Exploring Motives and Types of Bullying in Young Adults: Cases From China

Abstract

Bullying issues occur among adolescents and young adults globally, however, it does not get enough scholarly attention in mainland China (Zhou et al., 2013). This article aims to explore the motives and types of bullying through two cases: one in a high school setting, and the other in a college/university campus in the mid-eastern area of China. Participants included 315 senior high sophomores and 265 freshmen university students. Students completed a questionnaire reporting their bullying experience as witness, victim, or/and perpetrator, as well as their definition of bullying behaviors. 258(81.90%) senior high and 239(90.18%) undergraduate participants had witnessed bullying behaviors before. While 199(63.18%) senior high and 175(66.10%) undergraduate participants reported as bullying victims. The most-reported bullying behavior was verbal bullying, most bullying incidents happened in a classroom, and were inflicted by their peers. Moreover, the researchers explored the motives behind the bullying behavior. The findings help deepen our understanding of bullying epidemics in China educational settings and have implications on preventing the problems and improving the campus climate.