Michael J Boulton
Biographic Data
| ID | 766767 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael J Boulton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael J |
| FAMILY NAME | Boulton |
| SIGNATURE | BOULTON M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chester |
| ORCID | 0009-0005-4992-6431 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 173 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Testing the social validity of the Catz cross-age teaching zone anti-bullying intervention among school students
Bullying is a considerable problem among school students, and school-wide positive behaviour support interventions are regarded as helpful in addressing it. One approach is the CATZ Cross-age Teaching Zone anti-bullying intervention. The present study assessed the social validity of the CATZ anti-bullying intervention among a sample of 9–15-year-olds in a pre-post experimental design (N = 817, of which 546 experienced CATZ). Overall, participants…
Predicting Adolescents’ Intentions to Support Victims of Bullying from Expected Reactions of Friends versus Peers
Given the crucial role of bystanders in combating bullying in schools, there is a need to understand the reasons why children may or may not intervene on behalf of a victimised peer. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between children’s expectations of general peer reactions versus the reactions of their friends on three subtypes of victim support: consoling the victim, addressing the bully, and getting adult help. A samp…
Does authentic self‐esteem buffer the negative effects of bullying victimization on social anxiety and classroom concentration? Evidence from a short‐term longitudinal study with early adolescents
BACKGROUND: Bullying victimization is a risk factor for social anxiety and disrupted classroom concentration among young people. Self-esteem has been implicated as a protective factor, but extant literature is sparse. AIMS: Aim of present study was to test if a new measure of authentic self-esteem can buffer the negative effects of bullying victimization on social anxiety and disrupted classroom concentration concurrently and across time. SAMPLE:…
The Relationship Between Playful and Aggressive Fighting in Children, Adolescents and Adults
The Relationship Between Playful and Aggressive Fighting in Children, Adolescents and Adults - 1
Subjective versus objective knowledge of online safety/dangers as predictors of children’s perceived online safety and attitudes towards e-safety education in the United Kingdom
Children are spending increasing amounts of time online prompting practitioners and parents to raise concerns about their online safety. However, the impact of children’s subjective versus objective knowledge on their perceived online safety and attitudes towards e-safety education remain unclear. Questionnaires were used to assess children’s (N = 329, aged 8–11 years) perceived online safety, subjective and objective knowledge of online safety/d…
Helping counts: Predicting children's intentions to disclose being bullied to teachers from prior social support experiences
Despite possible negative effects, many children do not tell their teachers when they have been bullied. This study examined junior school pupils' (N = 294) reports of instrumental, emotional and validation social support received after disclosing being bullied to teachers, and associations with intentions to disclose in the future. Overall, participants reported receiving modest to high levels of social support. The three social support variable…
A Comparison of Preservice Teachers’ Responses to Cyber Versus Traditional Bullying Scenarios: Similarities and Differences and Implications for Practice
Prior studies indicate that teachers differ in how they respond to different kinds of traditional bullying, and that their beliefs predict their intervention intentions. The current study provided the first extension of this work into the realm of cyber bullying. Preservice teachers in the United Kingdom ( N = 222) were presented with vignettes describing three subtypes of traditional bullying as well as cyber bullying, and the latter was directl…
Interpersonal Trust Consistency and the Quality of Peer Relationships During Childhood
Five hundred five children (267 female) enrolled in school years 5 and 6 in the UK ( M = 9 years and 9 months) completed measures of trust beliefs in peers, best friendships, ascriptions of trustworthiness, and trustworthiness toward peers. Children's social disengagement, peer preference, and peer victimization were assessed by sociometric ratings. It was found that, relative to children with consistent trust beliefs and trustworthiness, and tho…
Predicting children’s liking of school from their peer relationships
Rough-and-Tumble Play, Aggression and Dominance: Perception and Behaviour in Children’s Encounters
Rough-and-tumble play is a distinctive form of behaviour. Although it appears superficially similar to fighting, there is considerable evidence that it differs in terms of causation and intent. A number of criteria for distinguishing the two forms of behaviour are cited, and evidence that children are able to use many of these criteria is presented. Rough-and-tumble play is considered in relation to dominance and affiliative relationships in chil…
Concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization and school and recess liking during middle childhood
