Citation

Pronk J, Lee NC, Sandhu D, Kaur K, Kaur S, Olthof T, Goossens FA. Int. J. Behav. Devel. 2017; 41(6): 735-742.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0165025416679743

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Contemporary research adopts an evolutionary theoretical perspective in which bullying is strategic behavior that is conducive to peer-group status enhancement. Within this view, a high social status (i.e., popularity) has been associated with bullying others, while a high affiliative status (i.e., preference) has been associated with defending others. This study investigated whether the associations between adolescents' bullying role behavior (i.e., bully, follower, defender, outsider, and victim) and their peer-group status (i.e., popularity and preference) are cross-culturally similar. A multigroup path modeling analysis on a sample of Dutch (n = 219; 53.4% boys; Mage = 13.8 years, SD = 9 months) and Indian (n = 480; 60.8% boys; Mage = 13.8 years, SD = 12 months) adolescents suggested that these associations were indeed largely cross-culturally similar and consistent with previous findings, with one exception. While defending was associated with a relatively average popularity status position for Dutch adolescents, it was associated with a high popularity status position for Indian adolescents. In general, the findings are supportive of the evolutionary theoretical perspective, but the differential association between defending and popularity for Dutch and Indian adolescents seems to also require a cultural perspective.

Language: en