Esther Ko
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Mentor(s): Valerie Umscheid
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychology / LSA
Program:
Authors: Esther Ko, Valerie Umscheid
Session: Session 4: 1:40 pm – 2:30 pm
Poster: 64
Abstract
Prior research has shown that children think about villains’ and heroes’ true selves differently; children often described villains as having a much worse true self than heroes, but indicated that villains had a greater propensity for inner goodness than heroes did for inner badness (Umscheid et al, 2023). In order to expand on these findings and observe if the results could be generalized to fictional bullies rather than just fictional villains, children within the age range of 7-13 were recruited to participate in a study. Participants were surveyed to gather insight on whether or not they believed that bullies who act in mean ways are truly mean, or if their actions are situationally justified. I predicted that children’s evaluations of peer bullies who are described as “having something bad going on at home” will be significantly more positive than their evaluations of peer bullies who are described as “not nice and wanting to be mean.” This study will greatly contribute to understanding the psychological development of children’s understanding of true selves of different peer bullies, and whether their evaluations are predicated by an individual’s reason for engaging in bullying behavior. By understanding how children view real-life bullies, psychologists would be able to get a better understanding of morality and the power of situations for the developing mind.
