Project ID: PN-IV-PCB-RO-MD-2024-0009
Acronym: MPBESLABIEI
Funding authority: Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)
Project budget: 600, 000 RON (120000 Euro)
Project timespan: 01.09.2025 - 31.08. 2027
Title: Moral patterns and bullying experiences in schools: a longitudinal approach based on an integrative educational intervention
Research Team - Romania
- Alexandra Cobzeanu - Project leader
- Cornelia Măirean - Postdoctoral researcher
- Cristian Opariuc-Dan – Postdoctoral researcher
- Ana-Nicoleta Grigore – Postdoctoral researcher
- Elena-Roxana Roșu – Doctoral researcher
Research Team - Moldova
- Ludmila Armasu-Canțir -co-leader
- Victoria Gonța - Postdoctoral researcher
- Corina Zagaievschi – Postdoctoral researcher
- Lilia Petriciuc – Postdoctoral researcher
- Alexandru Cașcaval – Doctoral researcher
Abstract:
This cross-border project addresses school bullying through a new approach rooted in moral psychology. We propose a longitudinal, integrative intervention based on moral education, targeting the moral models in various bullying roles – aggressors, victims, passive bystanders, and defenders. A key explored concept is moral injury, where bullying deeply violates an individual’s moral beliefs, leading to emotional wounds, depression, and social alienation. The Anti-Bullying Brigade (ABB) program is at the heart of the intervention, a peer-based initiative where students play active roles in preventing and addressing bullying. ABB teams will be formed in participating schools, with trained students becoming leaders and role models for their peers. These teams will foster a sense of group identity using symbols like badges and mottos, promoting solidarity, responsibility, and moral commitment. The project will involve primary and middle school students in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Additionally, the project will examine how students use emotional regulation strategies to cope with bullying, mainly when moral injury is a significant contributing factor. Beyond combating bullying, the project aims to enhance collaboration between researchers from Romania and Moldova, promoting knowledge exchange and expanding joint research initiatives.
Project activities
The project’s core activities center around three interconnected studies, a longitudinal intervention, and the dissemination of results to the academic and educational community.
The first study focuses on identifying the moral patterns underlying bullying behaviors among secondary school students. Data collection involves large-scale cross-sectional surveys conducted in both Romania and Moldova, followed by data analysis and interpretation.
The second study examines school bullying as a potential risk factor for moral injury and its associated psychological consequences. Data are collected from students across both countries.
The third study evaluates the Anti-Bullying Brigades (ABB) program, an intervention designed as an integrative moral education-based strategy to reduce bullying and enhance students’ moral engagement. The ABB program is implemented over six months in selected schools from Romania and Moldova, with two waves of data collection: a baseline (Time 1) and a post-intervention (Time 2) wave.
Project results and dissemination activities
Publication of six-month newsletters – distributed to policymakers, educational partners, and NGOs, summarizing key findings, updates, and practical recommendations.
Presentations at national and international conferences – 3+ scientific events to disseminate results and exchange expertise with the academic community.
Organization of workshops and educational presentations – two sessions in schools and universities to train teachers and school counselors in implementing the ABB model.
Two+ research papers – submission of results to peer-reviewed journals
Promotion of collaboration and sustainability – strengthening partnerships between Romania and the Republic of Moldova to support long-term, morality-based anti-bullying practices in education.
The cognitive, social, and economic impact
The project addresses the persistent problem of school bullying by developing an innovative research and intervention framework that integrates moral psychology, educational science, and social identity theory. Its cognitive, social, and economic impacts extend beyond the immediate educational environment and contribute to broader societal well-being. The project aims to enhance students’ moral reasoning, emotional awareness, and ethical decision-making abilities at the cognitive level. By investigating moral emotions, mechanisms of moral disengagement, and patterns of moral identity associated with bullying behaviour, the project provides a deeper understanding of how students interpret and justify harmful actions. These insights are translated into educational interventions through the Anti-Bullying Brigades (ABB), which promote active moral engagement and encourage students to reflect critically on their behaviour and on the consequences of bullying for victims and the school community. Through structured activities such as discussions, role-playing exercises, and collaborative tasks, students develop stronger internalised moral values and better emotion regulation skills, which are essential for preventing aggressive behaviours and fostering prosocial attitudes. The project also introduces the concept of moral injury in the context of school bullying, highlighting how exposure to morally distressing experiences may lead to psychological consequences such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. By identifying these mechanisms and developing new measurement tools to assess them, the project advances theoretical knowledge and improves intervention strategies in developmental and educational psychology. From a social perspective, the project aims to transform the school climate by strengthening peer support networks and encouraging collective responsibility for maintaining respectful interactions. Recognising that bullying is often a group process influenced by peer norms and social identities, the ABB programme organises students into collaborative teams that function as peer-based antibully advocates. These teams operate within a framework of shared values, group symbols, and clear rules that reinforce positive social identities and promote solidarity among students. The project helps make schools safer and more welcoming by bringing students together and empowering them to be defenders rather than passive bystanders. It also encourages trust, cooperation, and empathy.
In addition to its educational and psychological benefits, the project has significant economic implications. Bullying is associated with long-term costs related to mental health treatment, reduced academic performance, and increased school dropout rates. Preventive interventions that reduce bullying and support students’ well-being can therefore generate long-term savings for educational systems and public health services. Furthermore, cross-border collaboration between Romanian and Moldavian research teams strengthens regional research capacity, facilitates knowledge transfer, and supports the development of evidence-based educational policies to address issues such as bullying and its long-term impacts on students’ mental health and academic success.