Specificity of the self-attitude of students who experienced different types of bullying at school

This study examined the self-attitude of students who had been subjected to or had witnessed school bullying. Effects of exposure to bullying were found in the students' self-valuation: bullying victims valued themselves less and had more doubts about the uniqueness of their personality, they were also not self-confident and had problems protecting their individuality from the negative impact of the social environment. There were no significant differences in self-attitude between bullying victims and witnesses of bullying. Both groups showed average self-valuation, which may indicate increasing likelihood to submit to others in critical situations. The following trends were also seen when comparing the two groups: in the sample of victims of bullying, self-attachment was slightly higher, whereas in the group of witnesses, the indicators of internal conflict and self-blame were higher. Results may indicate that in certain situations bullying victims are more likely to see society as a threat to their self-esteem, whereas witnesses of bullying are more likely to disagree with themselves, to show excessive introspection, and to question their Self. The study also revealed differences in the self-attitude of victims of bullying depending on the type of violence they had experienced - humiliation, insults, or cyberbullying. Differences were diagnosed using the indicator of openness. Those victims of bullying who had been humiliated were the most closed, they had fewer personal contacts and less personal activity. This defensive behavior may be allowing them to avoid new cases of abuse.