Normativity and Effects of Witnessing Stigma-Based Peer Victimization among Youth
Abstract
Adolescents may encounter peer victimization because of their socially stigmatized or devalued identities and traits, referred to as stigma-based peer victimization (SBPV). All forms of SBPV are harmful, but some forms may be deemed more normative and tolerable. According to social dominance theory, even certain stigmatized groups are considered to be dominant over others. The study included 1,606 diverse adolescents aged 14–17 (44% girls, 52% boys, 4% other genders, 588 racial/ethnic minority youth, 307 LGBTQ+, 276 disabled, 1027 receiving free or reduced priced lunch). Participants self-reported witnessed SBPV victimization, depressive/anxious symptoms and delinquency and sexual harassment. A repeated measures ANOVA was run to test which forms of SBPV were witnessed most commonly. We also tested whether witnessing certain forms of SBPV vs. others was more related to adjustment problems or sexual harassment using multiple regression. We found significant differences in prevalence of SBPV witnessed. Using Bonferroni adjusted values, we conducted pairwise comparisons and found that prevalence of witnessing different forms of SBPV differed. Witnessing fatphobic and homophobic SBPV seems particularly pervasive, while skinnyphobic SBPV is not. After controlling for own identity/traits, witnessing skinnyphobic, racial/ethnic, and ableist victimization was associated with most problems, while witnessing homophobic and fatphobic victimization mostly was not.
Citation Information
@article{dianajmeter2026,
title={Normativity and Effects of Witnessing Stigma-Based Peer Victimization among Youth},
author={Diana J. Meter and Jesiah P. Salazar},
journal={International Journal of Bullying Prevention},
year={2026},
doi={https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8712554/v1}
}
SinoXiv