Longitudinal associations between dispositional envy, need for popularity, and bullying and cyberbullying in adolescence

Abstract

From a social comparison perspective, emotions and motivations related to social status may play an important role in understanding aggressive behavior during adolescence. In particular, dispositional envy may motivate adolescents to pursue higher popularity within peer hierarchies, potentially increasing their involvement in aggressive behaviors such as bullying. However, longitudinal evidence examining the processes linking envy, status-related motivations, and aggression remains limited. The present study investigated the longitudinal associations among dispositional envy, need for popularity, and both bullying behavior and cyberbullying behavior in a sample of 707 adolescents (ages 11-17 years; M = 13.35, SD = 0.93) assessed across three waves. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling was used to examine the temporal relationships among these variables. Results showed that dispositional envy at Time 1 positively predicted need for popularity at Time 2. In turn, need for popularity was associated with higher levels of bullying behavior at Time 3, but not with cyberbullying behavior. The indirect effect linking envy to bullying through need for popularity was small and should therefore be interpreted with caution, and no mediation effect was observed for cyberbullying. Multi-group analyses indicated that the structural relations among the variables were similar for boys and girls. Overall, the findings suggest that dispositional envy may contribute indirectly to bullying behavior through adolescents’ motivation to achieve social status. These results highlight the relevance of status-related motivations in the development of bullying during adolescence and underscore the importance of addressing such socio-motivational dynamics in prevention efforts.