Do Bullying Victims Have Bad Social Skills?
LatestA recent study found that boys as well as girls experience meanness and “relational aggression” — but what’s really surprising is the researchers’ view of the “negative characteristics” that can make a kid a target.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Rhiarne Pronk and her team interviewed 33 teen boys and girls and found that both genders “had personal experiences around unpredictable friendships, social exclusion, or rumour and gossip including the use of notes, phones, email and Internet.” The researchers found some differences in how boys and girls were victimized, but the fact that social strife isn’t just a girl thing will shock no one who’s been to high school. More striking is this paragraph, from ScienceDaily’s coverage of the study:
Dr Pronk said the research also identified characteristics of adolescents that might put them at risk for victimisation. Negative characteristics included a lack of social appeal or emotional reactiveness while positive characteristics such as being too popular or talented also attracted unwanted attention.
Given a recent (though somewhat unscientific) survey showing that popular girls aren’t necessarily well-liked — and the tragic death of a girl bullied for being “too pretty” — it’s not so surprising that being too popular might make someone a target for social aggression. But I was more interested in “a lack of social appeal or emotional reactiveness.” What exactly are these negative characteristic that can make a kid a bully-magnet?
A study released in January sheds even more light on the issue: researchers purported to find “three key factors in a child’s behavior that can lead to social rejection.” The factors are,