Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cultural values as mediators between parenting styles and bullying behavior at school

  • Published:
Social Psychology of Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parenting styles, cultural values and bullying behavior at school. The main objective was to test the mediating role of cultural values in these relationships. The participants were 985 pre-adolescents, aged 10–12 years old (M = 10.95, SD = .75) from Cyprus and Greece who completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Cultural Values Scale and the Bullying Victimization Questionnaire. Structural equation models were applied to test the interrelations between the latent factors. It was found that horizontal individualism was positively related to victimization, whereas vertical individualism was positively related to bullying. Furthermore, cultural values partially mediated the relationships between parental styles and bullying behavior. The contextual mechanisms explaining bullying and victimization were similar for males and females. The findings support the contextual conceptualization of bullying and point out the need to consider the mediating role of cultural values in order to understand the differential pathways between familial factors and child outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arsenio, W. F., Adams, E., & Gold, J. (2009). Social information processing, moral reasoning, and emotion attributions: Relations with adolescents’ reactive and proactive aggression. Child Development, 80(6), 1739–1755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arsenio, W. F., & Lemerise, E. A. (2001). Varieties of childhood bullying: Values, emotion processes and social competence. Social Development, 10, 59–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arsenio, W. F., & Lemerise, E. A. (2004). Aggression and moral development: Integrating social information processing and moral domains models. Child Development, 75, 987–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aslan, S. (2011). The analysis of relationship between school bullying, perceived parenting styles and self-esteem in adolescents. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 1798–1800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1991). Parenting styles and adolescent development. In J. Brooks-Gunn, R. Lerner, & A. Petersen (Eds.), The encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 746–758). New York: Garland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron, N., & Schneider, B. (2005). Explaining cross-national differences in peer directed aggression: A quantitative study. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 116–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, R. (2013). Student and teacher responses to violence in school: The divergent views of bullies, victims, and bully-victims. School Psychology International, 0143034313511012.

  • Bond, R., & Smith, P. (1996). Culture and conformity: A meta-analysis of studies using Asch’s (1952b, 1956) line judgment task. Psychological Bulletin, 119(1), 111–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein, M. H., & Cheah, C. S. L. (2006). The place of “culture and parenting” in an ecological contextual perspective on developmental science. In K. H. Rubin & O. B. Chung (Eds.), Parental beliefs, parenting, and child development in cross-cultural perspective. London: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buri, J. (1991). Parental authority questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1, 110–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buri, J. R. (1991). Parental authority questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57(1), 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calzada, E. J., Fernandez, Y., & Cortes, D. E. (2010). Incorporating the cultural value of respeto into a framework of Latino parenting. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16(1), 77–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. K. (2001). Extending research on the consequences of parenting style for Chinese Americans and European Americans. Child Development, 72, 1832–1843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, C. C., Meindl, J. R., & Hunt, R. G. (1997). Testing the effects of vertical and horizontal collectivism: A study of reward allocation preferences in China. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 28, 44–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirkov, V., Ryan, R. M., Kim, Y., & Kaplan, U. (2003). Differentiating autonomy from individualism and independence: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization of cultural orientations and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(1), 97–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cote, J. E., & Levine, C. G. (2014). Identity, formation, agency, and culture: A social psychological synthesis. New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cukur, C. S., De Guzman, M. R. T., & Gustavo, C. (2004). Religiosity, values, and horizontal and vertical individualism–collectivism: A study of Turkey, the United States, and the Philippines. The Journal of Social Psychology, 144(6), 613–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Espelage, D. L., Mebane, S. E., & Swearer, S. M. (2004). Gender differences in bullying: Moving beyond mean level differences. In D. L. Espelage, E. W. Gutgsell, & S. M. Swearer (Eds.), Bullying in American schools: A social-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention (pp. 15–35). UK: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairchild, A. J., & McQuillin, S. D. (2010). Evaluating mediation and moderation effects in school psychology: A presentation of methods and review of current practice. Journal of School Psychology, 48(1), 53–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, A. (1992). The four elementary forms of sociality: Framework for a unified theory of social relations. Psychological Review, 99, 689–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flouri, E., & Buchanan, A. (2003). The role of mother involvement and father involvement in adolescent bullying behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18(6), 634–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedlmeier, M., & Trommsdorff, G. (2011). Are mother–child similarities in value orientations related to mothers’ parenting? A comparative study of American and Romanian mothers and their adolescent children. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 8(6), 661–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgiou, S. N. (1995). Family dynamics and school achievement in Cyprus. