what is the hypothesis of bullying

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3 Theories That Help to Understand Bullying

• Published: May 2012
• Cite Icon Cite
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This chapter will entail a review of theoretical frameworks that are typically utilized to understand and address bullying, including an ecological systems framework, social learning, cognitive behavioural, attribution, lifestyles exposure and resilience frameworks. The complexity of bullying demands that more than one theoretical lens be used to help understand this phenomenon and to inform effective prevention and intervention strategies and programs. An ecological systems theoretical framework serves as an overarching umbrella within which the complex factors and interactions that influence bullying behavior can be examined and addressed. Innumerable theories can be applied within an ecological systems framework—at different times, sequentially or simultaneously.

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• > The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior
• > Evolutionary Explanations for Bullying Behavior

Book contents

• The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior
• Copyright page
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Part I The Comparative Approach
• Part II Sociocultural Anthropology and Evolution
• Part III Evolution and Neuroscience
• Part IV Group Living
• Part V Evolution and Cognition
• Part VI Evolution and Development
• 21 Evolutionary Developmental Psychology
• 22 The Ontogeny and Evolution of Cooperation
• 23 Genomic Imprinting Is Critical for Understanding the Development and Adaptive Design of Psychological Mechanisms in Humans and Other Animals
• 24 Evolutionary Explanations for Bullying Behavior
• 25 Birth Order and Evolutionary Psychology
• Part VII Sexual Selection and Human Sex Differences
• Part VIII Abnormal Behavior and Evolutionary Psychopathology
• Part IX Applying Evolutionary Principles
• Part X Evolution and the Media

24 - Evolutionary Explanations for Bullying Behavior

from Part VI - Evolution and Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2020

Research on bullying, mostly focusing on children of school age, has been active since the 1970s. Paralleling earlier work on aggression, bullying has often been described as maladaptive and dysfunctional behavior, and this has informed some intervention efforts. However, and again as for aggression generally, this view has been challenged in the 2000s (Ellis et al., 2012; Hawley, Little, & Rodkin, 2007; Kolbert & Crothers, 2003; Volk et al., 2012). It has been argued that bullying behavior is universal (historically and culturally, as well as in contemporary urban societies); that it is heritable, perhaps in part via temperament; and that it can have advantages for those who bully. The advantages would ultimately be for reproductive success, but via physical resources and social status, as well as attractiveness to the opposite sex.

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• Evolutionary Explanations for Bullying Behavior
• By Peter K. Smith
• Edited by Lance Workman , University of South Wales , Will Reader , Sheffield Hallam University , Jerome H. Barkow , Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
• Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior
• Online publication: 02 March 2020
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108131797.025

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Is Adolescent Bullying an Evolutionary Adaptation? A 10-Year Review

• Continuing Education
• Published: 06 September 2022
• Volume 34 , pages 2351–2378, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Anthony A. Volk   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4475-8134 1 ,
• Andrew V. Dane 2 &
• Elizabeth Al-Jbouri 1  

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Bullying is a serious behavior that negatively impacts the lives of tens of millions of adolescents across the world every year. The ubiquity of bullying, and its stubborn resistance toward intervention effects, led us to propose in 2012 that adolescent bullying might be an evolutionary adaptation. In the intervening years, a substantial amount of research has arisen to address this question. Therefore, the goal of this review is to consider whether evidence continues to support an evolutionary perspective that bullying is an adaptation that remains adaptive for some individuals in favorable contexts. In addition, we consider new ideas related to this hypothesis, explore how an evolutionary theory of bullying intersects with other influential perspectives, including ecological and social learning theories, and discuss applied implications for interventions. Our review of the evidence published since our 2012 paper provides very consistent and strong support for the hypothesis that adolescent bullying is, at least in part, an evolutionary adaptation that is currently adaptive regarding at least five evolutionarily relevant functions (the Five “Rs”): Reputation, Resources, deteRrence, Recreation, and Reproduction. We note that bullying is a facultative adaptation that is conditionally adaptive, subject to cost–benefit analyses. Finally, we discuss how an evolutionary theory of bullying frequently complements alternative theories of adolescent bullying rather than conflicting or competing with them. An interdisciplinary approach to bullying that includes evolutionary theory is thus likely to afford stronger options for both research and prevention efforts.

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Volk, A.A., Dane, A.V. & Al-Jbouri, E. Is Adolescent Bullying an Evolutionary Adaptation? A 10-Year Review. Educ Psychol Rev 34 , 2351–2378 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09703-3

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09703-3

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