You may want to ask people around you whether they think that is the case, or even take an empathy test. This is not always easy to recognise in oneself. These reactions are indeed a red flag and should be taken seriously. You may notice this if someone gets angry at you a lot, complains about your behaviour or is tearful often. You repeatedly upset someone around you.So how can you know whether you are a bully? It is not possible to 'diagnose' in an article such as this, but if you think some of the points below apply to you, it may be worth paying attention to how you are treating others. They may intend to hurt an individual in the brief moment they are attacking them, but afterwards tell themselves that it wasn't a big deal, that the victim somehow deserved it or that it was a one off. This could also contribute to them failing to associate their behaviour with bullying. However, bullies often lack empathy – a sense of understanding for how those affected might feel when they bully. In doing so, they maintain their standing and increase their confidence, which in turn raises their own self-esteem to unrealistically high levels. What bullies often do is to seek out people with low self-esteem to pick on. Some researchers have found evidence that bullies actually score high in their social information processing abilities, as it takes a certain amount of skill to recognise who to target and how. We now know that this often isn't the case, but it may contribute to people failing to recognise themselves as bullies. Low IQ stereotypeīullies have traditionally been viewed as having low IQ and being socially inept – lacking in social cognition. If your self esteem has been crushed, you may end up blaming yourself, thinking you are worthless and even justify being bullied – not realising you are actually being abused. The real figures may be distorted as bullying is not always reported, out of fear of retaliation or perhaps because the person affected might not realise they are being bullied.

In the UK, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) reported having received 20,000 calls from workers related to bullying and harassment in 2016, many of whom were from an ethnic minority employed in the public sector or women who worked in traditionally male-dominated professions. In 2017, the Workplace Bullying Institute estimated that 60.3m workers in the US alone have been affected by workplace bullying. The fact that we have no clear definition might explain why it is sometimes difficult to estimate the prevalence of workplace bullying. Read more: Psychologists discover deluded people and religious fundamentalists more likely to believe fake news

Generally, to be considered bullying, the practice must be carried out either by an individual or a group, repeatedly over time, and with an intent to hurt an individual person.īullies may justify their behavior by claiming they are pushing those around them to achieve their best. Most Western countries have borrowed the English term for bullying, yet this is not always the case.īullying may take many forms, from physical assault, verbal abuse and social exclusion to cyber bullying. The first researcher to investigate bullying-in Norway- used the word 'mobbing' to describe it in 1973. But how do you know you are actually bullying someone rather than just dealing with an overly sensitive person?Īcademics still disagree about how bullying should be conceptualised and defined. They may even think that people who break down as a result of their behaviour are not strong enough to work in the profession in question. Or they may be nice to the people they bully at times, and only remember those instances. But why is bullying so widespread and difficult to tackle? Part of the problem is that bullies sometimes don't even realise that they are bullies.įor example, bullying managers may easily justify upsetting certain employees by telling themselves that they are only pushing them to be their best. In fact, a recent report into bullying in the UK's parliament revealed just how serious this problem is, urging behavioural change among MPs. From the playground to parliament, bullying exists everywhere.

I am a bully poem