Skip to main content

Research on giftedness and bullying

The debate regarding bullying and giftedness is still ongoing till this day. Some say that being gifted is an advantage in all aspects of life, meaning that social relationships also get better because of it. Others say that giftedness has caveats, the main one is difficulty relating to others, making the person more vulnerable to bullying. 

A relevant factor in this discussion is the fact that professionals working with this group are more prone to see kids who have difficulties of some kind. That means they can have a bias and can think all gifted kids have the problems their patients have. 

Knowing this is an important debate in this field, I found it appropriate to bring you research about it. Specifically, I am going to comment on a systematic review. I am not going to explain it all, if you want to learn more, I will leave the citation for you to check. 

The review identifies three possibilities regarding the relation between giftedness and bullying. (1) Gifted students have a higher risk of being victimized and a lower probability of being a bully due to their individual characteristics. (2) Academically gifted students are not especially vulnerable to bullying and have a lower participation in bullying. (3) Gifted students have the same probability as other students of being both a victim and a bully. For all these perspectives, studies comparing gifted students with non-gifted students were analysed. The results show evidence supporting all three perspectives, being the last one the one with more support.

Another type of research analysed only considered gifted students, without comparing them with other groups. The results suggest a high prevalence of bullying with very negative consequences for this group. This would support the first perspective I exposed before. 

There is a lack of studies on this topic and there is a disparity of results. This may be for different reasons. There is no unanimity regarding the definition of the term gifted. Different studies were conducted in different countries with different cultures and educational systems. The age of the sample and the measurement instruments. And to that I would add that not all gifted students are identified, that means some gifted students could be in the wrong group. More research is needed to have a better picture of the phenomena.  

But the lack of clear evidence does not have to prevent us from doing actions. Preventive measures for this group can be taken, for example designating a peer mentor or grouping gifted students through the day to prevent a feeling of isolation.   

Differences in socioemotional skills could be why some gifted kids are more exposed to bullying than others. The qualitative aspect of the bullying these students generally receive is also relevant, it includes insults referring to their intelligence, teasing about their appearance or academic qualifications. It shows a need to create a positive environment in schools that accepts individual differences. 

I hope it was of your interest. If you want to learn more, I leave the citation and the link here: 

Martínez-Monteagudo, Á., Martínez-Monteagudo, M. C., & Delgado, B. (2023). School bullying and cyberbullying in academically gifted students: A systematic review. Aggression and violent behavior, 71, 101842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2023.101842

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178923000290


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brian Giner and PDA Bullying platform

  Following my last post, where I talked about the documentary Acoso Escolar from ARTE.tv, I caught my attention the figure of Brian Giner, so I decided to look into his book Golpeado pero no derrotado It’s a work for all ages in which he shares his personal experience during his school years. The author emphasizes that the book isn’t just meant for students, but also for parents and professors. Through his story, he hopes to raise awareness about the importance of taking action in cases of bullying. Apart from publishing his book, he also gives talks on bullying prevention to students in the first to third years of ESO in catalan high schools. Based on his own experience, Brian aims to shed light on cases like his so that victims don’t feel alone and can see an example of resilience. While researching his book, I came across a very interesting platform called PDA Bullying . It’s a collaborative initiative involving various institutions aimed at promoting best practices for the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Salutogenic approach and a personal opinion

  As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, on the website called PDA Bullying , among various resources, there is a section dedicated to explain the Salutogenic approach . After doing some research, it becomes clear that this approach gets its name because its main goal is to promote health and well-being . The platform aims to address bullying from this perspective, adopting a strength-based approach that focuses on individuals' potential and the creation of a cooperative community working toward a shared goal . It slightly reminds me of the No Blame Approach we studied in class, as it also refers to a method based on compassion and a solution-focused outlook , rather than assigning blame. Their aim is not simply to act against bullying, but rather to overcome it , moving beyond a simplistic understanding of bullying as just a dynamic between two individuals. Instead, they view it as a broader social process . For this reason, the protocol designed and implemented by...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guidelines for Bullying in German Schools

In Germany, the Ministry of Education published guidelines for schools on how to deal with bullying in schools. The following characteristics identify bullying: Intent to Harm, Repetition, Power Imbalance, and Helplessness. If bullying is detected, they provide teachers with 5 steps to follow. First, they should act immediately. This includes halting any aggressive behavior and ensuring the victim is safe. Also, they are obliged to assess if the already mentioned bullying criteria are met. Then, Teachers and school staff need to discuss the situation with colleagues to decide on the best course of action. This might involve engaging the victim and the bully in separate conversations and determining the next steps. Lastly, the victim should be provided with support to offer a safe school environment again In addition to the teacher guidelines, there are also ones for School Leadership Teams. First, they have to ensure that anti-bullying policies are being followed. This includes suppor...
Post a Comment
Read more