Bullying and social anxiety experiences in university learning situations

Abstract

This study examines how individuals' engagement in bullying at school and at university relates to the anxiety they feel in general and in various learning situations in which students interact during their higher education. It was predicted that, of the individuals who have experiences of bullying (in the role of bully, victim, or in a dual role as bully-victim), those who have been subjected to bullying experience more anxiety than do those who have no experience with bullying. A nationally representative sample of Finnish university students (N = 5086) participated in the study by responding to survey questions assessing their experiences of (a) anxiety syndrome, (b) context-specific social anxiety, and (c) situation-specific social anxiety in university learning settings. The findings revealed that victims differed from those with no experience of bullying in that they reported more of having current diagnosis of anxiety syndrome and higher levels of context-specific social anxiety in university learning contexts. This held true for both victims of school bullying and those who were bullied at university. The particular learning situations in which victims reported significantly higher levels of social anxiety were seminars, discussions with their teacher, and taking tests and exams. Implications for educational practices at university, student health services, and future directions for research are discussed.

Bullying in university between peers and by personnel: cultural variation in prevalence, forms, and gender differences in four countries

“…In their literature review, Pörhölä et al (2019) demonstrate the existence of studies to show that being bullied by peers is associated with academic problems and deficiencies in academic achievements in childhood and adolescence, however, they also argue this association may fall away as students grow up. Holt et al (2014), for example, found that past bullying experiences were not associated with academic performance in college.…”

“…Although bullying has been widely recognized as a serious issue in elementary and secondary school (e.g., Craig et al 2009;Currie et al 2012;Nansel et al 2001) and in the workplace (e.g., Keashly and Harvey 2005), and its long-term consequences on the psychosocial functioning, academic motivation and study ability of individuals have been found to reach from school year experiences even to higher education (e.g., Espelage et al 2016;Holt et al 2014;Pörhölä et al 2019;Young-Jones et al 2015), relatively little research has examined the prevalence and forms of bullying victimization and perpetration at the university level (Lund and Ross 2016). However, existing studies clearly indicate that bullying does occur among higher education students, and occurrence rates vary substantially between individual studies (Cowie et al 2013;Lund and Ross 2016;Marraccini et al 2015).…”

Editorial | Stop the Academic Bullying: Our Internal Reflections for a Fairer Peer Reviews [Hentikan Perundungan Akademik: Refleksi Internal untuk Penilaian Sejawat yang Lebih Adil]

“…Unfortunately, bullying does not only occur in primary school (Aulia, 2016). The academia also experiences bullying in the university or higher education (Pörhölä et al, 2019). In this context of "academic bullying", the experience does not exclusively happen between students, but also perpetration by the university personnel toward the students…”

“…Sayangnya, perundungan tidak hanya terjadi di sekolah dasar dan menengah (Aulia, 2016). Insan akademis juga mengalami perundungan di jenjang pendidikan tinggi (Pörhölä et al, 2019). Dalam konteks "perundungan akademik", hal tersebut tidak hanya terjadi antar mahasiswa, namun juga dilakukan (Pörhölä et al, 2020), and bullying among the faculty personnel themselves (Meriläinen et al, 2019).…”

The Moral Role of Pedagogy as the Science and Art of Teaching

“…Related to students' academic engagement, there exists a broadening discussion and also concerns about students' well-being both in basic and in higher education [30] that is constructed between students and the various learning contexts and interactions in them [31]. Several studies have identified factors that are related to students' decreased well-being both in basic and in higher education contexts, for example, learning difficulties, study-related burnout [32,33], experiences of bullying [34][35][36] and loneliness in peer relations [37,38]. These concerns encourage to think actively about the factors contributing to students' well-being and especially the structures and pedagogical practices in educational institutions.…”