ERIC Number: EJ1388726
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Sep
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2159-2020
EISSN: EISSN-2161-1505
The Intent behind Bullying: An Application and Expansion of the Theory of Planned Behaviour
Jaber, Lindsey S.; Rinaldi, Christina M.; Saunders, Cory D.; Scott, Jesse
Contemporary School Psychology, v27 n3 p411-425 Sep 2023
An expanded Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes" 50:179-211, 1991, Ajzen, "Journal of Applied Social Psychology" 32:665-683, 2002) which incorporates affective, moral, and personal belief variables with Ajzen's original social, behavioural, and cognitive factors has not yet been applied to bullying and bully-victimization in junior high school students. This study addresses this gap by applying this expanded version of TPB with a sample of 342 junior high school students (M[subscript age] = 12.27, 207 girls and 135 boys) from seven schools from a large Western Canadian municipality. Overall, 11.08% of participants were classified as students who bully others ("bullies") and 13.21% as students who bully others and are also victimized themselves ("bully-victims"), with boys reporting higher levels than girls. Structural equation modelling was used to test a TPB-informed model to explain the relations between psychological adjustment, self-concept, attitude and beliefs about aggression, perceived control, intention, and bullying behaviour. The final models accounted for 40% of the variance in bullying and 34% of the variance in bully-victimization, although the models differed. Both bullying behaviour and bully-victimization were predicted by less support for the victim, normative beliefs supporting aggression/bullying, and less well-developed moral reasoning about aggression, which was, in turn, predicted by higher levels of sensation seeking and hyperactivity (both) and depression and lower ego strength (bully-victim only). For bullying behaviour, there was a direct effect of internalizing behaviour on control. In contrast, attitude and beliefs about aggression and anger control mediated the relations between internalizing/externalizing behaviour and bully-victimization. Implications of this work are discussed, including anti-bullying attitude and belief initiatives.
Descriptors: Bullying, Junior High School Students, Student Behavior, Victims, Gender Differences, Mental Health, Self Concept, Student Attitudes, Beliefs, Aggression, Locus of Control, Intention, Antisocial Behavior, Predictor Variables, Moral Values, Risk, Hyperactivity, Depression (Psychology), Foreign Countries
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2123/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A