| This study investigated the popularity of middle school students involved in bullying and attempted to determine distinguishing characteristics of the popular bullies. The sample consisted of 379 students from a suburban middle school. Bullying was assessed by peer report using the School Climate Bullying Survey (SCBS). The SCBS is a 43-item measure designed to assess bullying behavior as well as student attitudes and beliefs related to peer aggression and school climate. Popularity was assessed by asking students to identify up to 10 boys and 10 girls in their grade whom they considered to be popular. Bullies (M = 21) received more popularity nominations than both victims (M = 4) and students uninvolved in bullying (M = 13). Bullies in the top third of popular nominations were categorized as popular and non-popular if ranked in the lower third. A series of analyses compared the 12 non-popular and 25 popular bullies across several variables of interest, including types of bullying behaviors (i.e., verbal, social, and physical), gender, disciplinary record, academic performance, self-reported quality of peer and teacher relationships, and victimization. The popular and non-popular bullies largely tended to be similar to one another, with the exceptions that female bullies were more likely than male bullies to be popular and the non-popular bullies were more likely than the popular bullies to be identified by their peers as victims. In attempting to implement successful intervention programs, school personnel should take into account the social reinforcement that popular bullies receive from their peer group and the disproportionate influence that these students may have on the social climate in their schools. |
