Introduction
Bullying refers to intentional and repetitive aggressive behavior involving a power imbalance. It encompasses roles such as bully, victim, bully-victim, and bystander. Bullying can take physical, verbal, social, emotional, sexual, or cyber forms. Among adults, bullying is often subtle yet harmful to those involved. Understanding and measuring adult bullying can contribute to both research and clinical practice.
Purpose
This study examined the prevalence of bullying roles and types of bullying and victimization among adults and explored gender differences across these variables.
Method
Data were obtained from 1454 adults aged 18-64 in Türkiye using the Adult Bullying and Victimization Scale, which includes 19 items and three dimensions: direct, social-relational, and cyber bullying/victimization. Participants were classified as bullies, victims, bully-victims, or uninvolved. Data were analyzed with Jamovi using nonparametric tests (Friedman, Durbin-Conover, Kruskal-Wallis) due to non-normal distribution. Frequency and Chi-square analyses were applied to examine distributions and gender differences.
Results
Participants most frequently engaged in direct bullying, followed by social-relational and cyber forms. Similarly, they most often experienced direct victimization, followed by social-relational and, least frequently, cyber victimization. Men reported higher involvement in all three types of bullying than women. While no gender differences were found for direct and cyber victimization, women reported higher levels of social-relational victimization. Among participants, 56.7% were uninvolved, 20.0% were bully-victims, 18.3% were victims, and 5.1% were bullies. The Chi-square analysis revealed a significant association between role and gender. No gender difference was observed in the bully role, whereas women were more likely to be in the victim and uninvolved roles, and men were more likely to be in the bully-victim role.
Conclusion
Adult bullying manifests through direct, relational, and cyber interactions, reflecting complex social dynamics. Considering its prevalence and gender-specific patterns, adult bullying warrants further empirical and clinical attention.