School Humiliation: Nature, Types, Sources, Theoretical Perspectives and Psychosocial Impact

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Page: 1459-1463

Pinki Kataria, Sahil Jilowa, Nisha, and Rakesh Kumar Behmani (Department of Applied Psychology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar, Haryana)

School humiliation is a common but largely unnoticed issue that harms students’ psychological well-being, academic engagement, and social development. This review highlights the nature, types, sources, theoretical perspectives, and psychosocial impact of humiliation in educational contexts.. Social Identity Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, Social Rank Theory, Moral Emotions Framework and Trauma Perspective are all theoretical perspective that highlight how humiliation functions as a social and emotional stressor. Evidence suggests that humiliation is associated with negative effects such as low self-esteem, increased interpersonal sensitivity, subordinate behaviours, depression, anxiety, and academic disengagement, with adolescent pupils and marginalised groups particularly vulnerable. By combining several study findings, this paper emphasises the importance of schools implementing dignity-affirming practices and policies that reduce humiliation and build supportive learning environments. Addressing this issue is critical not only for protecting students’ mental health but also for providing inclusive, equitable, and powerful educational experiences.