Ricerc@Sapienza

Research on bullying and homophobic bullying has mainly focused on school contexts, with little research in sports-related contexts. This study used a sample of 88 gay males and 120 heterosexual males between 18 and 36 years of age to examine the frequency of bullying experiences in Italian sports-related contexts. The results showed that gay men reported more frequent bullying and homophobic bullying than heterosexual men. Gay men reported dropping out of sports more frequently, namely due to a fear of being bullied and greater familial pressure to conform to masculine-type sports.

It is well established in the literature that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students are more likely to be bullied at school compared to heterosexual students (Kann et al., 2016). There also has been strong evidence of the detrimental impact of homophobic bullying (HB) on the well-being of LGB youth. In fact, LGB students who are victims of HB are more likely to internalize negative prejudice on LGB people reporting high levels of internalized sexual stigma (ISS) (Baiocco et al., 2010; Blais et al., 2014; Collier et al., 2013).

Homophobic bullying is bullying related to sexual orientation and gender identity. This study investigated the moderating role of the dark triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) in the relationship between being a victim of homophobic bullying and being in turn a perpetrator of homophobic bullying. Participants were 285 adolescents from 16 to 20 years old. Victimization and perpetration of homophobic bullying and the Dark Triad Traits were measured. The moderation effects of dark triad traits were tested using a hierarchical regression analysis.