Background Prior studies outside of the UK have shown that peer victimization is negatively associated with school adjustment.Aims To examine concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization (physical, malicious teasing, deliberate social exclusion, and malicious gossiping) and two measures of school adjustment (school liking and recess liking), and test if these associations were moderated by year and sex.Sample A U…
Associations between peer victimization, fear of future victimization and disrupted concentration on class work among junior school pupils
Background. Studies have shown that peer victimization is associated with psychological maladjustment, and have implicated such maladjustment in disrupted ability to concentrate.Aims. To investigate the levels of, and associations between, physical, verbal, and social exclusion victimization, fear of future victimization, and disrupted classroom concentration.Sample. Participants consisted of 485 pupils aged 10-11 drawn from 11 junior schools in …
Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimisation
Previous research, primarily in North America, has found that individual factors (e.g., ‘internalising problems’) and social factors (e.g., friendship) interact to influence children's levels of peer victimisation. Some research has found that the identity of children's friends and friendship quality (as ‘protective factors’) are more important than the sheer number of friends. However, studies have produced conflicting findings. A peer nominatio…
Victim and peer group responses to different forms of aggression among primary school children
Both behaviourist and social learning theory emphasise the importance of the consequences of a behaviour on its subsequent frequency of occurrence [e.g., Bandura, 1973, 1977; Skinner, 1953]. Despite this, very little is known about the types of consequences children receive when they aggress towards other children. The present study employed a wireless microphone and hidden camera to record victim and peer responses to primary school children's p…
The social skills problems of victims of bullying: Self, peer and teacher perceptions
Background. A small number of prior studies have found that victims of school bullying tend to exhibit poor social skills. Few of these have examined this issue from multiple perspectives, and there has been a focus on a restricted range of social skills.Aims. To determine the extent to which self, peers, and teachers regard victims as having poorer social skills than non-victims across 20 behaviours/competencies.Sample. A convenience sample of 3…
Sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their associations with beliefs about aggression
The present study examined sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their relationship with instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression. Levels of aggression were examined using self ratings, peer ratings, and observations. The latter were collected during the mid‐morning and lunchtime breaks using a wireless microphone and hidden video camera. Beliefs about aggression wer…
Studying aggression in school children: The use of a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera
This paper describes a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera used successfully by the present authors to study direct, indirect, and relational forms of aggression in schools. Two major advantages of this equipment are identified; first, it avoids some of the potential biases and difficulties associated with the other methods and, second, it allows researchers to record and analyze a large number of significant variables that may otherwise b…
Twenty Years' Research on Peer Victimization and Psychosocial Maladjustment: A Meta‐analytic Review of Cross‐sectional Studies
Cross‐sectional quantitative designs are often used to investigate whether peer victimization is positively related to psychosocial maladjustment. This paper presents a meta‐analytic review of cross‐sectional studies, published between 1978 and 1997, of the association of peer victimization with psychosocial maladjustment. Mean effect sizes were calculated for the association between peer victimization and each form of maladjustment (depression, …
Social representations of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression in children: Sex and age differences
Previous research has suggested that females hold “expressive” social representations of aggression and males hold “instrumental” representations [e.g., Archer and Parker (1994): Aggressive Behavior 20:101–114; Campbell et al. (1992): Aggressive Behavior 18:95–108]. There is also evidence to suggest that an instrumental representation is associated with higher levels of actual aggression [e.g., Archer and Haigh (1996): British Journal of Social P…
Teachers' views on bullying: Definitions, Attitudes and Ability to Cope
Background. Teachers play a crucial role in preventing and managing the widespread problem of bullying. Despite this, scant attention has been paid to their views on this type of problem.Aims. To determine (i) what behaviours teachers regard as bullying; (ii) teachers' attitudes towards bullying, bullies and victims; (iii) teachers' self-beliefs about their ability to deal with bullying and their need for training; (iv) teachers' views of their r…
