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The Interplay Between Trust Among Peers and Interpersonal Characteristics in Homophobic Bullying Among Italian Adolescents

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Abstract

This study is based on exploring the trust between peers and the individual characteristics related to homophobic bullying in adolescence. Participants were 334 adolescents (141 boys and 193 girls) aged from 15 to 20 years. Participants completed the homophobic bullying scale, to investigate bullying actions towards sexual minorities, the personal attributes questionnaire, for personal characteristics, and the inventory of parent and peer attachment, to the trust between peers. The results demonstrated how female participants manifested a higher level of interpersonal traits and trust among peers than boys. Results showed how a lack of trust between peers predicts homophobic bullying. Nevertheless, we found that the lack of interpersonal characteristics represents a variable that likely mediates the relationship between lack of trust in peers and homophobic bullying. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Human and Social Science, “Kore” University of Enna, Enna, Italy

    Giulio D’Urso, Irene Petruccelli & Ugo Pace

Authors
  1. Giulio D’Urso
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  2. Irene Petruccelli
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  3. Ugo Pace
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Correspondence to Giulio D’Urso.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

A written informed consent was obtained for all participants (adolescents) by sending letters to their parents in order to inform them of the study. No parents objected to their child’s involvement in the study. We also obtained assent from all the adolescents involved in the study (these informations are include in the manuscript).

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D’Urso, G., Petruccelli, I. & Pace, U. The Interplay Between Trust Among Peers and Interpersonal Characteristics in Homophobic Bullying Among Italian Adolescents. Sexuality & Culture 22, 1310–1320 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9527-1

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