Predictors of Bullying Perpetration and Bullying Victimization among Semi-Professional Team Sport Players in North Cyprus

This study explores the influence of contextual and individual predictors on bullying perpetration/ victimization among semi-professional team sports players in North Cyprus. Three variables reflect on personal determinants (e.g., gender, nationality, and personality traits), and another two, representing external contextual factors (e.g., negative coaching behaviour and the psychological climate of the team), which according to existing literature could predict the frequency of bullying dynamics in sports. A total of 193 sports players with an average age of 24.74 (SD = 5.15) were recruited via an online survey method to take part in the experiment. Sixteen teams (seven women’s teams and nine men’s teams) from four different team sports disciplines: handball, football, volleyball, and basketball filled out the questionnaires. The result revealed that the rate of bullying perpetration and victimization among men/women is equal in sports. Besides, it was also ascertained that gender, nationality, and the coach’s negative pedagogy significantly predict bullying dynamics among athletes. Such findings shape the base for further ongoing works, which could underline the critical demand for more emphasis and analysis of nationality, gender, and coach’s negative rapport on bullying perpetration/victimization later on. Keywords: bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, sports, gender, nationality, coach’s negative pedagogy