School Fairness as a Bullying Victimization Protective Factor: Structure or Personality?

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Sociology of Education
• Criminology

Background:

• Existing research links perceived school fairness to reduced bullying, aligning with organizational justice theories.
• Previous studies often measure fairness individually, risking omitted variable bias from traits like agreeableness.
• Fairness is narrowly defined, focusing on punishments and neglecting academic grading fairness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between individual and school-level academic fairness and bullying victimization.
• To address gaps in extant research by considering structural fairness and broadening the definition of fairness.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a nationally representative sample of 3,098 Tunisian middle and high school students across 40 schools.
• Employed multilevel models to analyze individual and school-level academic fairness.
• Controlled for individual factors like academic performance and intimate partner violence exposure; used multiple imputation for non-response and survey weights for national estimates.

Main Results:

• Individual perceived academic fairness significantly reduced physical and verbal bullying victimization.
• School-level average academic fairness was associated with significantly less verbal bullying victimization.
• Neglect and intimate partner violence exposure were also significant risk factors for bullying victimization.

Conclusions:

• Both individual perceptions and structural aspects of academic fairness are crucial protective factors against bullying.
• Findings highlight the need to incorporate structural fairness into school-based anti-bullying strategies.
• Future interventions should consider the multifaceted nature of fairness in educational settings.