Bullying in school : a study of forms and motives of aggression in two secondary schools in the city of Palu, Indonesia

Abstract

This study 1) investigated the prevalence of bullying among students in two secondary schools in the city of Palu, Indonesia, 2) investigated which forms of aggression (proactive and/or reactive) were associated with bullying behavior, and 3) investigated which motive of aggression (power related and/or affiliation related) were associated with bullying behavior among the students. Self assessment questionnaires and interviews were used in this study. The sample comprised 97 boys and 149 girls attending grades 7 and 8. To identify prevalence of bullying, I have used descriptive statistics to provide summaries of the level of the bullying and victimization incidents among students across gender and grade/age. To find out forms and motives of aggression, a correlation analysis using SPSS was demonstrated. The findings showed that in general boys were more involved in bullying than girls. However, girls were more often to take part in calling names or teasing than did boys, and no less than boys in isolating or shutting others out and physical bullying. In terms of grade, the percentage of bullying and victimization were higher in grade eight than in grade seven for both boys and girls.

In the correlation analysis, it was indicated that proactive and reactive aggressiveness was strongly related to bullying behavior for girls in grade seven, but not for boys. However, among the eighth graders, neither proactive aggressiveness nor reactive aggressiveness was related to bullying behavior for boys as well as girls. Furthermore, it was indicated that power-related aggressiveness was a good predictor for being involved in bullying among girls, but not for boys. However, affiliation-related aggressiveness was a good predictor for boys, but not for girls.

The results from statistical analysis were confirmed by interviews findings. Differences of the present study in comparison with the previous ones, as well as contextual considerations and future research, are also discussed.

Keywords: bullying; victimization; proactive aggression; reactive aggression; power-related aggression; affiliation-related aggression