Is it my fault? The role of the feeling of guilt in adolescent peer victimization

Celeste León-Moreno; Cristian Suárez-Relinque; Juan Evaristo Callejas-Jerónimo; Fernanda Inéz García-Vázquez

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1089689

Is it my fault? The role of the feeling of guilt in adolescent peer victimization

Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 27:13:1089689. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1089689. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Celeste León-Moreno¹, Cristian Suárez-Relinque², Juan Evaristo Callejas-Jerónimo³, Fernanda Inéz García-Vázquez⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Teruel, Spain.
² Department of Education and Social Psychology, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain.
³ Department of Statistics and Educational Research, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
⁴ Department of Education, Technological Institute of Sonora, Obregon, Mexico.

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between feelings of guilt, peer victimization in school, and loneliness based on adolescents' gender.

Methods: A total of 671 Spanish students (50.7% boys), aged 10-16 years old (M = 13.04, SD = 1.80) from six public primary and secondary schools participated in the study. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (3 × 2) was calculated.

Results: Adolescents with high levels of guilt presented greater physical, verbal, and relational victimization, as well as higher levels of loneliness. In addition, boys high in guilt had the highest scores in overt physical victimization, while girls high in guilt had the highest levels of loneliness.

Discussion: Results obtained suggest that adolescents with greater feelings of guilt feel responsible for being victims of peer aggression and for feeling lonely. These findings suggest the need to address the feeling of guilt, taking into account the gender perception.

Keywords: adolescents; ex post facto study; feeling of guilt; loneliness; peer victimization.