Liking and Peer Perceptions among Asian and White British Children
Study 1 investigated liking and perceptions of classmates in 140 Asian and White boys and girls in three racially mixed schools. All four groups selected significantly more own-race than other-race classmates as Like Most choices. For Like Least choices, White girls and boys selected significantly more other-race classmates, Asian boys significantly more own-race classmates, Asian girls did not differ in own-race and other-race choices. Using rat…
A comparison of 8 and 11yearold girls' and boys' participation in specific types of roughandtumble play and aggressive fighting: Implications for functional hypotheses
Study 1 compared the extent to which 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 86) participated in specific types of rough-and-tumble play. It used an observational methodology. The data were used to test two prominent hypotheses about the evolutionary function of this general category of play behaviour that have been applied to children, especially boys, of this age. One is that rough-and-tumble play provides practice for the development of real fi…
A comparison of 8- and 11-year-old girls' and boys' participation in specific types of rough-and-tumble play and aggressive fighting: Implications for functional hypotheses
Study 1 compared the extent to which 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 86) participated in specific types of rough-and-tumble play. It used an observational methodology. The data were used to test two prominent hypotheses about the evolutionary function of this general category of play behaviour that have been applied to children, especially boys, of this age. One is that rough-and-tumble play provides practice for the development of real fi…
Lunchtime supervisors' attitudes towards playful fighting, and ability to differentiate between playful and aggressive fighting: An Intervention Study
Study 1 provided data about lunchtime supervisors' (N=72) attitudes towards playful fighting, since this group had not figured in previous research. Participants expressed generally positive attitudes, although those individuals with the longest service tended to hold the least favourable views. It was argued that the opinions of this section of school staff should be considered when policy about playful fighting on the playground is developed. S…
Patterns of Bully/Victim Problems in Mixed Race Groups of Children
This study investigated the extent of bullying within and between British Asian and White girls and boys (n = 156) and some of the reasons why it occurs. There was no significant difference in the percentage of peers that nominated Asian and White children as either bullies or victims. Contrary to our prediction (derived from Tajfel's social judgement theory), both Asian children and White children were significantly more likely to be named as bu…
Bully/Victim Problems Among Middle School Children
Bully/victim problems among six classes of 8-9 year-old and six classes of 11-12 year-old children, attending three middle schools, were investigated by means of Olweus's self-report Bullying Inventory. About 21 per cent of the children reported being bullied, and about 17 per cent reported bullying others, "sometimes" or more often. Reports of both bullying and being bullied were more prevalent among boys than among girls, and among the younger …
Teachers' views on bullying: Definitions, Attitudes and Ability to Cope
Background. Teachers play a crucial role in preventing and managing the widespread problem of bullying. Despite this, scant attention has been paid to their views on this type of problem.Aims. To determine (i) what behaviours teachers regard as bullying; (ii) teachers' attitudes towards bullying, bullies and victims; (iii) teachers' self-beliefs about their ability to deal with bullying and their need for training; (iv) teachers' views of their r…
Associations between peer victimization, fear of future victimization and disrupted concentration on class work among junior school pupils
Background. Studies have shown that peer victimization is associated with psychological maladjustment, and have implicated such maladjustment in disrupted ability to concentrate.Aims. To investigate the levels of, and associations between, physical, verbal, and social exclusion victimization, fear of future victimization, and disrupted classroom concentration.Sample. Participants consisted of 485 pupils aged 10-11 drawn from 11 junior schools in …
Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimisation
Previous research, primarily in North America, has found that individual factors (e.g., ‘internalising problems’) and social factors (e.g., friendship) interact to influence children's levels of peer victimisation. Some research has found that the identity of children's friends and friendship quality (as ‘protective factors’) are more important than the sheer number of friends. However, studies have produced conflicting findings. A peer nominatio…
Patterns of Bully/Victim Problems in Mixed Race Groups of Children
This study investigated the extent of bullying within and between British Asian and White girls and boys (n = 156) and some of the reasons why it occurs. There was no significant difference in the percentage of peers that nominated Asian and White children as either bullies or victims. Contrary to our prediction (derived from Tajfel's social judgement theory), both Asian children and White children were significantly more likely to be named as bu…
Sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their associations with beliefs about aggression
The present study examined sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their relationship with instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression. Levels of aggression were examined using self ratings, peer ratings, and observations. The latter were collected during the mid‐morning and lunchtime breaks using a wireless microphone and hidden video camera. Beliefs about aggression wer…
A Comparison of Preservice Teachers’ Responses to Cyber Versus Traditional Bullying Scenarios: Similarities and Differences and Implications for Practice
Prior studies indicate that teachers differ in how they respond to different kinds of traditional bullying, and that their beliefs predict their intervention intentions. The current study provided the first extension of this work into the realm of cyber bullying. Preservice teachers in the United Kingdom ( N = 222) were presented with vignettes describing three subtypes of traditional bullying as well as cyber bullying, and the latter was directl…
Concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization and school and recess liking during middle childhood
Background Prior studies outside of the UK have shown that peer victimization is negatively associated with school adjustment.Aims To examine concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization (physical, malicious teasing, deliberate social exclusion, and malicious gossiping) and two measures of school adjustment (school liking and recess liking), and test if these associations were moderated by year and sex.Sample A U…
The social skills problems of victims of bullying: Self, peer and teacher perceptions
Background. A small number of prior studies have found that victims of school bullying tend to exhibit poor social skills. Few of these have examined this issue from multiple perspectives, and there has been a focus on a restricted range of social skills.Aims. To determine the extent to which self, peers, and teachers regard victims as having poorer social skills than non-victims across 20 behaviours/competencies.Sample. A convenience sample of 3…
Proximate causes of aggressive fighting in middle school children
In study 1, 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 110) were interviewed individually and asked about why children in general, and themselves in particular, fight with fellow pupils in the playground. A substantial proportion of children (51 per cent) reported having had at least one aggressive fight during the previous year. The most common reasons for children resorting to fighting were retaliations to teasing, retaliations to unprovoked assaul…
Cross-national comparison of how children distinguish serious and playful fighting
Criteria used to distinguish between play fighting and serious fighting were investigated for 8- and 11-year-old children in Italy and England, using videotaped and questionnaire-based interviews. There was high consensus in describing most videotaped episodes as either playful or serious. Results were similar for Italian and English children (irrespective of whether a videotape of Italian or English children was used for cue generation) at both …
Predicting children’s liking of school from their peer relationships
Helping counts: Predicting children's intentions to disclose being bullied to teachers from prior social support experiences
Despite possible negative effects, many children do not tell their teachers when they have been bullied. This study examined junior school pupils' (N = 294) reports of instrumental, emotional and validation social support received after disclosing being bullied to teachers, and associations with intentions to disclose in the future. Overall, participants reported receiving modest to high levels of social support. The three social support variable…
Victim and peer group responses to different forms of aggression among primary school children
Both behaviourist and social learning theory emphasise the importance of the consequences of a behaviour on its subsequent frequency of occurrence [e.g., Bandura, 1973, 1977; Skinner, 1953]. Despite this, very little is known about the types of consequences children receive when they aggress towards other children. The present study employed a wireless microphone and hidden camera to record victim and peer responses to primary school children's p…
Studying aggression in school children: The use of a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera
This paper describes a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera used successfully by the present authors to study direct, indirect, and relational forms of aggression in schools. Two major advantages of this equipment are identified; first, it avoids some of the potential biases and difficulties associated with the other methods and, second, it allows researchers to record and analyze a large number of significant variables that may otherwise b…
Playground behaviour and peer interaction patterns of primary school boys classified as bullies, victims and not involved
