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Empathy, Attitude Towards Bullying, Theory-of-Mind, and Non-physical Forms of Bully Perpetration and Victimization Among U.S. Middle School Students

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Abstract

Background

Children’s bullying involvement may arise from biases and deficiencies in social information processing, and it is important to consider cognitive and emotional aspects of bullying because social cognition is an important aspect of children’s social skills and their ability to get along with others. It is also important to understand how children see things from others’ point-of-view.

Objective

The study examined whether empathic concern, perspective-taking, attitude towards bullying, and Theory-of-Mind were associated with non-physical form of bully perpetration and victimization in diverse sample of middle school students.

Method

Participants included 310 students (grades 6–7) from a small, Midwestern town who completed a 45-min survey encompassing demographic questions and self-report measures of bullying, victimization, empathic concern, perspective-taking, and positive attitude towards bullying. Vignettes were also used to assess students’ Theory-of-Mind.

Results

Non-physical bully perpetration was higher for African American students. We also found that students’ perspective-taking was negatively associated with non-physical bully perpetration, while positive attitude towards bullying was positively associated with non-physical bully perpetration.

Conclusion

The findings suggest empathy and understanding of how youth see things from others’ point-of-view may be important factor in bullying.

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Author notes

  1. Dorothy L. Espelage and Jun Sung Hong contributed equally to the article and are co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL, 32611-2250, USA

    Dorothy L. Espelage

  2. School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 5447 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Jun Sung Hong

  3. Department of Social Welfare, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

    Jun Sung Hong

  4. Department of Social Welfare, Chungwoon University, Daehagil-25, Hongseong, Chungnam, South Korea

    Dong Ha Kim

  5. College of Veterinary Medicine Counseling and Wellness Services, Purdue University, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Luana Nan

Authors
  1. Dorothy L. Espelage
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  2. Jun Sung Hong
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  3. Dong Ha Kim
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  4. Luana Nan
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Correspondence to Dorothy L. Espelage.

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Espelage, D.L., Hong, J.S., Kim, D.H. et al. Empathy, Attitude Towards Bullying, Theory-of-Mind, and Non-physical Forms of Bully Perpetration and Victimization Among U.S. Middle School Students. Child Youth Care Forum 47, 45–60 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-017-9416-z

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