ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Human Developmental Psychology
The Relationship Between Life Satisfaction and Bullying Victimization: The Mediating Role of Dysfunctional Attitudes in Gifted and Typically Developing Students
Department of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Türkiye
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Abstract
Considering the prevalence of bullying in Türkiye, there are relatively few studies focusing on bullying victimization among gifted and typically developing students. This study examined the relationship between life satisfaction and bullying victimization among these two groups, considering the mediating role of dysfunctional attitudes. The participants comprised 486 students: 241 gifted students (99 female, 142 male Mage = 11.29; SDage = 1.35) and 245 typically developing students (118 female, 127 male; Mage = 11.68; SDage = 1.36). Data were collected using the Satisfaction with Life Scale for Children (SWLS-C), the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale for Children (8–14 Years), and the Child–Adolescent Bullying Scale–9 Short Form. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 and AMOS, including multi-group structural equation modeling. The results revealed no significant difference in life satisfaction scores between gifted and typically developing students. However, compared with gifted students, typically developing students had higher scores for dysfunctional attitudes and bullying victimization. In addition, dysfunctional attitudes significantly mediated the association between life satisfaction and bullying victimization in both groups, and the structural paths did not differ significantly across groups. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive and socio-emotional factors in understanding bullying victimization among students.
Summary
Keywords
bullying victimization, Dysfunctional Attitudes, Gifted students, life satisfaction, typically developing students
Received
10 March 2026
Accepted
30 June 2026
Copyright
© 2026 FAKİRULLAHOĞLU. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Abdulkadir Muhammed Memduh FAKİRULLAHOĞLU
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