Even earliest humans bullied, says research

Fitting in, destroying rivals, dealing with threats and maintaining a balance of power: some of human beings' basic instincts have been cited as the causes of bullying. Evolutionary anthropologistSomeone who studies human beings and societies. The word "anthropology" comes from the Greek "anthropos", meaning "human". It developed as a subject in Europe in the 19th century, although some regard the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun as the first anthropologist. Dr Hogan Sherrow has argued that bullying "is part of the human condition", while evidence of bullying has been found in hunter-gatherer groups, a variety of post-industrial societies and tribal cultures. But in a new book, Irrelationship, three American doctors say bullies are responding to the inability of caregivers (including peers, friends, teachers and especially families) to make them feel safe. Humans, they say, engage in dysfunctionalNot working properly. relationships when they wish to hide from intimacy. Their hypothesisTheory to be tested. provides the hope that bullies' behaviour can be understood and changed. Some researchers say that environmental factors have caused people to bully since the earliest days of the human race. Canadian psychologists have cited the urge to damage others' reputations, saying that evolutionary competition, particularly for mates, caused some of our distant ancestorsThe people related to us who lived a long time ago. to intimidate, coerceForcefully persuade someone to do something. or harm those they saw as successful or sexually attractive. Others have suggested that bullying was a way of maintaining order and ensuring nobody had too much power — helping to explain why those who feel threatened, for example by those they perceive as more intelligent than themselves, are more likely to bully. Modern bullies — who have often been bullied themselves — are more likely than their classmates to suffer from low self-esteemBelief and confidence in your own value and abilities. , depressionLow mood that affects someone's daily life, and can last for weeks or months. and behavioural problems in childhood, and poor mental health in later life. Charities have also stressed that peer pressureWhen you feel like you have to do something in order to fit in with your friends. and attention-seeking may play a role in causing bullying. But, in 2007, researchers in the US state of Virginia found that the bullying tendencies of identical twins were more similar than those of fraternal twinsTwins who result from two separate eggs. They will not be identical, and are no more alike than siblings born at separate times. . Their findings suggested that genetics may play a significant role in determining whether someone is prone to bullying. Nobody is born a bully, say some; bullies are created by unpleasant experiences and the imperfections of others. This should be cause for optimism — if we can understand which environmental factors cause bullying, we can then work to eradicate this unpleasant phenomenon for good. That's excessively optimistic, respond others. The real reason for bullying is staring us in the face: some people are just more unpleasant than others. Stressing environmental reasons for bullying absolves individuals of responsibility for their actions. Instead we should be telling the bullies to be ashamed of themselves. Q & A What can I learn from this? One crucial lesson is that very few people admit that they are bullies, or think of themselves as bullies. It is important to recognise that your behaviour could be upsetting others - or to know when your friends have engaged in bullying behaviour and to do what you can to prevent it. I've been bullied. Can I take any comfort from this? Yes — because it is unlikely that the bullying is really about you. Bullies are themselves very likely to be insecure and struggling with issues in their own lives, which they may have displaced onto you. This doesn't mean the bullying should be easy to deal with — it is natural for you to feel hurt by it — but it may help you to a better understanding of what is happening.KeywordsAnthropologist - Someone who studies human beings and societies. The word "anthropology" comes from the Greek "anthropos", meaning "human". It developed as a subject in Europe in the 19th century, although some regard the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun as the first anthropologist.