Citation

Jones SE, Manstead AS, Livingstone AG. Br. J. Psychol. (1953) 2011; 102(1): 71-96.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, British Psychological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1348/000712610X502826

PMID

21241286

Abstract

Drawing on social identity theory and intergroup emotion theory (IET), we examined group processes underlying bullying behaviour. Children were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a perpetrator's group, a target's group, or a third party group. They then read a gender-consistent scenario in which the norm of the perpetrator's group (to be kind or unkind towards others) was manipulated, and an instance of cyberbullying between the perpetrator's group and a member of the target's group was described. It was found that group membership, group norms, and the proposed antecedents of the group-based emotions of pride, shame, and anger (but not guilt) influenced group-based emotions and action tendencies in ways predicted by social identity and IET. The results underline the importance of understanding group-level emotional reactions when it comes to tackling bullying, and show that being part of a group can be helpful in overcoming the negative effects of bullying.

Language: en