Why do bullies bully people

Early intervention and therapy make a big difference in their behavior. Along the way, they can learn to better relate socially to others. For many, it seems impossible or at least highly unlikely that the person who does the bullying feels insecure or powerless.

How can someone who feels that way bully others? The truth is that insecurity doesn't make an individual shy and reserved. It simply means they're not happy with themselves. When an individual feels this way, they may engage in bullying to bring others down to their perceived level. Similarly, when an individual feels powerless in their own life, it may trigger bullying.

The person feels powerful when intimidating others. This is why many children from dysfunctional homes engage in bullying. Someone who struggles with feeling insecure is afraid of appearing weak in front of others. To hide their own weakness, they do their best to find and expose weakness in someone else.

This is all to take the attention off of themselves and make themselves feel better by acting more powerful than others. Again, this explanation and the others below are not meant to excuse bullying — which is inexcusable — but is meant to explain it. When we understand something, we are more equipped to change it. The need to control is one of the top reasons why people bully, and there can be many reasons why a person needs to feel more in control.

Some people engage in bullying to gain control of their surroundings. For example, they may have no control over the way they are treated at home. Alternatively, they may have issues with anxiety.

Bullying behavior is often rewarding because the person who does it gets what they want. Every time a person who bullies wins and succeeds in getting what they want, it reinforces their behavior.

When they control and intimidate others, they usually achieve what they set out to do: intimidate and control. Bullies can also have their behavior rewarded if others encourage them and join in. This is certainly true if the bullied child is being targeted because of race, sexual orientation, disability, or another marginalized status. The potential of lawsuits, bad press, and tragedies resulting from bullying is one reason school districts increasingly have anti-bullying programs.

These initiatives educate the school community about bullying behaviors and urge bystanders, parents, and school staff to intervene.

In the 21st century, bullying is equally as likely to occur online as it is in person. They might need to contact the support staff of social media networks to have the bullies banned for violating the terms of service. Many of these platforms prohibit common cyberbullying tactics such as impersonation or harassment. It should also be possible to remove offensive videos and other content.

Bullied adults can also take steps to protect themselves. If the bully is an immediate supervisor or another higher-up, it might be harder to get results after reporting the bullying. If you know that other people in your workplace have been bullied as well, consider teaming up with them to add more weight to your concerns. Unfortunately, targets of workplace bullies may find their jobs in danger after making such a complaint while their abusers remain protected.

However, union workers typically have more options than workers without the protection of a union. Companies should take bullying seriously because it can drive the most conscientious and talented employees out of the workplace. If your workplace ignores or permits bullying, it is in your best interest to look for a new job. When applying for jobs in the future, try to research the company beforehand. These could be planted reviews, as even workers who love their jobs typically admit that some areas of the company need improvement.

Also, pay attention to how managers behave during the application process. If they are cold, pushy, inconsiderate, or evasive when you ask questions, it might not be a safe place to work. Ever wonder what your personality type means?

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I Accept Show Purposes. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Here are 9 reasons for bullying. Many bullies have been bullied before, whether by family or just by their peers. They may have been teased to a point where they feel insignificant, which makes them so angry that they have to take it out on someone else.

Of course, this goes both ways as someone who has been bullied before can turn out to be a great person. Feeling unimportant and left out can contribute to bullying. Even if they have many friends, they may still crave the attention they feel they deserve but are not getting.

That could turn a normal person into an aggressive and emotional being with a fragile mind. You have to understand that if this is the case, then the bully is a victim too. Whatever the reason is, the easiest way for them to achieve that is by putting someone else down.

Unfortunately, they will probably just go back to finding a weaker person to pick on. This ties in with the previous reason of the bully having low self-esteem. The main reason for jealously is often popularity. The victim could be more popular than the bully which truly gets on their nerves.