Perceived emotional intelligence and involvement in several kinds of bullying

The emotional intelligence construct has been introduced in recent years to the field of educational psychology. However, only a few researches have examined this topic in relation to social relationship dynamics in school contexts. Some previous studies have shown that meta-mood about one’s own emotions, perceived emotional intelligence (PEI), can distinguish students involved in bullying from those not involved. Specifically, this study aims to look further into this issue by focusing on cyberbullying situations where bullying is mediated by the use of information and communication technologies. Participants were 5759 adolescent students from Andalucia (South of Spain). The results show that PEI can discriminate between the roles young people play in traditional bullying but not for cyberbullying. These results are discussed according to possible differences in emotional management across bullying and cyberbullying.