Latent Profile Analysis of Children’s Moral Character and the Classing Effect on Bullying in Rural China

Ruiping Zhang, Linlin Gao, Lan Cheng and Ping Ren ()
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Ruiping Zhang: School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Linlin Gao: School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Lan Cheng: School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Ping Ren: Collaborative Innovation Centre of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing100875, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: Moral character is the key component of positive youth development. However, few studies have examined children’s moral character and the association with bullying and bullied behavior. Guided by the framework of positive psychology, this study aimed to investigate the association of moral character with bullying and bullied behavior among children in rural China and whether the association differed between left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (NLBC). A total of 723 children (aged 11–16 years) in rural China completed standard questionnaires that contained six specific character traits and bullying/bullied behavior. Latent profile analysis revealed that children’s moral character was divided into three classes (i.e., low-character class, average-character class, and high-character class). Compared with children in low-character and average-character classes, children in the high-character class had the lowest bullying and bullied behavior. Children in the low-character class were those at greater risk of bullied behavior. The association of the latent character classes with bullied behavior differed between LBC and NLBC. These findings highlight the urgent need for character-based and targeted interventions to prevent children’s bullying and bullied behavior.

Keywords: moral character; bullying/bullied behavior; left-behind children; latent profile analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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