Study of the Relationship of Bullying with the Levels of Eudaemonic Psychological Well-Being in Victims and Aggressors

Abstract

Bullying has a negative impact on adolescents’ emotional and social development, especially in the case of victims. This study aims to explore the association of engagement in bullying behaviours, for both the victim and aggressor, with psychological well-being. A non-experimental, cross-sectional and correlational quantitative study was designed, with the participation of 570 students between 14 and 15 years old (SD 0.99), of which 50.5% were girls and 49.5% boys, who were selected through stratified random sampling. Mean differences, bivariate correlations and multiple linear regressions were calculated to study the relationship between bullying and psychological well-being. Victims scored lower for subjective well-being, with the educational and social implications that this means. As for the aggressors, who scored higher on well-being than non-aggressors, the question is raised as to whether well-being increases with aggression or whether aggression is the result of lower levels of well-being. Female bullying victims belonging to the older age group are the participant profile with the lowest well-being scores. This gender perspective can be considered not only with regards to coexistence and bullying prevention plans but also shows the need to promote psychological well-being to educate towards equality.