On the basis of peer nominations, 8–10 year‐old boys ( N =71) were classified as bullies, victims or not involved in this type of problem. These children were then observed in the playground in order to investigate what activities the three groups typically engaged in and who they interacted with. The three groups did not differ significantly in terms of their social networks (a measure of how many different children the target interacted with). …
Ethnic preferences and perceptions among Asian and White British middle school children
Asian and White middle school children were shown photographs of unknown Afro‐Caribbean, Asian, and White individuals of approximately the same age as themselves, and asked which one wax most like them, which one they would prefer to be, which ones they would prefer to engage in various activities with, and finally, to allocate positive and negative traits to the three groups or to nobody. A similar majority of both Asian and While children selec…
Interpersonal Trust Consistency and the Quality of Peer Relationships During Childhood
Five hundred five children (267 female) enrolled in school years 5 and 6 in the UK ( M = 9 years and 9 months) completed measures of trust beliefs in peers, best friendships, ascriptions of trustworthiness, and trustworthiness toward peers. Children's social disengagement, peer preference, and peer victimization were assessed by sociometric ratings. It was found that, relative to children with consistent trust beliefs and trustworthiness, and tho…
Lunchtime supervisors' attitudes towards playful fighting, and ability to differentiate between playful and aggressive fighting: An Intervention Study
Study 1 provided data about lunchtime supervisors' (N=72) attitudes towards playful fighting, since this group had not figured in previous research. Participants expressed generally positive attitudes, although those individuals with the longest service tended to hold the least favourable views. It was argued that the opinions of this section of school staff should be considered when policy about playful fighting on the playground is developed. S…
Liking and Peer Perceptions among Asian and White British Children
Study 1 investigated liking and perceptions of classmates in 140 Asian and White boys and girls in three racially mixed schools. All four groups selected significantly more own-race than other-race classmates as Like Most choices. For Like Least choices, White girls and boys selected significantly more other-race classmates, Asian boys significantly more own-race classmates, Asian girls did not differ in own-race and other-race choices. Using rat…
Cross-national comparison of how children distinguish serious and playful fighting
Criteria used to distinguish between play fighting and serious fighting were investigated for 8- and 11-year-old children in Italy and England, using videotaped and questionnaire-based interviews. There was high consensus in describing most videotaped episodes as either playful or serious. Results were similar for Italian and English children (irrespective of whether a videotape of Italian or English children was used for cue generation) at both …
Ethnic preferences and perceptions among Asian and White British middle school children
Asian and White middle school children were shown photographs of unknown Afro‐Caribbean, Asian, and White individuals of approximately the same age as themselves, and asked which one wax most like them, which one they would prefer to be, which ones they would prefer to engage in various activities with, and finally, to allocate positive and negative traits to the three groups or to nobody. A similar majority of both Asian and While children selec…
Proximate causes of aggressive fighting in middle school children
In study 1, 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 110) were interviewed individually and asked about why children in general, and themselves in particular, fight with fellow pupils in the playground. A substantial proportion of children (51 per cent) reported having had at least one aggressive fight during the previous year. The most common reasons for children resorting to fighting were retaliations to teasing, retaliations to unprovoked assaul…
Bully/Victim Problems Among Middle School Children
Bully/victim problems among six classes of 8-9 year-old and six classes of 11-12 year-old children, attending three middle schools, were investigated by means of Olweus's self-report Bullying Inventory. About 21 per cent of the children reported being bullied, and about 17 per cent reported bullying others, "sometimes" or more often. Reports of both bullying and being bullied were more prevalent among boys than among girls, and among the younger …
Bully/victim problems in middle‐school children: Stability, self‐perceived competence, peer perceptions and peer acceptance
On the basis of peer nominations, around 13 per cent of our sample of 8‐ and 9‐year‐old children ( N =158) could be defined as bullies, and 17 per cent as victims. Boys were more likely to be nominated as bullies, but not as victims, than girls. Bully/ victim status was, in the main, stable over three assessment periods in a school year and at the start of the next school year. On Harter's Self‐Perception Profile for Children, victims scored sign…
Patterns of Bully/Victim Problems in Mixed Race Groups of Children
