Gender and Bullying: Application of a Three-Factor Model of Gender Stereotyping

The Three-Factor Model (Choi, Fuqua & Newman, 2008, 2009), which consists of a feminine factor and two masculine ones, seems especially appropriate for explaining the influence of gender-stereotypic traits on bullying, since it specifically differentiates between "social masculinity", the first masculine factor, dealing with behaviors toward others, and "personal masculinity", the second masculine factor, tapping the personal dimension. Our study aims at examining the relation between social masculinity and bullying, the prediction being that bullying will be more strongly related to social masculinity traits of power and social dominance. The Personality Traits Questionnaire (Lpez-Saez, Morales & Lisbona, 2008) was administered, together with the Instrument to assess the Incidence of Involvement in Bullying/Victim Interactions at School (CAME, Rigby & Bagshaw, 2003), to 2560 native Spanish High School students from Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla-Len. The appropriateness of the Three-Factor Model for the explanation of bullying was tested via regression computed separately for the boys and the girls to see which factors most predict bullying. It was found that bullies, boys as well as girls, were higher in social masculinity traits. No differences appeared in femininity between students involved in bullying and those not involved. Regarding the Three-Factor Model, the social masculinity factor did explain aggression both for boys and girls, while femininity was significant only for girls. In the final discussion some implications for educational practice are suggested.