RESUMO
Those, who bully others, are prone to be characterized as "aggressive", "antisocial", and "without empathy" by their teachers: the standard view on aggressive children. However, are these qualities a bully could gain dominance from? With this study we aim to examine the characteristics of "effective" bullies. To this end, we gathered sociometric data on participant roles (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Ostermann, Kaukiainen, 1996), resource-control strategies (Hawley, 2003) and social status (Coie, Dodge, Coppotelli, 1982; Cillessen u. Mayeux, 2004) from 2,600 pupils (54 % male), first to tenth grade in primary and secondary schools in and around Munich. Bullies in primary school extensively used coercive strategies, while those who bully individual peers in secondary school combined the extensive use of coercive strategies with a comparable amount of prosocial strategies. In consequence, they control most of the material and social resources in the classroom. When bistrategics were compared with those, who only use coercive strategies, the two groups differed in resource control as well as in status. Bullies identified as bistrategics were high on perceived popularity, but that is--other than in primary school--attributed to the coercives in secondary school, too. Implications on how to recognize an effective bully are discussed in order to make sure that victims receive effective support.
