Global Results of Peer Aggression and Well-being Study

The incidence of peer aggression and bullying experienced by all students in the sample, as well as gender and age diferences, are provided in this chapter.
The findings show that approximately half of the participants were not involved or were not harmed through aggressive acts with peers, while approximately 1 in 4 participants that had been harmed through peer aggression had no intention of harming others. Just over 1 in 4 participants were involved in peer aggression in a playful or harmless manner. Approximately 5% of participants reported being bullied as well as bullying others, or harmed others while they themselves were not harmed, while 1 in 7 were involved in peer aggression as victims as well as aggressors. Generally, males showed a greater propensity to being involved in peer aggression than females, while the likelihood of not being involved in any peer aggression increased with age. Young people repeatedly harmed through peer aggression were the least likely to flourish, although the effect of harmful peer
aggression on well-being was mediated by resilience and global self-concept. Study results showed that victims and aggressors are generally known to each other and it is less common for harmful peer aggression to occur between victims and aggressors who are not friends, classmates, or best friends.