whether they experience it or witness it — and see it as a harmful, urgent situation, according to new research from Florida State University that looks at gender roles in bullying.

Bullying has reached epidemic proportions, affecting about one in three adolescents worldwide. It goes beyond the normal conflicts that are part of growing up, and occurs when an an individual or group repeatedly hurts and humiliates another. It often causes lasting physical and emotional harm.

Earlier research shows that even kids who witness bullying are harmed, and the Florida State study, “Bystander Intervention in Bullying: Role of Social Skills and Gender,” backs that up.

Lyndsay Jenkins, an assistant professor in Florida State’s College of Education, is the lead author of the study, recently published in the Journal of Early Adolescence. Her research shows “girls are more likely to recognize the harm of bullying and experience more emotional distress when experiencing bullying as a victim or a bystander.”

“Girls tend to be more empathetic, whereas boys are more likely to disengage,” Jenkins said in a statement.

The study uses the Bystander Intervention Model developed by social psychologists Bibb Latane and John Darley, who have written extensively about what happens when people who witness an emergency situation but do nothing to stop it. The concept was popularized after the gruesome 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese, whose neighbors failed to step in or call police when she was stabbed to death in front of New York City apartment.

The Bystander Intervention Model includes five steps to examine the actions of bystanders in bullying: noticing the event, interpreting it as an emergency, accepting responsibility for intervening, knowing how to intervene and, finally, intervening.

“We need to think much more broadly about bullying and victimization,” Jenkins said. “It’s not just something that happens between two people, but it’s something that really involves everyone at the school. We need to encourage more kids to be defenders.”

For the study, Jenkins and her team surveyed nearly 300 middle-school students in rural Illinois. The girls engaged in three of the five steps in Latane and Darley’s model, but the steps of accepting responsibility when they see bullying happening and knowing what to do about it.

The team also examined the social skills of empathy, cooperation and assertiveness, and how each related to the five-step model of intervening. The kids with greater empathy were likely to to engage in the last four steps of the model, but less likely to actually notice the bullying initially. More assertive kids were more likely to know how to intervene, and the kids who were more cooperative were less likely to get involved.

“That finding was interesting,” Jenkins said in the statement. “The more cooperative somebody was, the less defending they did, which when you think about it, makes sense. If they’re going with the flow and doing what’s expected, if no one else is intervening, they’re less likely to defend and intervene.”

Overall, girls had significantly higher scores for empathy and cooperation, and boys and girls scored about equally on assertiveness.

Jenkins thinks the research should be duplicated in schools with more diverse student populations, and that schools should examine cultural influences, such as school climate and social norms, to better understand the issue of bullying in schools.

“Our study and others like it prove that empathy is extremely important,” Jenkins said. “Taking the perspective of another student and having empathy for what they’re going through will lead to more defending. That will ultimately reduce the impact of trauma on kids from bullying, which we are learning could have really strong long-term negative effects.”

Amanda Nickerson, director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at the University of Buffalo, co-authored the study.

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The Bully Menace: A Patch Series

In a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child's unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.

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Earlier In This Series

• Bullied To Death: When Kids Kill With Words
• America's Shameful Truth About School Shooters And Bullying
• Girl-To-Girl Bullying: Why It’s Different, Difficult To Confront
• Bully Upstander: Whatever He Said Caused Bullies To Back Down
• Bullying Caused 11-Year-Old To Attempt Suicide, Mother Says
• Bullied 10-Year-Old's Suicide 8th In School District This Year
• 13-Year-Old Hangs Herself, But Bullying Killed Her
• 3-Week Nightmare: How Bullying Pushed My Son To Run Away
• Teen Tells Bullies In Video: 'Every Day, I Wear Your Words'
• 'The Hero Myth': Why Expecting Kids To Fight Bullies Is Harmful
• 'Mr. Anti-Bully': Reformed Bully, 12, Sets Mistake Right
• Mallory Grossman Bullying Detailed In Wrongful Death Suit
• Malden Schools Were Non-Compliant Through Bullying Saga: DOE
• 'They All Failed And Changed A Child': Malden Bullying Detailed
• Mom Speaks About Bullying Heartbreak: 'I Feel I Failed Him'
• Why These Kindergartners Start Each Day With A Handshake
• The Bully Menace: 'The Hurt Never Goes Away'
• Bullies And Their Targets The Same: Digital Self-Harm Rising
• Boy, 6, Overcomes Bullying, Heart Condition To Spread Kindness
• Williamsburg Poetry Teacher Helps Bullied Kids Open Tortured Minds
• Bullying Tougher To Confront When It's Bias-Based: Researchers
• Bullied New Hampshire 5th Grader Makes Tearful Plea
• The Bully Menace: 13 Age-Appropriate Reads
• Teen's 'I Wear Your Words' Video Inspires Nashville Songwriters
• Bullying Caused 11-Year-Old To Attempt Suicide, Mother Says

From The Experts

• 'The Anti-Bully': Talk And, Especially, Listen To Your Kids
• The Bully Menace: Patch Experts Offer Tips To Parents
• Anti-Bully Experts Offer Tips On Sometimes Deadly Encounters
• Understanding The Bully: They're Often Victims, Too, Experts Say

What We've Learned

• The Bully Menace: What Patch Has Learned About Childhood Torture