Personality traits, empathy and bullying behavior: A meta-analytic approach

Abstract

The authors conducted a literature review and a meta-analysis to understand the relation between personality, bullying, and victimization behavior. The objective was to assess the effect of some personality dimensions and variables on either bullying or victimization behavior in boys and girls of different age groups. Studies that assessed the Big-Five model of personality, and personality variables (i.e., cognitive and affective empathy), and that measured bullying acts and victimization behavior, were included in the present review. The results revealed that lower level of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness and higher levels of Neuroticism and Extraversion were associated with both bullying and victimization. On the contrary, cognitive and affective empathy were negatively associated only with bullying behavior. The authors propose possible explanations among these patterns of bullying and victimization behavior, the personality and general demographic characteristics, consider implications, and discuss future directions in the field of bullying research.