The importance of studying the consequences of peer victimization is hardly disputable. From the purely theoretical point of view, such research helps us better understand the human nature and our fundamental needs, such as the longing for affection (Baumeister and Leary
1995) and status (Anderson et al.
2015), and the impact of different developmental contexts – in this case, the peer context – for individuals’ development. Another important justification for such research is that it helps motivate prevention and intervention efforts by showing that if we do not put effort in helping victimized children and youth, the costs may be immense – both in terms of human suffering and in terms of monetary expenditure to societies. Finally, understanding the mechanisms leading to negative outcomes and the potential moderating factors helps us design more effective interventions and target them better. …
