The Dynamic Associations Of Peer Pressure,Self-Esteem,and Bullying Perpetration:A Three-Year Longitudinal Study

After more than four decades of research,school bullying remains an important problem worldwide.Given the adverse consequences of bullying perpetration for adolescent’s development,it is significantly to further explore the causes and potential mechanisms of adolescents’ bullying perpetration.The current study systematically explores the longitudinal mechanism of peer pressure,self-esteem,and bullying perpetration from combines static and dynamic perspectives,and examines the moderating effects of gender,agreeableness,and family socioeconomic status.It provides a new idea for the intervention of adolescent bullying perpetration.A sample of 2407 Chinese adolescents(Mage at baseline = 12.75 years)completed measurements of peer pressure,self-esteem,bullying perpetration and big five personality at 3 time points with one-year intervals from November 2018.SPSS,JASP and Mplus 8.3were used to analyze the survey data.The results show that:(1)At the between-person level,peer pressure can stably predict subsequent bullying perpetration,but bullying perpetration doesn’t stably predict the subsequent peer pressure.(2)At the between-person and withinperson level,peer pressure and self-esteem have a mutual predictive effect,peer pressure can predict the subsequent self-esteem,self-esteem can predict the subsequent peer pressure.(3)At the between-person and within-person level,self-esteem can stably predict subsequent bullying perpetration,but bullying perpetration doesn’t stably predict the subsequent self-esteem.(4)At the between-person and within-person level,self-esteem mediated the association between peer pressure and bullying perpetration across time.(5)At the between-person and within-person level,gender can moderate the associations among peer pressure,self-esteem,and bullying perpetration.(6)At the between-person level,agreeableness can moderate the associations among peer pressure,self-esteem,and bullying perpetration;At the within-person level,agreeableness not moderate the associations among three variables.(7)At the between-person and within-person level,family socioeconomic status not moderate the associations among peer pressure,selfesteem,and bullying behavior.This study systematically expounded the longitudinal associations among peer pressure,self-esteem,and bullying perpetration from both the individual and the individual level,and explores its boundary effect in depth,which can provide scientific guidance for the intervention practice of adolescent bullying perpetration.Specifically,teachers and parents should pay special attention to adolescents with high susceptibility to peer pressure,guide them to effectively cope with peer pressure,help them improve their self-esteem,and thus reduce the maladaptive behaviors caused by peer pressure.In addition,differences in gender,personality and other factors should be fully considered in the design of intervention programs.