Classroom Climate and Bullying Behavior: A socio-ecological approach
Main Article Content
Abstract
Classroom climate significantly shapes students' interactions, influencing bullying dynamics and intervention responses. This study investigates the role of classroom climate in reducing self-reported bullying (SBB), promoting constructive bystander responses (BRB), and enhancing proactive teacher interventions (TRB). Using a sample of 510 Chinese primary school students and validated questionnaires, results reveal that positive classroom environments reduce bullying (β = -0.537, p < 0.001), foster bystander support (β = 0.533, p < 0.001), and strengthen teacher interventions (β = 0.538, p < 0.001). These findings underscore the need for supportive educational spaces, offering actionable insights for enhancing students’ well-being and school dynamics.
Article Details
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Xiao Ma , Boon Hooi Lim , Tingxiu Zhang , Wenyu Zhang

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). Contexts of child rearing: Problems and prospects. American psychologist, 34(10), 844.
Campaert, K., Nocentini, A., & Menesini, E. (2017). The efficacy of teachers’ responses to incidents of bullying and victimisation: The mediational role of moral disengagement for bullying. Aggressive Behaviour, 43(5), 483–492. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21706
Demol, K., Verschueren, K., Salmivalli, C., & Colpin, H. (2020). Perceived teacher responses to bullying influence students’ social cognitions. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.592582
Glaesser, D., Holl, C., Malinka, J., McCullagh, L., Meissner, L., Harth, N. S., Machunsky, M., & Mitte, K. (2023). Examining the association between social context and disengagement: Individual and classroom factors in two samples of at-risk students. Social Psychology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-023-09829-4
Lachenbruch, P. A., & Cohen, J. (1989). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Journal of the American Statistical Association, 84(408), 1096. https://doi.org/10.2307/2290095
Luo, Y., Ma, T., & Deng, Y. (2023). School climate and adolescents’ prosocial behavior: the mediating role of perceived social support and resilience. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1095566
Rocchino, G. H., & Liang, C. T. H. (2024). School climate, teachers’ attitudes, and their Intended Anti-Bullying Intervention Strategies: The role of Teacher Stress. International Journal of Bullying Prevention. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-024-00262-5
Smith, P. K., & Robinson, S. (2019). How does individualism-collectivism relate to bullying victimisation?. International journal of bullying prevention, 1, 3-13.
Solberg, M. E., & Olweus, D. (2003). Prevalence estimation of school bullying with the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Aggressive Behaviour: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression, 29(3), 239–268.
Tapia-Fonllem, C., Fraijo-Sing, B., Corral-Verdugo, V., Garza-Terán, G., & Moreno-Barahona, M. (2020). School Environments and Elementary School Children’s Well-Being in Northwestern Mexico. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00510
Thornberg, R., Wegmann, B., Wänström, L., Bjereld, Y., & Hong, J. S. (2022). Associations between Student–Teacher Relationship Quality, Class Climate, and Bullying Roles: A Bayesian Multilevel Multinomial Logit Analysis. Victims and Offenders, 17(8), 1196–1223. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2022.2051107
Thornberg, R., Wänström, L., & Jungert, T. (2018). Authoritative classroom climate and its relations to bullying victimisation and bystander behaviours. School Psychology International, 39(6), 663–680. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034318809762
Thornberg, R., & Jungert, T. (2013). Bystander behavior in bullying situations: Basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy. Journal of adolescence, 36(3), 475-483.
Xiao, M., Tian, Z., & Xu, W. (2023). Impact of teacher-student interaction on students’ classroom well-being under online education environment. Education and Information Technologies, 28(11), 14669–14691. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11681-0