Factors relating to self-identification among bullying victims

While researchers often debate the use of subjective labels in school bullying research (e.g. “I am bullied…”) as a methodological issue, responses to such measures should be viewed as a valuable tool for evaluating student constructs of bullying victimization. Accordingly, this study compares demographic and descriptive characteristics and bullying experiences of self-labeled bullying victims to those students who have been victimized but do not label themselves a victim. Among 192 rural elementary and middle school students, 21.9% said that they have been bullied while another 22.9% met victimization criteria but did identify themselves as such. Based on chi-square and MANOVA comparisons, self-labeled victims experience more specific types of bullying, more total bullying behaviors, and more frequent bullying than their non-labeled counterparts. In light of such findings, the authors discuss the implications of labeling and self-identification for both research and bullying prevention.