Personality Traits And Self-Esteem In Traditional Bullying And Cyberbullying

Introduction: Personality traits and self-esteem have been suggested as potential mediators of aggression; however, in the area of bullying the literature is scarce. The aim of this study is to assess the associations between personality traits, self-esteem and bullying, comparing aggressors in traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 2218 secondary school students in London (UK) was conducted. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, the Eysenck Impulsiveness Scale (EIS), the Childhood Narcissism Scale, the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem self-report measures were used. Results: Data from 1288 students were used for the main analysis, 81% of whom were not involved in any type of bullying aggression (n = 1045) whereas nearly 20% (n = 243) were involved in perpetrating bullying. There were no significant group differences on narcissism traits, whereas higher scores in impulsivity, callousunemotional traits and lower self-esteem were found in those perpetrating traditional bullying. Impulsivity predicted all forms of bullying perpetration, while callous-unemotional traits and self-esteem predicted traditional bullying, especially if they also cyberbullied.Conclusions: Impulsivity, callous-unemotional traits and self-esteem can play a role in bullying involvement. These results emphasize the need for early recognition of these features and development of school and clinicbased interventions to target them.