Bullying and machiavellianism in university through social network analysis

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to detect combinations of Machiavellian and bullying actions and to point out their determinants. A sample of five students' networks from Higher Education departments in central Greece (Business Administration, Veterinary and Physical Education & Sport Science) has been collected (245 nodes). Standardized questionnaires were used. Social Network Analysis, Spearman and PCA have been implemented. The Physical Education department exhibits denser bullying and Machiavellianism. Students who try to get beneficial information from their colleagues are susceptible to harm others. Deception is often more likely to happen under conditions of controllability. Making fun is present together with causing unhappiness. Victims of bullying in childhood are susceptible to be bullies as students. Students of high economic status seem to avoid the practice of bullying. Types of Machiavellian and bullying behaviors were proposed based on outdegree (“Offended Machiavellian”, “Merciless”, “Almost Bullying”), authority (“Angry-Machiavellian”, “Bully Machiavellian”, “Hidden-troublemaker”) and Katz (“Just Offended Machiavellian”, “Annoyed”, “Amateur/self-seeker”).