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36(6), 977–991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgiou, S. N. (2008). Parental style and child bullying and victimization experiences at school. Social Psychology of Education, 11(3), 213–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgiou, S. N., Fousiani, K., Michaelides, M., & Stavrinides, P. (2013). Cultural value orientation and authoritarian parenting as parameters of bullying and victimization at school. International Journal of Psychology, 48(1), 69–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgiou, S. N., Ioannou, M., & Stavrinides, P. (2016). Parenting styles and bullying at school: The mediating role of locus of control. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 5(4), 226–242. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2016.1225237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgiou, S. N., & Stavrinides, P. (2013). Parenting at home and bullying at school. Social Psychology of Education, 16(2), 165–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gini, G. (2006). Social cognition and moral cognition in bullying: What’s wrong? Aggressive Behavior, 32(6), 528–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grusec, J. E., Rudy, D., & Martini, T. (1997). Parenting cognitions and child outcomes: An overview and implications for children’s internalization of values. In J. E. Grusec & L. Kuczynski (Eds.), Parenting and children’s internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 259–282). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harwood, R. L., Schölmerich, A., Ventura-Cook, E., Schulze, P. A., & Wilson, S. P. (1996). Culture and class influences on Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers’ beliefs regarding long-term socialization goals and child behavior. Child Development, 67, 2446–2461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hitlin, S., & Piliavin, J. A. (2004). Values: Reviving a dormant concept. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 359–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoeve, M., Dubas, J. S., Eichelsheim, V. I., Van der Laan, P. H., Smeenk, W., & Gerris, J. R. (2009). The relationship between parenting and delinquency: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(6), 749–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmbeck, G. N. (1997). Toward terminological, conceptual, statistical clarity in the study of mediators and moderators: Examples from the child-clinical and pediatric psychology literatures. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 599–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, J. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). A review of research on bullying and peer victimization in school: An ecological system analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(4), 311–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, J. S., Kral, M. J., & Sterzing, P. R. (2015). Pathways from bullying perpetration, victimization, and bully victimization to suicidality among school-aged youth: A review of the potential mediators and a call for further investigation. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 16(4), 379–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hussein, M. H. (2009). The peer interaction in primary school questionnaire: Testing for measurement equivalence and latent mean differences in bullying between gender in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the USA. Social Psychology of Education, 13, 57–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hymel, S., & Swearer, S. M. (2015). Four decades of research on school bullying: An introduction. American Psychologist, 70(4), 293–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iossi Silva, M. A., Pereira, B., Mendonça, D., Nunes, B., & Oliveira, W. A. D. (2013). The involvement of girls and boys with bullying: An analysis of gender differences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(12), 6820–6831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juvonen, J., Wang, Y., & Espinoza, G. (2011). Bullying experiences and compromised academic performance across middle school grades. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 31(1), 152–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawabata, Y., Alink, L. R. A., Tseng, W. L., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Crick, N. R. (2011). Maternal and paternal parenting styles associated with relational aggression in children and adolescents: A conceptual analysis and meta-analytic review. Developmental Review, 31(4), 240–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keshavarz, S., & Baharudin, R. (2012). The moderating role of gender on the relationships between perceived paternal parenting style, locus of control and self-efficacy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 32(2011), 63–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khezri, H., Ghavam, S. E., Mofidi, F., & Delavar, A. (2013). Bullying and victimization: Prevalence and gender differences in a sample of Iranian middle school students. Journal of Educational and Management Studies, 3, 224–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, E. (2005). Korean American parental control: Acceptance or rejection? Ethos, 33, 347–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurman, J., & Sriram, N. (2002). Interrelationships among vertical and horizontal collectivism, modesty, and self-enhancement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33(1), 71–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kyriakides, L., Kaloyirou, C., & Lindsay, G. (2006). An analysis of the revised Olweus bully/victim questionnaire using the Rasch measurement model. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 781–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le, T. N., & Stockdale, G. (2005). Individualism, collectivism, and delinquency in Asian American adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34, 681–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lereya, S. T., Samara, M., & Wolke, D. (2013). Parenting behavior and the risk of becoming a victim and a bully/victim: A meta-analysis study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 37(12), 1091–1108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, S., Jernbro, C., Tindberg, Y., & Janson, S. (2016). Bully, bullied and abused. Associations between violence at home and bullying in childhood. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 44(1), 27–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maralani, F. A., Mirnasab, M., & Hashemi, T. (2016). The predictive role of maternal parenting and stress on pupils’ bullying involvement. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 0886260516672053.

