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Pretty girls are more likely to be the victims of psychological bullying at the hands of their teenage peers, according to a University of Alberta researcher.
In her recently published study, PhD student Lindsey Leenaars found that girls who see themselves as attractive are 35% more likely to be the victims of "indirect bullying," which can take the form of nasty notes, rumour spreading and social exclusion.
Conversely, boys who consider themselves good looking are 25% less likely to be victimized.
"For girls it acted as a risk factor, but for boys it was a protective factor," she said, chalking it up, in part, to the teenage dating game.
"Attractiveness is something that boys notice, so it's an easy way to pinpoint those girls that might be more likely to get dates, (or) might be more popular. So by using this type of aggression - by spreading a nasty rumour - you can basically eliminate that person as a rival or a threat," Leenaars said.
Good-looking boys are less likely to be bullied because other attributes - like physical strength or a nice car - are more important than attractiveness when it comes to competing for girls' attention, she explained.
The study - carried out with the help of two Brock University professors - used data collected from more than 2,300 Ontario students between the ages of 12 and 18 on how they rated their attractiveness, their sexual activity, their friendships and school social problems.
Leenaars hopes its findings will change the way people see these kinds of negative experiences - not as merely the pitfalls of adolescence but as bullying.
"I think it's very important that people realize this is still bullying, this is still aggression and that it's not normal and it's not OK," said Leenaars.
The scars of indirect bullying are lasting, she said, listing depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and even cases of homicide among its grisly consequences.
"There's been a very big focus recently on more traditional forms of bullying. And what we're seeing is that as they're getting tougher on physical and verbal aggression, this type of aggression is actually increasing," she said.
Leenaars wants the findings incorporated into anti-bullying programs in order to create awareness about these atypical victims among teachers and parents.
"They shouldn't automatically think that just because their child is better looking and seems to be popular, that means they're safe. Because they're not normally victims, they might actually be suffering because they don't have that help."