Understanding bullying from a shame management perspective: Findings from a three-year follow-up study

This study investigates bullies, victims and bully/victims who moved out of these roles over a three-year period in terms of their socially adaptive shame management skills and examines how such skills differ from those who remained stable in their bullying status. Data were collected from 32 schools in the Australian Capital Territory (1996 and 1999). The sample consisted of 365 students (48 per cent boys) who participated at two time points. Occupying a bully role in primary school was the most significant risk for continuing in the role in secondary school (51 per cent). Of the participants in 1996, 46 per cent of the non-bullies/non-victims, 40 per cent of the bullies/victims and 31 per cent of the victims remained stable in 1999. To test the importance of shame management in relation to the stability and variability in bullying roles, a modified version of the MOSS-SASD (Management of Shame State: Shame Acknowledgement and Shame Displacement) instrument was used. As expected, desisted bullies showed a significant inclination toward shame acknowledgement – the most adaptive form of managing shame. In support of shame management theory, non-bullies/non-victims who maintained their bullying-free status three years later also continued to manage shame adaptively (high shame acknowledgement and less shame displacement). The implications of these results for the future development of bullying interventions are discussed.