Summary: A large U.S. study shows that students who believe they were targeted because of social characteristics—such as race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or appearance—experience greater and more varied harm than other bullied peers.
Analyzing responses from more than 2,200 young people who reported being bullied, the research links bias-motivated victimization to deeper impacts on physical health, self-esteem, social relationships, and academic performance. The effects were strongest for students who perceived multiple bias reasons for their mistreatment. The study recommends schools expand prevention and support programs that specifically address prejudice-driven bullying to help narrow existing inequalities.
Key Facts:
- Approximately one in four students reported being victimized in the previous year; about 40% of those perceived bias as a motivating factor.
- Students who perceived bias-based bullying were about three times more likely to report damage to their self-esteem and had higher odds of negative effects on physical health, friendships, and schoolwork.
- Perceiving multiple types of bias further increased the likelihood and severity of harmful outcomes; each additional perceived bias raised the odds of school-related impact substantially.
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Bias-motivated bullying increases harm to students, new national U.S. study finds
Published in the peer-reviewed Journal of School Violence, the study examines data from under-18 students who completed the School Crime Supplement to the 2017 and 2019 National Crime Victimization Survey. The survey is nationally representative and collected information about a range of bullying experiences and students’ perceptions of whether those experiences were motivated by bias.
Students answered whether, over the past year, they had been mocked, insulted, threatened, physically attacked, pressured to do things against their will, excluded deliberately, or had property intentionally damaged. Those reporting one or more of these experiences were then asked if they believed the incidents were related to their race, religion, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or physical appearance. Researchers separated respondents into two groups: victims who perceived bias as a factor and those who did not.
Overall, the study found that biased victimization is associated with a wider array of harms. The most frequently reported types of victimization were threats and rumor-spreading, each reported by roughly two-thirds of victims. Students who perceived bias tended to report a greater variety of victimization types than nonbiased victims.
Across the measured impacts, lowered self-esteem was the most commonly reported consequence—affecting more than a quarter of victims—while physical health effects were reported by fewer than one in seven. Importantly, students who believed bias motivated their mistreatment were three times more likely to report damage to self-esteem and faced increased odds of adverse effects on physical health, social relationships, and schoolwork.
The research also highlights a cumulative effect: those who perceived more than one type of bias experienced higher odds of every measured negative outcome. For example, each additional perceived bias increased the odds of reporting negative effects on school performance by about 70 percent. Female students and those with lower academic grades were more likely to report all four measured harms.
“This study adds to growing evidence that adolescent victimization motivated by bias has uniquely harmful effects,” says Allison Kurpiel, lead author and PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Pennsylvania State University. “Victimization involving multiple bias types appears especially damaging. Schools that fail to address biased victimization risk worsening existing inequalities by harming students’ self-esteem, health, relationships, and educational achievement.”
Based on these findings, the paper recommends that school anti-bullying and violence-prevention programs give greater emphasis to prejudice-driven victimization. Staff should be trained to identify students who may be vulnerable because of one or more social characteristics and to intervene with targeted supports and restorative strategies.
The study suggests practical interventions to build inclusive climates, including expanding student-led groups that foster belonging, such as Gay–Straight Alliance clubs, which previous research indicates can reduce bias-based bullying for certain student groups.
The authors note limitations. Not all possible victim impacts were measured, so biased victimization might not show greater odds for unmeasured outcomes (for example, some risky behaviors). Additionally, the dataset did not include detailed measures of school climate factors—such as the presence of support groups or specific prevention programs—that could affect the relationship between biased victimization and student outcomes.
About this bullying and psychology research news
Author: Simon Wesson
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Contact: Simon Wesson, Taylor and Francis Group
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Findings published in Journal of School Violence