Examination of the effects of adolescent bullying on women's self-esteem.

Abstract

Bullying damages the self-esteem of the victim. This study identified implications of this behavior into adulthood. A sample of 214 volunteers was used for data analysis. Subjects completed two self-report questionnaires, one in which bullying behaviors were retrospectively identified and a self-esteem inventory to detect a current self-esteem level. A current self-esteem score was calculated for each individual based on the self-esteem inventory. Through the bullying questionnaire participants were separated into two categories based on the reported frequency of the behavior and the reflected intensity. Within each category, participants were further sorted into four groups determined by answer selection on the questionnaire. Two separate one-way analyses of variance were computed to compare the mean self-esteem scores of the four groups of individuals in each category. Significant differences indicate that the frequency and intensity of bullying behavior does, in fact, associate with a lowered self-esteem level for adult women.