Study says that many adults don't understand bullying's effects

By Staff Writer

A new study from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management reveals that many people do not understand the lingering social trauma that is caused by bullying, which leads to many victims not getting the support or treatment that they need.

The report, which is called Empathy Gaps for Social Pain: Why People Underestimate the Pain of Social Suffering, appears in the current issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Researchers concluded that many people have difficulty understanding the full severity of social ostracism unless they have experienced it personally.

This "empathy gap," as researchers called it, impacts the way many people react to socially distressing events. The team conducted five experiments that proved this gap, including one that asked middle school teachers to evaluate anti-bullying rules at their respective schools. The educators who were bullied as children had a more accurate perception off the pain that is caused by bullying, which caused them to propose tougher punishment for bullies.

The study's lead author proposed that institutions may consider enforcing tough love measures, which simulate mild states of social pain in faculty and students in order to heighten their understanding of the effects of bullying.

Students who bully their peers may benefit from boarding schools, which aim to provide help for troubled teens.