174 Developing Mental Toughness Perceptions of bullying in a secondary school The study covered the entire Year 10 group (age 16 years), some 240 pu- pils, from a secondary college based in an area of north-west England that experiences a degree of social deprivation. All pupils participated ­ no self- selection was permitted. Pupils were asked to self-assess in terms of being bullied. Tutors were also asked to rate which students appeared to be bullied and to what extent. Analysis of mental toughness scores and the tutor's assessment showed that there was a clear and strong relationship between the students' belief they were being bullied in some way and their level of mental toughness. Focus groups showed that the same incident would be viewed differently by pupils depending on their level of mental toughness. A tutor who may shout in class to get attention would be seen as a `shouty' teacher by the more mentally tough who would see it as an aspect of the teacher's behav- iours with no specific implication for themselves. The more mentally sensi- tive would often see the shouting as directed personally to them even where they acknowledged the teacher shouted at everyone. The likely explanation is that mentally tough people shrug off other peo- ple's behaviour or actions and don't feel bullied or threatened by it. Men- tally sensitive people on the other hand appear to respond negatively to any