Robert Thornberg
drthornberg.bsky.social
Robert Thornberg
@drthornberg.bsky.social
Professor of Education. Main research interests: moral and social processes of bullying in school and online, peer victimization and bystander behaviors.
Check out our new study on Swedish teachers’ perceptions and intended responses to bias-based bullying. doi.org/10.1080/2331...
Swedish teachers’ perceptions and intended responses to bias-based bullying: variations across identity domains and school levels
Drawing on Swedish data (N = 184) from an international vignette study, this study examines teachers’ reported exposure to bias-based bullying as well as their perceptions and intended responses ac...
doi.org
August 6, 2026 at 6:10 AM
In this new study, we examined whether teacher efficacy was associated with teacher burnout expectancy among student teachers. Those higher in self-efficacy for instruction and classroom management tended to report less teacher burnout expectancy. doi.org/10.1080/0261...
The association between teacher efficacy and teacher burnout expectancy among Swedish student teachers
There are concerns about student teachers starting to develop symptoms of teacher burnout during their teacher education. This makes it important to explore the links between burnout expectancy and...
doi.org
July 31, 2026 at 10:35 AM
In this new qualitative study, we examined how students perceive safety and unsafety in school changing rooms and explored which factors contribute to these perceptions from their own perspectives. doi.org/10.1080/1357...
Negotiating a safe changing process: students’ experiences of (un)safety in school changing rooms
Changing rooms for physical education are consistently ranked as among the most unsafe places in school. However, the underlying reasons for these perceptions remain insufficiently explored. This s...
doi.org
July 19, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Among the findings in our new study: students who were more inclined to morally justify bullying and displace responsibility in such situations during the fall semester were more likely to bully others in the spring semester. #bullying doi.org/10.1186/s403...
Mechanisms of moral disengagement as predictors of direct and indirect bullying perpetration: a short-term longitudinal study - BMC Psychology
The current study explored whether specific mechanisms of moral disengagement predicted bullying perpetration from a sample of upper elementary school students in Sweden. The study hypothesized that both moral justification (portraying harmful actions as serving a noble or socially valuable purpose) and victim attribution (blaming the victims for their own suffering) would be positively associated with subsequent bullying perpetration. Participants, who consisted of 471 students in grades 4–6, completed a web-based questionnaire at two timepoints. Analyses included two linear regression analyses—one with indirect bullying and one with direct bullying. Results indicated that moral justification significantly predicted bullying. The victim attribution predicted higher levels of indirect bullying and was significantly associated with bullying among girls. The findings suggest that assessing students’ morals and identifying and intervening in disengagement patterns might potentially be avenues practitioners need to consider. Also, programs need to consider gender differences and specifically target victim-blaming attitudes.
doi.org
July 16, 2026 at 6:36 AM
It was a pleasure to take part in this Re_Mind 2026 festival in Psychology in Wrocław and discuss promotive and preventive factors in schools on Polish national television.
June 30, 2026 at 8:57 AM
The new book looks excellent, with incredibly important contributions from colleagues across the world that help us gain a global perspective on bullying.
June 8, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Editorial: New ideas and international perspectives on school bullying: A multidisciplinary approach; together with Christopher Donoghue and Dorothy Espelage. doi.org/10.3389/fsoc...
Frontiers | Editorial: New ideas and international perspectives on school bullying: a multidisciplinary approach
This Frontiers Research Topic explores several dimensions of this definition with a special emphasis on: a) the changing digital and cultural contexts for ag...
doi.org
May 27, 2026 at 6:18 AM
I’m excited to be part of Re_Mind – the Psychology Congress & Festival.
We’ll meet in Wrocław to talk about student-teacher relationships and classroom climate in relation to bullying and other things.
📍 June 22–24, 2026
📍 Wrocław, Centennial Hall
www.re-mind.pl
Międzynarodowy Kongres i Festiwal Psychologiczny 2026 – Re_Mind
Re_Mind 2026 to międzynarodowy kongres i festiwal psychologiczny łączący wiedzę, praktykę i inspirację. Sprawdź program i dołącz do wydarzenia.
www.re-mind.pl
May 26, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Proud to be a small part of this important, ongoing ethnographic project aimed at understanding peer sexual harassment in students’ everyday school lives across adolescence, and how it is perceived, interpreted and experienced by the students themselves. doi.org/10.1186/s403...
doi.org
May 25, 2026 at 8:02 AM
In our new stud, we examined justice-based and aversion-based #schadenfreude in #bullying; scoring high only on the former was not associated with bullying; dehumanizing and blaming the victim were also related to schadenfreude and bullying #edpsychs doi.org/10.1037/vio0...
