Papel de la empatía en los agresores y las víctimas del acoso escolar: un estudio transversal

Role of empathy in aggressors and victims of bullying: A cross-sectional study. Bullying is a phenomenon that is present in the classroom. The emotional competences that children develop as they grow up may be related to their participation in this process. Empathy is a competence that is affected in aggressors and victims. This paper analysed whether there are differences in the level of empathy depending on the participants in bullying (victims and bullies). In addition, we studied whether there are differences in empathy according to the gender of the person towards whom the empathic action is directed and who is exercising it. The sample consisted of 180 children, 50% girls and 50% boys between 10 and 12 years of age, with a mean of 11.23 years and a standard deviation of .914, recruited from five schools in the province of Alicante (Petrel, Ibi and Alicante), Spain. The children responded to the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents (IECA) questionnaire to assess empathy and to the Bull-S test to assess possible aggressor and victim profiles in the classroom. Bullies and victims scored lower on empathy than the overall sample mean, although there was no difference in empathy between bullies and victims. Girls scored higher on empathy than boys. Girls were more empathetic towards girls than boys. It is concluded that emotional competences may be affected in people involved in bullying situations. Therefore, priority should be given to prevention programmes based on improving emotional competences in order to prevent the problem of bullying before it occurs. Keywords: bullying; empathy; aggressor; victim; gender.