What about Bullies as adults?

A great question can into the facebook site today:

Question: Well you probably have enough to do anyway. It's kind of a growing up question, like do those that needed to bully others as children grow up to be the bullys reflected in your research, or do they grow up to become regular people, who recognize their failures in childhood.



Dr. Berg: It is really hard to study the bullies themselves because so few people admit it or recognize it. It does seem that someone people learn the strategies of bullying early in life and find it successful in getting what they want and so continue. But I think sometimes people are insecure and the quickest solution to the problem--getting people to do what you want them to do--and lessen anxiety is to push people into doing what you want. this does work for short-term anxiety reduction, but it is a poor strategy for long-term development of the workplace or success in a business. More and more often I am finding that just being aware of the negative consequences of bullying as an adult helps people see the damaging aspects of the interaction and thoughtful adults find different ways to have their life and their workplace be successful. Any one want to volunteer themselves for a study?