APA PsycNet
doi.org
May 18, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Note 9-11 September 2027 in your calendar for the most important conference on research on #bullying and peer victimization among children and youth. worldantibullyingforum.com/wabf-2027/
WABF 2027
worldantibullyingforum.com
May 18, 2026 at 7:06 AM
In this new study, we found that children with higher schadenfreude (feelings of pleasure and satisfaction in response to the misfortunes of others) and who belong to classes with higher class moral disengagement, were more likely to bully others. #edpsychs #bullying doi.org/10.1080/1538...
doi.org
May 15, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Check out this new study on how adolescents make sense of hate speech and how these experiences affect autonomy, competence, and relatedness in everyday peer and digital environments. #EdPsychs #DevPsych doi.org/10.1002/jad....
Adolescents' Experiences of Hate Speech and Psychological Needs: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis
Introduction Adolescents are increasingly exposed to hate speech in both online and offline contexts, yet limited research has examined how such exposure is experienced and how it relates to adolesc.....
doi.org
April 25, 2026 at 9:23 AM
In our scoping review of students' changing room experiences in the context of PE, we found that they are embedded within social and emotional processes that shape students’ sense of safety, belonging, identity, and learning about social norms. #edpsychs doi.org/10.1080/1357...
A scoping review of students’ changing room experiences in the context of physical education
The changing room for physical education (PE) is a distinctive space, markedly different from all other spaces within a school. While students are required to use the changing room during PE, previ...
doi.org
March 13, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Reading a PhD dissertation manuscript while listening to some soft, dreamy electronic music. open.spotify.com/playlist/2tV...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
March 8, 2026 at 1:21 PM
A positive class climate among peers predicts less #bullying and #cyberbullying, even when controlling for negative student-teacher relationships, gender, immigrant background, and within-class perceptions of class climate. #edpsychs doi.org/10.1002/berj...
<em>British Educational Research Journal</em> | BERA Journal | Wiley Online Library
The current study aimed to investigate whether negative student–teacher relationships and within-class perceptions of the class climate at the individual level, and positive class climates at the cla....
doi.org
March 7, 2026 at 6:24 AM
In this study in which 1,419 Chinese adolescents participated, we found that those who perceived high parental autonomy support were more likely to select high-achieving friends. #edpsychs doi.org/10.1007/s109...
The Role of Parental Influences in Chinese Adolescents’ Academic Achievement through Shaping Friendship Network Dynamics - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Parents and friends are critical social influences on adolescents’ academic achievement, yet how they function together within dynamic friendship networks...
doi.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Check out this new study in which we examined sexual identity differences in the relationship between bullying victimization and risky sexual behaviors. #edpsychs doi.org/10.1080/1468...
Disparities in the association between bullying victimization and risky sexual behaviors by sexual identity
The current study examines sexual identity differences in the relationship between bullying victimization and risky sexual behaviors. Data for the study were derived from the 2023 dataset from the ...
doi.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Check out this new ethnographic study, in which we explored the relations between school bullying, LGBTQI+ subjectivities, and the institutional context of schooling. doi.org/10.1080/1468...
An ethnographic study of school bullying, LGBTQI+ subjectivities and the institutional context of schooling in Sweden
While the connection between schooling and spatial factors has been emphasised in studies of bullying, few investigations have explored how these factors contribute to the marginalisation and bully...
doi.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:40 PM
In this new grounded theory study, we found that #witnessing #bullying affected students’ feelings of authenticity, self-esteem, coping strategies, and academic focus. #bystander #edpsychs doi.org/10.3390/bs15...
doi.org
December 2, 2025 at 11:47 AM
In a new qualitative study, we explored how high-achieving students with migration backgrounds described and made sense of their academic motivation. #edpsychs doi.org/10.1080/0031...
“Be proud of me”: scholastic motivation of high-achieving students with migration backgrounds
Declining school performance has fueled public debate in Sweden, with a particular focus on students with migration backgrounds, who are often perceived as underachievers in the Swedish educational...
doi.org
December 2, 2025 at 8:04 AM
In a new study, we examined whether moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy were associated with two forms of passive bystanding in school bullying: unconcerned bystanding and guilty bystanding. #bullying #bystander #edpsychs doi.org/10.1007/s112...
Moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy and their associations with defending, unconcerned bystanding, and guilty bystanding in school bullying - Social Psychology of Education
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy were related to defending, unconcerned bystanding, and guilty bystanding in school bullying among...
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Are you interested in doing research on bystanders of online sexual harassment among adolescents? Check out our validation study of the new Responses to Image-Based Sexual Abuse (ReIBSA) scale. doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...
Redirecting
doi.org
November 6, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Our mixed-methods study showed: bullied students were more likely to attend counseling if they had disclosed bullying to a teacher or parent; the importance of positive counselor–student alliance (shared goals, trust, and mutual understanding). #bullying #EdPsychs doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...
Redirecting
doi.org
September 17, 2025 at 7:52 AM