Summary
This international comparative study investigated how cultural values, specifically individualism-collectivism, relate to the prevalence and nature of bullying victimisation across countries using large-scale survey data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveys and four additional datasets. Contrary to some theoretical predictions, findings indicated less victimisation in individualist societies in recent years, with some evidence for greater relational bullying in individualist contexts and higher bully-to-victim ratios in collectivist societies. The authors hypothesise that regulatory frameworks and resources in individualist societies may have preferentially reduced victimisation over the past two decades.
UK applicability
As an individualist Western society, the United Kingdom would likely be positioned in the lower victimisation range predicted by these findings, particularly in more recent years. The research suggests that UK policy frameworks and resource investment may have contributed to reduced bullying victimisation, relevant to ongoing school safeguarding policy and evaluation.
Key measures
Bullying victimisation prevalence by country; individualism-collectivism (IDV) scores; proportion of relational versus physical bullying; ratio of bullies to victims
Outcomes reported
The study examined country-level variations in bullying victimisation prevalence and its relationship to individualism-collectivism cultural dimensions, including the proportion of relational bullying and the ratio of bullies to victims across multiple countries and time points.
Topic tags
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.