This study investigated the extent of bullying within and between British Asian and White girls and boys (n = 156) and some of the reasons why it occurs. There was no significant difference in the percentage of peers that nominated Asian and White children as either bullies or victims. Contrary to our prediction (derived from Tajfel's social judgement theory), both Asian children and White children were significantly more likely to be named as bu…
Playground behaviour and peer interaction patterns of primary school boys classified as bullies, victims and not involved
On the basis of peer nominations, 8–10 year‐old boys ( N =71) were classified as bullies, victims or not involved in this type of problem. These children were then observed in the playground in order to investigate what activities the three groups typically engaged in and who they interacted with. The three groups did not differ significantly in terms of their social networks (a measure of how many different children the target interacted with). …
Liking and Peer Perceptions among Asian and White British Children
Study 1 investigated liking and perceptions of classmates in 140 Asian and White boys and girls in three racially mixed schools. All four groups selected significantly more own-race than other-race classmates as Like Most choices. For Like Least choices, White girls and boys selected significantly more other-race classmates, Asian boys significantly more own-race classmates, Asian girls did not differ in own-race and other-race choices. Using rat…
A comparison of 8 and 11yearold girls' and boys' participation in specific types of roughandtumble play and aggressive fighting: Implications for functional hypotheses
Study 1 compared the extent to which 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 86) participated in specific types of rough-and-tumble play. It used an observational methodology. The data were used to test two prominent hypotheses about the evolutionary function of this general category of play behaviour that have been applied to children, especially boys, of this age. One is that rough-and-tumble play provides practice for the development of real fi…
A comparison of 8- and 11-year-old girls' and boys' participation in specific types of rough-and-tumble play and aggressive fighting: Implications for functional hypotheses
Study 1 compared the extent to which 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 86) participated in specific types of rough-and-tumble play. It used an observational methodology. The data were used to test two prominent hypotheses about the evolutionary function of this general category of play behaviour that have been applied to children, especially boys, of this age. One is that rough-and-tumble play provides practice for the development of real fi…
Lunchtime supervisors' attitudes towards playful fighting, and ability to differentiate between playful and aggressive fighting: An Intervention Study
Study 1 provided data about lunchtime supervisors' (N=72) attitudes towards playful fighting, since this group had not figured in previous research. Participants expressed generally positive attitudes, although those individuals with the longest service tended to hold the least favourable views. It was argued that the opinions of this section of school staff should be considered when policy about playful fighting on the playground is developed. S…
Teachers' views on bullying: Definitions, Attitudes and Ability to Cope
Background. Teachers play a crucial role in preventing and managing the widespread problem of bullying. Despite this, scant attention has been paid to their views on this type of problem.Aims. To determine (i) what behaviours teachers regard as bullying; (ii) teachers' attitudes towards bullying, bullies and victims; (iii) teachers' self-beliefs about their ability to deal with bullying and their need for training; (iv) teachers' views of their r…
Twenty Years' Research on Peer Victimization and Psychosocial Maladjustment: A Meta‐analytic Review of Cross‐sectional Studies
Cross‐sectional quantitative designs are often used to investigate whether peer victimization is positively related to psychosocial maladjustment. This paper presents a meta‐analytic review of cross‐sectional studies, published between 1978 and 1997, of the association of peer victimization with psychosocial maladjustment. Mean effect sizes were calculated for the association between peer victimization and each form of maladjustment (depression, …
Social representations of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression in children: Sex and age differences
Previous research has suggested that females hold “expressive” social representations of aggression and males hold “instrumental” representations [e.g., Archer and Parker (1994): Aggressive Behavior 20:101–114; Campbell et al. (1992): Aggressive Behavior 18:95–108]. There is also evidence to suggest that an instrumental representation is associated with higher levels of actual aggression [e.g., Archer and Haigh (1996): British Journal of Social P…
Studying aggression in school children: The use of a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera
This paper describes a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera used successfully by the present authors to study direct, indirect, and relational forms of aggression in schools. Two major advantages of this equipment are identified; first, it avoids some of the potential biases and difficulties associated with the other methods and, second, it allows researchers to record and analyze a large number of significant variables that may otherwise b…
Sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their associations with beliefs about aggression
The present study examined sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their relationship with instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression. Levels of aggression were examined using self ratings, peer ratings, and observations. The latter were collected during the mid‐morning and lunchtime breaks using a wireless microphone and hidden video camera. Beliefs about aggression wer…
Victim and peer group responses to different forms of aggression among primary school children
Both behaviourist and social learning theory emphasise the importance of the consequences of a behaviour on its subsequent frequency of occurrence [e.g., Bandura, 1973, 1977; Skinner, 1953]. Despite this, very little is known about the types of consequences children receive when they aggress towards other children. The present study employed a wireless microphone and hidden camera to record victim and peer responses to primary school children's p…
The social skills problems of victims of bullying: Self, peer and teacher perceptions
Background. A small number of prior studies have found that victims of school bullying tend to exhibit poor social skills. Few of these have examined this issue from multiple perspectives, and there has been a focus on a restricted range of social skills.Aims. To determine the extent to which self, peers, and teachers regard victims as having poorer social skills than non-victims across 20 behaviours/competencies.Sample. A convenience sample of 3…
Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimisation
Previous research, primarily in North America, has found that individual factors (e.g., ‘internalising problems’) and social factors (e.g., friendship) interact to influence children's levels of peer victimisation. Some research has found that the identity of children's friends and friendship quality (as ‘protective factors’) are more important than the sheer number of friends. However, studies have produced conflicting findings. A peer nominatio…
Associations between peer victimization, fear of future victimization and disrupted concentration on class work among junior school pupils
Background. Studies have shown that peer victimization is associated with psychological maladjustment, and have implicated such maladjustment in disrupted ability to concentrate.Aims. To investigate the levels of, and associations between, physical, verbal, and social exclusion victimization, fear of future victimization, and disrupted classroom concentration.Sample. Participants consisted of 485 pupils aged 10-11 drawn from 11 junior schools in …
Concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization and school and recess liking during middle childhood
Background Prior studies outside of the UK have shown that peer victimization is negatively associated with school adjustment.Aims To examine concurrent and short-term longitudinal associations between peer victimization (physical, malicious teasing, deliberate social exclusion, and malicious gossiping) and two measures of school adjustment (school liking and recess liking), and test if these associations were moderated by year and sex.Sample A U…
Rough-and-Tumble Play, Aggression and Dominance: Perception and Behaviour in Children’s Encounters
Rough-and-tumble play is a distinctive form of behaviour. Although it appears superficially similar to fighting, there is considerable evidence that it differs in terms of causation and intent. A number of criteria for distinguishing the two forms of behaviour are cited, and evidence that children are able to use many of these criteria is presented. Rough-and-tumble play is considered in relation to dominance and affiliative relationships in chil…
Predicting children’s liking of school from their peer relationships
Interpersonal Trust Consistency and the Quality of Peer Relationships During Childhood
Five hundred five children (267 female) enrolled in school years 5 and 6 in the UK ( M = 9 years and 9 months) completed measures of trust beliefs in peers, best friendships, ascriptions of trustworthiness, and trustworthiness toward peers. Children's social disengagement, peer preference, and peer victimization were assessed by sociometric ratings. It was found that, relative to children with consistent trust beliefs and trustworthiness, and tho…
Helping counts: Predicting children's intentions to disclose being bullied to teachers from prior social support experiences
Despite possible negative effects, many children do not tell their teachers when they have been bullied. This study examined junior school pupils' (N = 294) reports of instrumental, emotional and validation social support received after disclosing being bullied to teachers, and associations with intentions to disclose in the future. Overall, participants reported receiving modest to high levels of social support. The three social support variable…
Psychology (31 works) · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression (30 works) · Developmental psychology (28 works) · Social Psychology (20 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (12 works) · Poison control (11 works) · Aggression (10 works) · Child Development and Digital Technology (10 works) · Peer group (9 works) · Medicine (8 works)