Definition
Bullying is a form of aggression where a more powerful individual causes significant harm to a less powerful individual to obtain goals including access to sexual opportunities (e.g., dating and mating partners; Volk et al. 2014). Intrasexual competition for access to dating and mating opportunities is known as sexual selection (Geary 1998). As a form of sexual selection, parental investment is the resources (e.g., time, energy) allocated by parents toward offspring (Trivers 1972). Sex differences in the level of parental investment may help to explain why boys bully more than girls.
Introduction
Bullying significantly impacts the lives of many children and adolescents worldwide. Traditionally, bullying has been viewed as a maladaptive behavior; however, there is evidence to suggest that bullying may be part of an evolutionary adaptation designed to obtain at least three benefits: reputation,...
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Provenzano, D., Volk, A.A. (2016). Boys Bully More Than Girls. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_856-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_856-1
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