Study of Self Esteem amongst School Bullies and Victims

Abstract

Bullying is not a new problem for schools. But it is only in recent years that its importance is being recognized.  Bullying is now known to have long lasting harmful effects, for both the bully and the victim. Bulling is governed by the evaluation a person makes of himself or herself and affects the evaluation of victim also. So the self esteem of both the bully and victim should be an important variable of focus. The present study was therefore designed to compare the self esteem of bullies and victims in middle school students. Both males and females were included in the study. A2×2factorial design was employed. All the four groups i.e. male bullies, female bullies, male victims and female victims, comprised of 25 subjects in age group of 12-14years. First of all, Olweus bully victim questionnaire was administered to identify the male and female bullies and victim subjects. After the sample selection Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale was administered. Data were analyzed by using two-way analysis of variance and t-test. The difference on self esteem between bullies and victims was non-significant. The male subjects scored significantly higher on self esteem than female subjects. Both the male bullies and male victims had significantly higher self esteem than female bullies and female victims. Since all the bullies and all the victims had an average level of self esteem, an intervention at school level is recommended.