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Bullying behaviors are linked to higher self-esteem, social status, and a lower rate of depression, according to a new provocative study. Researchers at Simon Fraser University observed a group of high school students finding that bullies had the highest self esteem, greatest social status, and were less likely to be depressed, as reported by National Post.
“Humans tend to try to establish a rank hierarchy,” Jennifer Wong, a criminology professor who led the study, told the Post. “When you’re in high school, it’s a very limited arena in which you can establish your rank, and climbing the social ladder to be on top is one of the main ways … Bullying is a tool you can use to get there.”
Wong notes that many anti-bullying initiatives try to change the behavior of bullies, but often don’t work. This is likely because behavior is hard-wired and not learned, she says. Experts suggest that schools might expand competitive, supervised activities as an alternative outlet to channel dominating behavior.
The study was performed by Simon Fraser University (British Columbia).
Indeed, fascinating research involving another Canadian expert offers some support for that idea. A pilot project at an Arizona school sought to steer students identified as bullies into high-status “jobs” — like being the school’s front-door greeters — to focus their aggression on something less harmful.
Bullying fell “dramatically” in its wake, says Tony Volk, a Brock University psychologist who helped pioneer the genetic theory of bullying and took part in an upcoming study of the Arizona project.
Meanwhile, separate research Volk is working on offers more evidence bolstering the concept: the bullies among 178 teenagers surveyed by the professor and his colleagues got more sex than everyone else.
This is extremely interesting stuff.
@wufwugy, Social hierarchy tie-in: Extroverts (alpha and gamma types) tend to try to bully the most as a method to move up the social ladder. Alphas are able to bully successfully because they have a higher social status, and gammas tend to bully unsuccessfully [unless they are in large groups] because of their lack thereof (see SJWs). Note gammas in a large group become localized alphas because of their position in the localized social structure, but they won't leave their bubble because they realize this.
Introverts (sigma and omega types) tend to bully the least. Sigmas can successfully bully, though they tend to need a whole lot of motivation to do so (imagine standing up for a little brother or having a specific, strategic purpose). Omegas cannot bully because they do not have the social power to do so; their lashing out in anger is done from a position of powerlessness.
Overall:
- You need higher social status to bully successfully.
- Extroversion is correlated to higher propensity to leverage social status for aggression.
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