"Bullying is a special case of aggression that is primarily differentiated on the basis of power. Specifically, individuals who bully are more powerful than their victims, who in turn have difficulty defending themselves, whereas individuals who employ general aggression are not necessarily more powerful than those they attack. From an evolutionary perspective, there are many potential reasons why bullies should enjoy increased reproductive benefits. Bullies generally elevated social and physical attributes may offer a signal of good genes. Furthermore, their social dominance and ability to control resources are also likely to be reasons why bullies appear more attractive to partners than nonbullies as a signal that they could provide for and protect their partner and potential offspring. In addition, the confluence of increased bullying and dating during adolescence may help explain why antibullying interventions often fail to work (or are iatrogenic) among older adolescents. They fail because they do not address the novel, sexually motivated goals of adolescents that foster new forms and goals of competition that are generally absent among younger children."
"We conducted two studies in which the relation between bullying behavior and both dating and sexual behavior were examined in a sample of younger adolescents and a sample of older adolescents. Consistent with most of the previous literature on aggression, we predicted that dating and sexual behavior would be significantly related to bullying. We predicted that bullies would report higher levels of dating and sexual activity."
"In both studies, bullying was significantly positively correlated with having dated, number of dating partners, having had sexual activity, and number of sexual partners. In Study 1, it was positively associated with an interest in dating, and in Study 2, it was positively associated with self-perceived attractiveness and negatively associated with age of first sexual experience."
"In Study 2, being male, a bully, a victim, or attractive were all positive predictors of number of dating partners (combining to explain roughly 30% of the variance in the model)."
"The effects of bullying on sexual behavior appear to be generally independent of individual perceptions of attractiveness, likeability, age, and sex. We found several univariate and multivariate links between bullying and dating as well (especially among an older, more experienced sample)"
"If bullying does indeed lead to an increase in sexual opportunities, it will no doubt be difficult to shift the behavioral patterns of adolescents who enjoy such an outcome."
"Table 3 also shows that bullying was predictive of number of dating partners. In Study 1, it was only significant in the second step of the model (adding attractiveness lowered the significance of the model), whereas in Study 2, in the final step of the model, it was significant alongside attractiveness. In both studies, being older was a significant predictor of having had a sexual experience."
"Our results offer mixed support for our hypothesized positive link between bullying and dating behavior but more clearly supported our hypothesized positive link between bullying and sexual behavior."
"Across both studies, the univariate data revealed numerous correlations between bullying and sexual behavior. In both sets of logistic regressions, bullying was a statistically significant predictor of sexual behavior. The effect sizes suggest that bullying is a modest predictor of sexual behavior at the univariate level in both younger and older adolescents. Our data suggest that bullying is associated with a 1.5–2x greater likelihood of having had sexual intercourse. Bullying was also a small but statistically significant predictor of the number of sexual partners in both linear regressions. These findings, in two separate samples, offer converging support for our prediction that bullying would be related to sexual opportunities, independent of age, sex, self-reported attractiveness, victimization, and likeability. They suggest that the act of bullying itself, or some intrinsic character of bullies beyond those mentioned above, predispose and/or facilitate bullies’ access to sexual opportunities. In particular, it is noteworthy that victimization had few univariate links with sexual behavior and was not a multivariate predictor in any of our regressions."
" The absence of age as a significant predictor in Study 2 suggests that the only stable predictor of sexual behavior in our two studies was bullying. There were patterns related to age and attractiveness, but they did not hold constant across both studies and/or regressions. This lends fairly reliable support to the unique importance of bullying as a positive predictor of sexual behavior and for the hypothesis that bullying may be (at least in part) a behavior designed to meet evolutionarily adaptive goals. In light of previous research illustrating a common link between motives for status seeking and sexual behavior, bullying behavior may be a means to achieve both of these goals"
Link to the article, compiled with numerous sources: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1474704915613909#bibr18-1474704915613909
"We conducted two studies in which the relation between bullying behavior and both dating and sexual behavior were examined in a sample of younger adolescents and a sample of older adolescents. Consistent with most of the previous literature on aggression, we predicted that dating and sexual behavior would be significantly related to bullying. We predicted that bullies would report higher levels of dating and sexual activity."
"In both studies, bullying was significantly positively correlated with having dated, number of dating partners, having had sexual activity, and number of sexual partners. In Study 1, it was positively associated with an interest in dating, and in Study 2, it was positively associated with self-perceived attractiveness and negatively associated with age of first sexual experience."
"In Study 2, being male, a bully, a victim, or attractive were all positive predictors of number of dating partners (combining to explain roughly 30% of the variance in the model)."
"The effects of bullying on sexual behavior appear to be generally independent of individual perceptions of attractiveness, likeability, age, and sex. We found several univariate and multivariate links between bullying and dating as well (especially among an older, more experienced sample)"
"If bullying does indeed lead to an increase in sexual opportunities, it will no doubt be difficult to shift the behavioral patterns of adolescents who enjoy such an outcome."
"Table 3 also shows that bullying was predictive of number of dating partners. In Study 1, it was only significant in the second step of the model (adding attractiveness lowered the significance of the model), whereas in Study 2, in the final step of the model, it was significant alongside attractiveness. In both studies, being older was a significant predictor of having had a sexual experience."
"Our results offer mixed support for our hypothesized positive link between bullying and dating behavior but more clearly supported our hypothesized positive link between bullying and sexual behavior."
"Across both studies, the univariate data revealed numerous correlations between bullying and sexual behavior. In both sets of logistic regressions, bullying was a statistically significant predictor of sexual behavior. The effect sizes suggest that bullying is a modest predictor of sexual behavior at the univariate level in both younger and older adolescents. Our data suggest that bullying is associated with a 1.5–2x greater likelihood of having had sexual intercourse. Bullying was also a small but statistically significant predictor of the number of sexual partners in both linear regressions. These findings, in two separate samples, offer converging support for our prediction that bullying would be related to sexual opportunities, independent of age, sex, self-reported attractiveness, victimization, and likeability. They suggest that the act of bullying itself, or some intrinsic character of bullies beyond those mentioned above, predispose and/or facilitate bullies’ access to sexual opportunities. In particular, it is noteworthy that victimization had few univariate links with sexual behavior and was not a multivariate predictor in any of our regressions."
" The absence of age as a significant predictor in Study 2 suggests that the only stable predictor of sexual behavior in our two studies was bullying. There were patterns related to age and attractiveness, but they did not hold constant across both studies and/or regressions. This lends fairly reliable support to the unique importance of bullying as a positive predictor of sexual behavior and for the hypothesis that bullying may be (at least in part) a behavior designed to meet evolutionarily adaptive goals. In light of previous research illustrating a common link between motives for status seeking and sexual behavior, bullying behavior may be a means to achieve both of these goals"
Link to the article, compiled with numerous sources: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1474704915613909#bibr18-1474704915613909
