Gender-based harassment in early adolescence: Group and individual predictors of perpetration

The current study examined gender-based harassment in early adolescence and the characteristics of individuals who perpetrate such harassment (specifically, experiences with witnessing gender-based harassment and gender identity). Students in seventh and eighth grade (n = 483; 247 girls, 236 boys) completed surveys containing measures of gender identity (perceived same and other-gender typicality, felt pressure to conform to gender norms, and gender contentedness), and questions about witnessing and perpetrating teasing, bullying, and rejection because of a peer's gender typicality or atypicality. Results revealed that the more GBH an individual had previously witnessed in their classroom, the more likely they were to report perpetrating GBH themselves. Additionally, boys high in other-gender typicality reported perpetrating more GBH than boys low in other-gender typicality. For girls, same-gender typicality interacted with felt pressure to conform to gender norms to predict GBH perpetration. For girls low in felt pressure, same-gender typicality negatively predicted GBH perpetration. For girls high in felt pressure, same-gender typicality positively predicted GBH perpetration.