An analysis of bullying at school from a gender and group perspective

The study explores gender differences and the role of peer group in bullying, using an epidemiological descriptive methodology. The sample comprised 5,983 participants aged 10 to 16 years (169 centers). A questionnaire of violence at school was administered (Defensor del Pueblo, 2000). Results reveal that: 1) perception of bullying incidence is different depending on the role (witness, victim, or aggressor), but there are few differences as a function of sex (males and females observe a similar incidence); both sexes report more physically aggressive behaviours in males and more verbally aggressive behaviors, such as speaking ill of someone, in females. With age, both sexes decrease their physically aggressive behaviours and increase the verbal ones; 2) Bullying behaviours are more frequent when aggressors and victims belong to the same sex, except for sexual harassment; 3) most bullying behaviours are performed by males against a single male classmate; 4) between 6.8% and 4.8% of students have provoked a classmate "sometimes" or "almost every day" in the past 6 months; and 5) according to witnesses, the observation of "gangs that upset a classmate" is often similar in Primary and Secondary School (10%). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)