Posts Tagged ‘how bullies select their targets’

WBI Survey: How Bullies Select Their Targets

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

HOW BULLIES SELECT THEIR TARGETS
WBI 2012-I Instant Poll

Individuals who are bullied ask themselves, “why me?.” They worry that some personal shortcoming is the reason. This self-defeating logic focuses responsibllity inward. The truth is that no one wakes on a work day with a plan to invite humiliation and torment, nor does anyone deserve it. Some academic researchers (e.g., Tepper) adopt “victim precipitation,” an ideology borrowed from criminology that has been thoroughly discredited. It leads to blaming victims/targets. Bullies may rationalize their actions with “the target made me do it,” but anecdotal evidence from targets and witnesses refute this notion.

This ninth 2012 online survey of 655 respondents was intended to replicate original WBI 2003 findings exploring, from the targets’ perspective, why they were targeted.

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