“I Enjoy Hurting My Classmates: On the Relation of Boredom and Sadism in Schools”, Stefan Pfattheicher, Ljiljana Lazarevic, Yngwie Asbjørn Nielsen, Erin Westgate, Ksenija Krstic, Simon Schindler2021-09-20 (psychopathy; similar)⁠:

Schools can be a place of both love and of cruelty.

We examine one particular type of cruelty that occurs in the school context: sadism, that is, harming others for pleasure. Primarily, we propose and test whether boredom plays a crucial role in the emergence of sadistic actions at school.

In 2 wewell-powered studies (total n = 1,038) using both self-reports and peer-reports, we first document that sadistic behavior occurs at school, although at a low level. We further show that those students who are more often bored at school are more likely to engage in sadistic actions.

Overall, the present work contributes to a better understanding of sadism in schools and points to boredom as one potential motivator. We discuss implications for research on sadism and boredom, in the school context and beyond.

[Keywords: aggression, boredom, bullying, HEXACO, multitrait-multimethod, sadism, schools]

See Also:

• “Aggression-Related Sexual Fantasies: Prevalence Rates, Sex Differences, and Links With Personality, Attitudes, and Behavior”

• “Winners, Losers, Insiders, and Outsiders: Comparing Hierometer and Sociometer Theories of Self-Regard”

• “The Role of Sensation Seeking in Political Violence”

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