Concurrent characteristics of bullies, bully/victims and victims

Bullies Individual differences Little anxiety, good selfesteem, not easily angered and wellregulated physically strong (boys) Consider aggression a means to dominate others; 'cool cognition', good understanding of social situations (theory of mind), little empathy Bully/victims Highly reactive and angry, irritable and hottempered, impulsive, hyperactive/short attention span Positive attitude to aggression, interpet others' ambiguous provocations as hostile, low to moderate understanding of social situations Moderate to high social impact, few friends, often reinforcer or assistant, highly rejected by peers Experience of violence against them or exposure to violence between adults, inconsistent discipline and parenting, poor monitoring of child, often marital conflict, most troubled or disfunctional families, often father absent Victims Withdrawn, anxious, insecure, low selfesteem, unassertive, easily emotionally upset, often physically weak Negative attitude to violence, poor social understanding (theory of mind), poor in finding conflict resolution alternatives

Social cognition

Sociometic status

High social impact, number of friends (followers), ring leader, both popular and rejected (controversial) Harsh discipline style but no violence against them, disengaged or distant family structure, negative relations with siblings (dominance struggles), father more likely to have been bully himself

Low social impact, no friends or only single friend (lonely) rejected or neglected by peers

Family functioning

Overly protective mothers, enmeshed/overly close family allowing little independence, close relationship to siblings; or father distant, negative, cold and not a role model

Taken from Messer & Miller (1999). Table 17.4. Messer, D., & Millar, S. (Eds.). (1999). Exploring developmental psychology. London: Arnold.