The Nature, Nurture and Networks of Mean Girls: Considering Evolutionary, Social Learning and Social Network Perspectives on Girls' Intrasexual Relational Bullying

Abstract

Prevailing research suggests that girls frequently engage in relational bullying directed towards other girls. The research also suggests that rates of bullying behaviors peak and intensify across the transition from childhood to adolescence. The purpose of my thesis was to investigate the individual and group-level social contexts that give rise to early adolescent girls’ perpetration of intrasexual relational bullying through the application of the three diverse yet complimentary lenses of evolutionary theory, social learning theory, and social network analysis. Early adolescent girls (N= 145, M=12.25 years) completed self-reports on parental attachment, neighbourhood violence, school climate, dating history, and self-perceived attractiveness, as well as peer nomination reports on friendship, perceived popularity, and relational bullying. My results indicate that girls’ intrasexual relational bullying perpetration is related to the environmental characteristics of school climate and the peer-valued characteristic of perceived popularity, but that social network characteristics such as centrality are less important than hypothesized. My findings suggest that evolutionary theory and social learning theory offer more complete explanations of girls’ intrasexual relational bullying than does social network theory. However, continued research may still be required to investigate the social network contexts that give rise to higher rates of girls’ intrasexual relational bullying perpetration.