Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? Classroom Attitudes and Behavior in Relation to Bullying in Early Adolescence

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine to what extent classroom factors (i.e., classroom antibullying attitudes and behavioral norms) contributed to individual bullying, after controlling for individual difference characteristics. Participants were 2,547 early adolescents (M = 13.4 years, SD = .63) from 109 middle school classes. Self- and peer reports were used to answer the research questions. It was found that adolescents in classrooms that held permissive attitudes toward bullying were more likely to bully themselves, even after controlling for individual attitude, gender, social preference, and number of reciprocal friends. However, the association of classroom attitudes with individual bullying decreased substantially when classroom bullying behavior was taken into account. Our study suggests that the effects of classroom antibullying attitudes might be partly mediated by classroom behaviors. It implies that research that has not included classroom behavior might have overestimated the effects of classroom attitudes on bullying.

Notes

Note. Social Preference is z standardized.

^a n = 1,237.

^b n = 1,310.

^c n = 2,547.

*p < .05.

^a Difference in deviance between empty model and individual-level model has a Chi-squared distribution and serves as an indication for model fit.

^b Difference in deviance between individual-level model and full model has a Chi-squared distribution and serves as an indication for model fit.

*p < .05. **p < .01.

¹Although the coefficients were unstandardized, the classroom attitudes and behavior were assessed at the same scale level and thus the unstandardized coefficients of bullying and victimization did offer an indication of the importance of classroom behavior relative to classroom attitudes.