Gender-Based Effects of Frames on Bullying Outcomes

Abstract

The study extends research on the effect of frames. It is the first study to examine how framing affects the impact of being bullied. College students were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one framing bullying in terms of resilience and the other framing bullying with negative psychosocial consequences. Participants were asked to engage in a brief writing task aimed to actively create a frame and then completed both implicit and explicit measures. There was a significant main effect by gender and several significant interaction effects between frame and gender. These results suggest that framing impacts an individual’s conceptualization of emotionally salient personal memories and should be considered when developing bullying interventions. The impact of framing bullying may vary by gender.

Keywords:

• Coping
• peer relations
• sociocognitive development
• stress

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abigail M. Stark

Abigail M. Stark, M.S. is a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her research focuses on childhood bullying, anxiety, and emotion dysregulation.

Olivia Tousignant

Olivia Tousignant, M.S., is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her research interests are concentrated on common factors that reciprocally contribute to psychological well-being across time. Prior and current investigations focus on sleep quality, sleep onset, emotional arousal and valence, repetitive thought processes, mind-body relation, student success outcomes, and the framing effect.

Gary D. Fireman

Gary D. Fireman has a PhD in clinical psychology with postdoctoral training in developmental psychology. He is a professor of psychology and the Associate Provost of Academic Affairs at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. His research interests are concentrated in social and emotional development, bullying, and sleep quality.