“I was Only Kidding!”: Victims’ and Perpetrators’ Perceptions of Teasing

Teasing is an interpersonal behavior that some people perceive to be fun and a matter of joking around and that other people view as cruel and a means of hurting someone’s feelings. These perspectives might reflect the views of perpetrators and victims, respectively. To examine this, 72 male and female participants wrote two narratives, one in which they described an incident when they were teased and another in which they described an event where they perpetrated the teasing. Victims and perpetrators formed very different impressions of the teasing event. Perpetrators perceived the event as more humorous and less damaging than did victims. However, they also reported feeling more guilt than did victims. Most of the incidents recounted by victims focused on physical appearance, followed by relationships and behavior. Perpetrator narratives focused primarily on behavior, followed closely by body parts and appearance. Implications of victim/perpetrator differences regarding teasing and the consequences of teasing are discussed.

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