Bullying at a university: students' experiences of bullying

Abstract

This study focuses on bullying at a Finnish university. In May 2010 an e-questionnaire was sent to each university student (N = 10,551), and 27% of these students (N = 2,805) responded. According to the results, 5% of the university students had experienced either indirect public bullying or direct verbal bullying on campus. In most cases, the bully was another student, although almost as often a member of the teaching personnel was reported to be the bully. Bullied students had resolved the unpleasant situations by using either active or passive responses. One example of an active response was to interrupt studies or avoid situations in which bullying occurred. Passively, students responded by submitting to the bullies, which resulted in psychic symptoms such as weakening of capacity, motivation and self-confidence, low spirits and even depression.