The origin of the word bullying takes place in the English word bully, which means "bully" or fight finder. The ending –ing indicates in English “the action of”.
Translating it into Spanish would mean bullying or intimidating, but the general meaning that has been given in Spanish refers to the harassment suffered by a person, especially the one given in the school environment.
On the other hand, the word bullying is considered an Anglicism and therefore is not recognized or accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy.
How does the word bullying appear in the Spanish lexicon?
Being a word that contains more than a translation, it is a concept universally understood as aggression against another person. Some historians have established that it is a situation that has taken place since ancient times, where feudal lords denigrated their lovers.
The latter would mean that the etymology of the Dutch word boel, which means "lover", would be considered.
As many other authors attribute its etymology to the English word bully, but under the meaning of bragging. From the English word, reference is made to people who, making use of a supposed superiority, exert coercion over those they consider physically or mentally weak.
It was not until the 1970s, when the psychologist Dan Olweus carried out a study of cases of school violence, publishing the book “Assaults at School”, in which he called bullying the harassment they suffered in physical form and / or verbal students, exercised individually or collectively.
After this publication, other researchers, such as María Eugenia Guédez, clinical psychologist, family conflict mediator and international organizational coach, added words derived from bullying, such as the word bullies to refer to bullies.
This has led to bullies being known in Spanish as bullies, their literal translation from English being "thugs."
Bullying or mobbing?
Konrad Lorenz, an Austrian zoologist, used the word mobbing to explain the mass attack by a group of animals on another animal, usually occurring in groups of smaller animals against a larger animal.
Heinemann, a Swedish physician, later used this term to refer to the attack carried out by groups of children against a single child, generally observed in schools.
The study of this child behavior in schools has led to multiple studies, the most relevant being that of the psychologist Olweus, who according to some authors initially used the term mobbing and later changed to bullying.
For the animal group, the attack is given as a defense, while in the case of child behavior it is presented to demonstrate superiority and cause harm.
Leymann, doing doctorate studies in occupational psychology, used the word bullying to explain workplace bullying, however, later he decided to use the word mobbing to differentiate it from bullying, justifying the change based on the characteristics presented.
According to Leymann, in bullying the harassment is physical, while in mobbing it is more psychological.
Conclusions
Undoubtedly, when studying the origin of the word bullying there is a lot to analyze, but what is necessary to limit is that it is called bullying or mobbing, harassment or physical and psychological abuse leaves serious consequences to those who suffer it and therefore it is everyone's responsibility to fight this destructive behavior.
References
- Boldrini A. (2014). "Bullying": a word that contains a concept. La Voz, digital edition. Taken from lavoz.com.ar.
- Khoo, S. (2010). Academic Mobbing: Hidden Health Hazard at Workplace. Malaysian Family Physician: The Official Journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, 5 (2), 61–67. Taken from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Mobbing in Mexico - notes for its foundation. Mobbing: should we keep calling it that? Lorenz and Leymann revisited. Paper presented at the 11th Interpsiquis 2010 Virtual Congress of Psychiatry, organized by psiquiatria.com, held from February 1 to 28, 2010. Taken from kwesthues.com.
- Online Etymology Dictionary. Bully. Taken from etymonline.com.
- S. Department of Health and Human Services. What Is Bullying. Taken from stopbullying.gov.