The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Teachers’ and pupils’ definitions of bullying.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Comparison of teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying is important for considering the implications for reports of its incidence in schools, for the study of developmental trends in children's and adolescents' perceptions of the phenomenon and for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions designed to combat bullying. AIMS: To investigate the effects of gender, teacher/pupil status and, for pupils, bullied/non-bullied (target/non-target) status and age on the definition of bullying. SAMPLES: Teachers (N=225: 158 women, 67 men) and pupils (N=1,820: 466 boys, 460 girls were 11-12 years old, year 7, and 415 boys, 479 girls were 13-14 years, year 9) in 51 UK secondary schools participated in a questionnaire survey. A total of 557 of the pupils (117 girls and 117 boys aged 11-12 years, and 197 girls and 126 boys aged 13-14 years) reported that they had been bullied at some time in their present school. METHODS: Written questionnaire responses to the question, 'Say what you think bullying is' have been content analysed to derive two sets of categories, one of bullying behaviour and the other of effects of bullying on the target. RESULTS: Regarding both bullying behaviour and the effects of bullying on the target, teachers - by comparison with pupils - have been found to express more comprehensive ideas in their definitions. Specifically, pupils compared with teachers are more likely to restrict their definitions to direct bullying (verbal and/or physical abuse) and are less likely to refer to social exclusion, a power imbalance in the bully's favour and the bully's intention to cause the target hurt or harm and to feel threatened. Analysis of definitions on the bases of sex, pupil age and target/non-target status show that: targets are more likely than non-targets are to refer to the bully's physically and verbally abusive behaviour, and for Year 7 compared with Year 9 pupils, to suggest that bullies socially exclude targets; girls are more likely than boys are to mention verbal abuse and the effects on the target of 'Feels hurt/harm', but boys are more likely than girls are to construe bullying as involving repetition; older pupils are more likely than younger ones are to refer to a power imbalance in the bully's favour but, for bully targets, younger ones compared with older ones are more likely to invoke the idea of social exclusion in their definitions. CONCLUSIONS: The most important implication of the findings of this study that there are important differences between teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying is that teachers need to listen carefully to what pupils have to say about bullying and work with and help them to develop their conceptions of the phenomenon. Some teachers, too, need to develop their conceptions of bullying.
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In the citing paper
“while harm inflicted on victims is a salient feature in their definition of bullying (Madsen, 1996; Naylor et al., 2006).”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“young children tend to differentiate only between non-aggressive and aggressive acts, viewing the latter as bullying even when they do not involve bullying behavior (e.g., children of equal power fighting over a misunderstanding)”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“males are more likely to describe observable behaviors that may occur in bullying incidents”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“children are more likely to refer to direct victimization (physical and verbal) compared to their teachers, who in turn tend to refer also to indirect forms of bullying (e.g., social exclusion; Naylor et al., 2006).”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“females’ representations of bullying appear to focus more on the impact of bullying and the emotional well-being of the victims”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“in turn adolescents and adults have a more complex understanding of bullying, successfully distinguishing between direct and indirect forms of physical, relational/social, and verbal bullying behaviors”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“Some data show that females tend to report more verbal abuse than males (Naylor et al., 2006).”
From The representation of bullying in Italian primary school children: A mixed-method study comparing drawing and interview data and their association with self-report involvement in bullying events (2022) · cites this paper as Naylor et al., 2006
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“Considerable effort has been devoted to developing a consensus on how to define and measure bullying [e.g., Arora, 1996; Naylor et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2002].”
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“However, much prior research uses the term “bully” in survey questions, which youths tend to associate more strongly with overt physical and verbal abuse, as opposed to more subtle forms of aggression (Boulton 1997; Naylor et al. 2006; Smith et al. 2002; Smith and Madsen 1999).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Naylor, P., Cowie, H., Cossin, F., de Bettencourt, R., & Lemme, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Naylor, Paul
- Venue
- British Journal of Educational Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-09
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 553-576
- ISSN
- 0007-0998 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8279
- OpenAlex
- W1980316240
- Cited by
- 227
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 10.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Educational Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Workplace Violence and Bullying
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection
- Keywords
- bullying, definition of bullying, teacher perceptions, student perceptions, social exclusion, power imbalance, gender differences, age differences, bullying victims, bullying intervention, high school students, verbal abuse, physical abuse
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attitude, Child, Faculty, Female, Humans, Male, Terminology as Topic, Psychology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Behavior Disorders, Students, Violence, Observer Variation
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