Social Competition and Bullying: An Adaptive Socioecological Perspective

The way bullying works: How new ties facilitate the mutual reinforcement of status and bullying in elementary schools

“…Past research has shown that students with high status tend to be status-sensitive. They feel competition to maintain their high status and can resort to bullying to achieve their goal (Fujimoto et al, 2017;Garandeau, Lee, et al, 2014;Pattiselanno, Dijkstra, Steglich, Vollebergh, & Veenstra, 2015;Volk et al, 2015). For instance, high-status students were shown to use verbal or physical bullying to intimidate 'fellow competitors' who threaten their social standing (Cillessen & Rose, 2005), and to overtly demonstrate their superiority over competitors by exercising control over others (Kolbert & Crothers, 2003).…”

“…For instance, high-status students were shown to use verbal or physical bullying to intimidate 'fellow competitors' who threaten their social standing (Cillessen & Rose, 2005), and to overtly demonstrate their superiority over competitors by exercising control over others (Kolbert & Crothers, 2003). High-status students who challenge their high status peers are likely to increase their influence and power over others (Peets & Hodges, 2014;Volk et al, 2015). This can foster relational bullying as high-status students are in an ideal position to exclude peers and spread gossip (Faris, 2012;Faris & Felmlee, 2011;Garandeau, Lee, et al, 2014;Reijntjes, Vermande, Olthof, et al, 2013).…”

Benefits of Bullying? A Test of the Evolutionary Hypothesis in Three Cohorts

“…However, negative outcomes of bullying perpetration are not universal: After controlling for childhood risk, bullies mastered normative developmental tasks just as well as nonbullies (Kretschmer et al., 2018) and did not fare worse on psychological adjustment, health, or wealth (Copeland, Wolke, Angold, & Costello, 2013; Wolke, Copeland, Angold, & Costello, 2013). Some suggest that bullying has an adaptive function and is instrumental to greater health and reproductive fitness (Koh & Wong, 2017; Volk, Camilleri, Dane, & Marini, 2012; Volk, Dane, Dane, Marini, & Vaillancourt, 2015; Volk, Della Cioppa, Della Cioppa, Earle, & Farrell, 2015). Here, we provide an extensive empirical test of the hypothesis that bullying might carry an evolutionary advantage for perpetrators, utilizing data from three cohorts, of which two long‐term: The National Child Development Study (NCDS) has followed participants until age 55, the British Cohort Study (BCS70) has followed participants until age 42, and the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) has followed participants until age 26.…”

Relations Between Class Competition and Primary School Students’ Academic Achievement: Learning Anxiety and Learning Engagement as Mediators

“…As a result, primary school students may be unknowingly faced with academic competition. Children spend most of their time at school, which, after family, is the most important environment affecting child development ( Volk et al, 2015 ). Because primary school students spend most of their school time in classes, academic competition among students is mainly reflected in class competition ( Hu, 2018 ).…”