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Abstract
Anti-bullying strategies are significant approaches addressing bullying in schools, however their capacity to produce a reduction in bullying behaviour is open to question. This article examined a resilience-based approach to bullying. One hundred and five primary and high school students were surveyed using several standardised instruments. The study found that high school students reported more victimisation than primary students; that students reporting greater resilience; experienced less distress regarding bullying; that relatedness demonstrated a stronger negative correlation than mastery with distress levels to bullying; that students exhibiting greater emotional reactivity engaged in more bullying behaviour compared to others; and that a younger group exhibited greater resilience levels compared to an older group. The results support an evolutionary psychology view of bullying and suggest an operational definition of bullying in terms of power differentials within a relational context. Further examination and development of a resilience-based intervention model focused on developing a sense of relatedness is supported.