Bullying and Empathy
Do bullies actually lack the ability to identify and experience the feelings of others? Conventional wisdom asserts that bullies have a diminished ability to feel empathy.
A recent study put that theory to the test. (“Bullying and Empathy: A Short-Term Longitudinal Investigation” Stavrinides, P., Georgiou, S., Theofanous, V., Educational Psychology, Vol. 30 (7), December 2010, 793-802)
Investigators studied 205 sixth-graders and discovered that the old saying is true- but doesn’t tell the entire story. “Empathy” was broken into two catagories: “affective” empathy which refers to a person’s skill at experiencing others’ feelings as though they were their own and “cognitive” empathy defined as the facility to understand how another person feels but not necessarily feel that yourself. Not surprisingly, bullies had normal cognitive empathy but scored low with affective empathy.
In other words, bullies fully and objectively understand how their victims feel… it just doesn’t bother them.
The researchers wrapped up their paper with the whiz-bang call to action for emotional education programs in schools as a means of reducing aggression and social cruelty.
Like GI Joe used to say, “… And knowing is half the battle!”
Related Posts :
No Responses to “Bullying and Empathy”
Leave a Reply
[...] Children,Teen Bullying and Workplace Bullying visit http://www.stop-bullies.com/ Kind regards MandyTeenage Girl Bullies – Jealous Of The Victims They Abuse? What is the makeup behind teenage girl bul…t, and always in control. They use rumors and teasing as a way of diminishing their victims. They [...]