Abstract
Highly responsive teachers tend to foster behaviors that are low in conflict and high in prosociality, among their students, leading to a positive classroom climate and to a decrease in bullying victimization. However, little is known about the interaction between teacher responsiveness and both student–teacher, and student–student relationship characteristics, in influencing students’ bullying victimization at school. Here, we examined student–teacher relationship quality and students’ likeability among peers as predictors of in-school victimization. Additionally, we investigated the moderating role of teacher responsiveness over this link. Study sample consisted of 386 early-adolescent students (55.2% female, mean age [SD] = 12.17 [0.73]) and 19 main teachers (females, n = 14). Findings indicated that students’ exposure to victimization was positively associated with student–teacher conflict and negatively associated with likeability among classroom peers. Teacher responsiveness did not show a significant direct association with bullying victimization. However, when teachers showed high responsiveness, the strength of the association between student–teacher conflict and students’ likelihood of bullying victimization was slightly increased. The present study highlights the importance of considering the role of teacher responsiveness when modeling the link between student and teacher relationship quality and in school bullying victimization.
Highlights
Victimization by school peers is a widespread phenomenon and needs to be urgently addressed (Longobardi et al 2017; Longobardi et al 2018; Longobardi et al 2019; Marengo et al 2018)
It is reasonable to expect that differences in teachers’ responsiveness in managing classroom interactions might be related to the ability to buffer the effect of these characteristics as facilitators of students’ victimization by school peers. In light of these considerations, with the present study, we aim to investigate the links between teacher responsiveness, self-reported student–teacher relationship quality, students’ likeability among their classroom peers, and students’ risk of in-school bullying victimization in early adolescence
As regards cross-level correlations, we found classroom-level teacher responsiveness was positively related to individual-level student–teacher closeness (r = .29, p
Summary
Victimization by school peers is a widespread phenomenon and needs to be urgently addressed (Longobardi et al 2017; Longobardi et al 2018; Longobardi et al 2019; Marengo et al 2018). Given the pervasiveness of bullying victimization and the severity of its consequences for students’ welfare, it is essential to investigate potential risk and protective factors, both at the individual and group levels. Among these factors is the quality of students’ relationships with individuals they spend time with at school, including their classroom peers and their teachers (e.g., Elledge et al 2016). We refer to the traditional definition by Olweus (1993), in which bullying is defined as a frequent, repeated, and unjustifiable verbal, physical, and psychological aggression that involves power asymmetry between the victim and the bully. In referring to a traditional definition of bullying victimization, we distinguish ourselves from a less specific definition of peer victimization, which similar, does not entail the existence of a power imbalance between the victims and the aggressors (Hunter et al 2007; Söderberg and Björkqvist 2020)
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