Provocative new study finds bullies have highest self esteem, social status, lowest rates of depression. A just-published Canadian study has added heft to a new theory about bullying — that the behaviour actually helps build social rank and sex appeal.
Humans tend to try to establish a rank hierarchy,” says Jennifer Wong, the criminology professor who led the study. “When you’re in high school, it’s a very limited arena in which you can establish your rank, and climbing the social ladder to be on top is one of the main ways … Bullying is a tool you can use to get there.”
Most anti-bullying programs try to change the behaviour of bullies — and they usually don’t work, says Wong, who reviewed the literature on program outcomes for her PhD thesis. That’s probably because the behaviour is biologically hard-wired, not learned, she says.
Wong recommends that, instead of trying to change how bullies think, schools expand the range of competitive, supervised activities they can participate in — giving them a less harmful channel for their dominating tendencies.
(edited - submission statement: bullying is a widespread problem in our classrooms, this article suggests a new way to handle it.)
Submitted March 25, 2019 at 09:34AM by ineedmoresleep https://ift.tt/2Yop9ru
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