  • Morgan Consoli, M. L., & Llamas, J. D. (2013). The relationship between Mexican American cultural values and resilience among Mexican American college students: A mixed methods study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(4), 617–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nesdale, D., & Naito, M. (2005). Individualism–collectivism and the attitudes to school bullying of Japanese and Australian students. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 36, 537–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nucci, L. (2001). Education in the moral domain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olweus, D. (1996). Bully/victim problems in school. Prospects, 26, 331–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olweus, D. (2013). School bullying: Development and some important challenges. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 751–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pachucki, M. C., Ozer, E. J., Barrat, A., & Cattuto, C. (2015). Mental health and social networks in early adolescence: A dynamic study of objectively-measured social interaction behaviors. Social Science and Medicine, 125, 40–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prioste, A., Narciso, I., Gonçalves, M. M., & Pereira, C. R. (2015). Family relationships and parenting practices: A pathway to adolescents’ collectivist and individualist values? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(11), 3258–3267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rai, T. S., & Holyoak, K. J. (2013). Exposure to moral relativism compromises moral behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(6), 995–1001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, K. (2003). Consequences of bullying in schools. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48(9), 583–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rinaldi, C. M., & Howe, N. (2012). Mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles and associations with toddlers’ externalizing, internalizing, and adaptive behaviors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(2), 266–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheifer, D., Mollering, A., Daniel, E., Benish-Weisman, M., & Boehnke, K. (2010). Cultural values and outgroup negativity: A cross-cultural analysis of early and late adolescents. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 635–651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheithauer, H., Hayer, T., Petermann, F., & Jugert, G. (2006). Physical, verbal, and relational forms of bullying among German students: Age trends, gender differences, and correlates. Aggressive Behavior, 32(3), 261–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schonpflug, U. (2001). Intergenerational transmission of values: The role of transmission belts. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(2), 174–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singelis, T. M., Triandis, H. C., Bhawuk, D., & Gelfand, M. J. (1995). Horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism: A theoretical and measurement refinement. Cross-Cultural Research, 29, 240–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sivadas, E., Bruvold, N. T., & Nelson, M. R. (2007). A reduced version of the horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism scale: A four-country assessment. Journal of Business Research, 61(3), 201–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stavrinides, P., Georgiou, S., Nikiforou, M., & Kiteri, E. (2011). Longitudinal investigation of the relationship between bullying and psychosocial adjustment. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 8(6), 730–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stavrinides, P., Georgiou, S., & Theofanous, V. (2010a). Bullying and empathy: A short-term longitudinal investigation. Educational Psychology, 30(7), 793–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stavrinides, P., Paradisiotou, A., Tziogkouros, C., & Lazarou, C. (2010b). Prevalence of bullying among Cyprus elementary and high school students. International Journal of Violence and Schools, 11, 114–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tam, K. P. (2015). Understanding intergenerational cultural transmission through the role of perceived norms. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(10), 1260–1266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C. (1995). Individualism & collectivism. Boulder: Western Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C. (2001). Individualism-collectivism and personality. Journal of Personality, 69(6), 907–924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C., & Gelfland, M. J. (1998). Individualism and collectivism scale (also known as the culture orientation scale). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 118–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vollebergh, W. A. M., Iedema, J., & Raaijmakers, Q. A. (2001). Intcrgenerational transmission and the formation of cultural orientations in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 1185–1198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolke, D., Copeland, W. E., Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2013). Impact of bullying in childhood on adult health, wealth, crime, and social outcomes. Psychological Science, 24(10), 1958–1970.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The data in mainland Greece were collected under the supervision of Professor Antonia Papastylianou of the University of Athens.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Stelios N. Georgiou, Myria Ioannou & Panayiotis Stavrinides

Authors
  1. Stelios N. Georgiou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Myria Ioannou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Panayiotis Stavrinides
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stelios N. Georgiou.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Georgiou, S.N., Ioannou, M. & Stavrinides, P. Cultural values as mediators between parenting styles and bullying behavior at school. Soc Psychol Educ 21, 27–50 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9413-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9413-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation