I have had some interesting responses to my blog on Why can social media be toxic? (https://timboatswain.wixsite.com/website/post/why-can-social-media-be-toxic)
One correspondent asked me if I could explain a bit more about the individual motives behind such harassing behaviour and this has led me to think about bullying.
I will start with a definition of bullying: I would describe it as aggressive behaviour that is designed to harm another. It can be physical, which might involve just pushing or some other more grave form of assault, even possibly resulting in injury. I certainly saw bullying behaviour at the schools I attended. I will always remember a scene at a primary school I went to, where two girls were fighting in the playground and pulling each other's hair. I learned later it was one girl standing up for herself after constant physical bullying by the other.
Often bullying can be verbal, it might be name-calling, or making derogatory remarks or threats. There is also, commonly, the insidious spreading of lies and false rumours about another which can result in 'group think' amongst peers, with behaviour that damages relationships and excludes or ostracises a particular individual. Social media, as I mentioned in my article has, sadly, become a much-used vehicle for this kind of bullying abuse.
So what are the motives behind bullying what does the bully gain? In terms of evolutionary behaviour in some ways, the answer might seem quite simple. Animals will bully as part of the evolutionary dynamic relating to 'the survival of the fittest': a term coined by Herbert Spencer after he read Darwin's On the Origin of Species. These evolutionary causes of bullying may be connected to accessing food or sex for the survival of the species. The driver will be instinctual to achieve a hierarchically dominant position in a group - what Richard Dawkins described in his book, The Selfish Gene - an unconscious motivation to regenerate the fittest genes. Such competitive bullying then determines the dominance of the alpha male or female within a social group. I remember watching a documentary on television about the wild dogs of East Africa where a pack was closely followed and studied. One poor bitch was constantly bullied over food by the alpha female, who denied her any share of a kill so that in the end she faded away through lack of nourishment and was left to die as the pack of dogs moved on.
There is some evidence to indicate that this evolutionary dynamic may also operate in human societies. There are studies which have shown that “bullies are more likely to be physically attractive and popular than non-bullies. They are also more likely to have higher levels of testosterone, a hormone that is associated with aggression”. I can certainly think of such people within the political class. In prehistory amongst the early types of the homo genus ( including homo sapiens), we can understand that bullying might be an evolutionary adaptation that could provide a way for individuals to increase their reproductive options, with dominant males controlling access to females or dominant females excluding their rivals to the 'fittest' males.
The evolutionary basis of bullying, however, is still a matter of debate. Of course, we know amongst modern human beings bullying is a more complex phenomenon with a range of causes which go beyond biological competition and might include social, psychological, and cultural factors. Social anthropologists examine these cultural and social factors, which contribute to bullying behaviour across different societies and cultures. Also, we know that different cultures do not always define bullying in the same way. For instance, there are some societies where physical aggression and verbal insults are recognised as acceptable because they are embedded as a way of resolving conflict or status issues within that culture. There are even sometimes hierarchical social structures within certain cultures that actually sanction individuals with a higher social status to use their standing and their power to bully those with a lower social status. The hierarchy of dominance in such social structures is often racial, tribal or gender related. While this form of bullying can be observable in particular cultures, in most developed societies such bullying behaviour will be perceived as unacceptable, reprehensible and even criminal.
Anthropologists also look at how different cultures address and respond to bullying behaviour. Some cultures may have both informal methods and/or legal systems in place to address bullying. However, it has been recognised that even in sophisticated societies it is not always easy to develop effective strategies to prevent or to intervene and curtail bullying behaviour. We can see this problem in educational institutions, workplaces and now, more than ever, across social media.
Of course, bullying is not always successful competitive behaviour. In some cases, it not only leads to retaliation from the victim or others but can also irreparably damage the bully's reputation resulting in it being difficult for them to form positive relationships. Contrary to the evolutionary dynamic, therefore, bullying is not always an effective strategy for improving one's chances of survival and reproduction.
If we examine the psychological profiles of bullies we can see there may be personal characteristics such as low self-esteem, a lack of empathy, and a ruthless desire for power and control, which stimulate bullying behaviour. Often there may be a pattern of this type of behaviour, with bullies having a record of having been bullied themselves. It is well established that children that have been exposed to abuse or neglectful behaviour have a greater chance of becoming bullies as that is their learned culture. Peer group behaviour in schools can also lead to bullying if there are no effective anti-bullying policies or there is a lack of moral determinacy within the school leadership. This is where peer pressure can be most manifest encouraging some children to engage in bullying behaviour either to gain acceptance or maintain status within a particular group. I immediately think of the novelist William Golding and his novel Lord of the Flies. Golding was a school teacher who perceived a dark side to human nature among children. The theme of his novel is that if left to their own devices children, where there was no provision of clear and stable moral structures, will revert to savagery. A troubled person himself, prone to alcohol abuse, his internal and external narrative was both pessimistic and dystopian.
It is important to remember that bullying can be a serious problem that may have a devastating impact on the victim's physical and emotional health. Therefore, bullying should not be allowed within a civilised society. Where courageous individuals have the will to stand up to bullying the bully's reputation should be irrevocably damaged. Giving in to bullies is, in the end, a recipe for social disharmony that can have dire consequences whether this is at a political (for example, the war in Ukraine) or at the individual level where young people have been known to take their own lives.
We should all stand up to bullies!