Research has discovered things that contradict our assumptions when it comes to bullying behavior. Things that you probably won’t believe are true until you really stop to think about it.
Bullies have low self-esteem.
Most bullies actually have plenty of self-confidence. Their negative behavior towards others tends to bring in more attention, popularity and respect (albeit ill-gotten) from their friends, which gives them a great deal of fulfillment. Being “stronger” than another person gives them a quick ego boost that makes them feel even better about themselves. This is why it can be so difficult to get them to stop; they don’t want to lose that confidence, that self-satisfaction.
Bullies are loners.
On the contrary, most bullies are very closely connected with their friends and have a lot of social influence. They tend to care plenty about how popular they are and fight for their status by asserting dominance over weaker individuals.
However, there are bullies who isolated themselves and even suffer from anxiety and depression. They tend to have low self-confidence. These are the types who can be easily pressured into bullying behavior or have trouble identifying with other people’s feelings.
Only city schools have bullying problems.
Bullying happens in schools in the suburbian and rural communities as well as urban. It occurs among children of every social class, income level, race and geographic region. No demographic is excluded.
Most bullying occurs online.
With increased usage of computers, cyber-bullying has received a lot of attention. However, online bullying is still not nearly as prevalent as offline, traditional forms of bullying, like physical confrontation, verbal abuse, exclusion and rumor-starting. Experts have found that at least 25 percent of students in the US are bullied traditional ways.
In a survey of over 40,000 US high school students run by the Josephson Institute, 47 percent of respondents said they were bullied in the past year. While according to the 2007 book Cyber Bullying, as few as 10 percent of bullying victims are bullied online.
Bullying is a kid thing. Adults don’t do it.
According to a study run the Journal of Management Studies, nearly 50 percent of American workers have experienced or witnessed bullying in the workplace. They found that over 400 workers in the US have witnessed verbal abuse (threatening, intimidating, or humiliating comments), physical abuse (throwing, shoving, pushing, slapping) and sexual abuse (unwanted advances and assault). So, unfortunately, bullying is not a problem that ends with childhood or adolescence.
Resources
The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/10/14/the-nine-most-common-myths-about-bullying.html
StopBullying.gov
http://www.stopbullying.gov/resources-files/myths-about-bullying-tipsheet.pdf
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/30/AR2010123001751.html