Under Construction @ Keele 2017 Under Construction @ Keele Vol. III (3) | Page 24

colleagues show that relational bullying transpires in HE and can remain unnoticed in
the form of clique groups. 9
Additionally, one study found that half of those currently bullied in HE had
been bullied before leaving school. 10 Maili Pörhölä reemphasises this point by finding
that half of her sample, who had bullied peers at HE level, also admitted to
previously bullying their school peers. 11 Retrospective investigations show that past
victimisation is a risk for future victimisation; in one study, 3% (30 students) of the
sample admitted to being a victim at primary school, high school, and college. 12
Traditional bullying may continue through all levels of education, though it is less
widespread within HE. 13 Kate Wensley and Marilyn Campbell suggest that, even
though traditional bullying decreases over time, cyber bullying (online aggression
perpetrated through a wealth of devices and modalities, like social media or apps)
might stay constant. 14 Many researchers note that cyber bullying continues into
college settings, 15,16,17 and Bülent Dilmaç found that previous engagement in
cyberbullying predicted an increased likelihood of being involved in the future. 18
Thus, bullying is indeed present at the HE level, and the same individuals
involved previously are likely to be adopting similar roles. However, the behaviour is
not as common as it is amongst school-age children: 57% (335) of Sheri Bauman
and Matthew Newman’s students never reported being victimised, 19 and, similarly,
Cynthia Brock et al., “‘Mean Girls’ Go to College: Exploring Female–Female Relational Bullying in an
Undergraduate Literacy Methods Course,” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 20 (4)
(2014): 516.
10
C. Lappalainen et al. cited in Helen Cowie and Carrie-Anne Myers, “Bullying Amongst University
Students in the UK,” International Journal of Emotional Education 6 (1) (2014): 67.
11
Maili Pörhölä, “Do the Roles of Bully and Victim Remain Stable from School to University?
Theoretical Considerations,” in Bullying Among University Students, ed. Helen Cowie and Carrie-
Anne Myers (Oxon: Routledge, 2016).
12
Sheri Bauman and Matthew L. Newman, “Testing Assumptions About Cyberbullying: Perceived
Distress Associated with Acts of Conventional and Cyber Bullying,” Psychology of Violence 3 (1)
(2013): 27.
13
Hanna-Maija Sinkkonen, Helena Puhakka and Matti Meriläinen, “Bullying at a University: Students'
Experiences of Bullying,” Studies in Higher Education 39 (1) (2014): 153-165.
14
Kate Wensley and Marilyn Campbell, “Heterosexual and Non-Heterosexual Young University
Students' Involvement in Traditional and Cyber Forms of Bullying,” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and
Social Networking 15 (12) (2012): 649-654.
15
Katie Crosslin and Mandy Golman, “‘Maybe You Don’t Want to Face it’ – College Students’
Perspectives on Cyberbullying,” Computers in Human Behavior 41 (2014): 14-20.
16
Zebbedia Gibb and Paul Devereux, “Who Does That Anyway? Predictors and Personality
Correlates of Cyberbullying in College,” Computers in Human Behavior 38 (2014): 8-16.
17
Carol Walker, Beth Sockman and Steven Koehn, “An Exploratory Study of Cyberbullying with
Undergraduate University Students,” Techtrends 55 (2) (2011): 31-38.
18
Bülent Dilmaç, “Psychological Needs as a Predictor of Cyber Bullying: A Preliminary Report on
College Students,” Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 9 (3) (2009): 1307-1325.
19
Bauman and Newman, “Testing Assumptions About Cyberbullying,” 27.
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