Speakers
Description
This symposium examines the dynamics of bullying, social status, interpersonal relationships, defensive behaviors, and social-emotional competencies among early adolescents from both Chinese and Dutch backgrounds, thereby providing critical insights into the interplay between these factors and their influence on adolescents’ social networks. Using social network analysis in the first three papers and utilizing item-level cross-lagged panel network analysis (CLPN) in the fourth paper, the symposium examines the relational and contextual determinants of bullying behaviors and their co-evolution alongside friendships and social-emotional competencies over time.
The first paper shows that bullying occurs even among liked peers, with teacher liking providing limited protection, highlighting the need to understand bullying as embedded in complex peer networks. The second paper finds a co-evolution between bullying and friendship, where students often form friendships with those they bully, and bullying often persists within friendship ties, emphasizing the complex duality of bullying and friendship during adolescence. The third paper shows how positive classroom leaders are more likely to defend victims, suggesting that promoting positive leadership can reduce victimization. The final study identifies “bridge” competencies—such as responsible decision-making—that link social-emotional skills to bullying behavior, with different patterns for boys and girls.
Together, these studies provide a comprehensive, multifaceted perspective on bullying and associated peer dynamics. By examining these elements through the frameworks of social networks, classroom norms, and social-emotional competencies, this symposium advances our understanding of adolescent bullying behavior and informs evidence-based strategies aimed at mitigating bullying and promoting constructive peer interactions within schools.
Additional field for symposia
Paper1:
Title:
“I Like You, So I Bully You?” Exploring Peer and Perceived Teacher (Dis)liking in Bullying Network Dynamics Among Chinese Adolescents
Xingna Qin 1, Lydia Laninga-Wijnen2,3, Yunyun Zhang4, Ping Ren4, René Veenstra2
Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University
1 Linköping University
2 Department of Sociology and Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology, University of Groningen
3 Department of Behavioral Sciences and Philosophy, University of Turku, Finland
4 Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University
Abstract:
Bullying and victimization significantly impact the social and emotional development of adolescents, often leading to isolation, school aversion, and heightened vulnerability. While many researchers have focused on individual traits and psychological effects, the relational motivations underlying bullying remain less understood. In particular, there is limited insight into how adolescents’ perceptions of peer and teacher liking and disliking shape the dynamics of their bullying networks. This study employs longitudinal social network analysis to examine the role of peer and perceived teachers’ liking and disliking in bullying dynamics from both dyadic and reputational perspectives. A sample of 2,566 Chinese students (Mage = 13.94, 48.3% boys) participated by completing peer nominations in 2015 and 2016. Results indicated that students frequently bullied peers they liked as well as those they disliked. Furthermore, students with high peer liking reputations received fewer bullying nominations, while students with high peer disliking reputations were more likely to send more bullying nominations. Interestingly, although teachers’ liking and disliking played a limited role in shaping these networks, students were more likely to bully classmates they personally disliked, particularly if those classmates were well-liked by teachers. This indicates that teacher liking reputations may not always protect students from bullying. Overall, these findings highlight the complex interplay between peer and teacher affection in bullying networks among Chinese adolescents, suggesting that bullying can occur even in the context of seemingly positive peer relationships.
Paper2:
Title:
Co-evolution of Bullying and Friendship Networks: Understanding the Influence of Dominance in Chinese Adolescents
Ping Ren 1; Xingna Qin 2
1Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University
2 Linköping University
Abstract:
Friendship, bullying, and dominance status are crucial aspects of adolescence, and dominance is also an important variable influencing friendship and bullying. However, many studies have focused primarily on the individual characteristics of bullies and friends, often overlooking the relational dynamics and the evolving interplay between bullying and friendship over time. This study examines the co-evolution of bullying and friendship networks among Chinese early adolescents, with a focus on how dominance influences these dynamics. Using a Stochastic Actor-Based Model (SABM) for longitudinal social network analysis, we examined the interactions of 2,566 eighth-grade students (ages 13–15, 48% male) across two data waves. Results showed complex reciprocity between bullying and friendship ties: when students initiated bullying toward a peer, that peer was likely to reciprocate with a friendship tie. Conversely, students who extended a friendship tie also tended to send a bullying tie to the same peer, who would then reciprocate with a bullying tie. Additionally, students who received more bullying nominations tended to have fewer friendships, while those with more friendships experienced less bullying. Dominance status had a limited effect on friendship networks but significantly influenced bullying patterns; students with higher dominance status were less likely to be bullied but more likely to bully others. This suggests a complex dynamic between friendship, bullying, and dominance in adolescent social networks.
Paper3:
Title: What makes them leaders? An examination of the consequences of being defended by positive and negative leaders
Zhe Dong 1, Gijs Huitsing 1 and René Veenstra 1
1 Department of Sociology and Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology, University of Groningen
Positive and negative leaders set classroom norms and disproportionately influence others. Although previous research has focused primarily on the individual characteristics of positive and negative leaders, there is a notable gap in our understanding of whom they defend. This study focuses on two key areas: (1) who positive and negative leaders defend, and (2) the effectiveness of being defended by them. Classrooms were divided into those with only positive leaders, only negative leaders, both positive and negative leaders, and no leaders. The study involved a sample of 9,188 students in grades 3-6 (Dutch grades 5-8) from 391 classrooms in 98 schools. Social network analysis revealed that in classrooms with positive leaders, positive leaders were more likely to defend victims, and the number of daily victims they defended decreased by 48% in Wave 2 compared to Wave 1. Negative leaders were less likely to defend victims, and the number of daily victims they defended in Wave 1 decreased less in Wave 2 than the number of daily victims they did not defend. In classrooms with both leaders, daily victims defended by positive leaders decreased by 38% over time, and daily victims defended by negative leaders decreased by 28% over time. It can be concluded that interventions should promote positive leadership to help victims.
Paper 4:
Title:
Linking Social-Emotional Competencies and Bullying in Chinese Early Adolescents: A Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis
Shuyun Yang1, Ping Ren2
1 College of Education for the Future, Beijing Normal University
2 Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University
Abstract:
Previous research on the relationship between bullying and social-emotional competencies has mostly relied on latent variable modeling, which often overlooks complex, interconnected relations between specific bullying behaviors and dimensions of competencies. This study used item-level cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) analysis to examine both cross-sectional and longitudinal relations, allowing for the identification of critical “bridge” items linking social-emotional competencies and bullying. A sample of 2,834 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 10.35, SD = 0.62; 50.4% male at T1) was assessed at two semi-annual time points, using the Olweus Bully Questionnaire and the Delaware Social and Emotional Competencies Scale. Results revealed gender differences: For boys, relationship skills were the most significant influencing item, and the ability to responsible decision-making bridged the relation between relationship skills and bullying. A decline in responsible decision-making adversely impacted boys’ self-management and social awareness, resulting in the perpetration of bullying through mocking others or isolating others. Conversely, in girls’ networks, responsible decision-making was the central predictor, creating a potential risk related to “self-management”, which, in turn, could lead to bullying behaviors such as speaking ill of someone behind their back. Furthermore, there was a complex relationship between different forms of bullying. At the item level, this study identified gender-specific mechanisms for the relation between adolescent bullying and social-emotional competencies. Underscore the importance of “relationship skills” for boys and “responsible decision-making” for girls in reducing bullying. Gender-specific interventions targeting the central item are a vital strategy for the effective prevention of bullying among early adolescents.
Keywords
Bullying, social status, social-emotional competencies, cross-lagged panel network analysis, social network analysis
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
