Are victims of bullying primarily social outcasts? Person-group dissimilarities in relational, socio-behavioral, and physical characteristics as predictors of victimization.

Abstract

Existing literature has mostly explained the occurrence of bullying victimization by individual socioemotional maladjustment. Instead, this study tested the person‐group dissimilarity model (Wright et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50: 523–536, 1986) by examining whether individuals’ deviation from developmentally important (relational, socio‐behavioral, and physical) descriptive classroom norms predicted victimization. Adolescents (N = 1267, k = 56 classrooms; M age = 13.2; 48.7% boys; 83.4% Dutch) provided self‐reported and peer‐nomination data throughout one school year (three timepoints). Results from group actor–partner interdependence models indicated that more person‐group dissimilarity in relational characteristics (fewer friendships; incidence rate ratios [IRR]T2 = 0.28, IRRT3 = 0.16, fewer social media connections; IRRT3 = 0.13) and, particularly, lower disruptive behaviors (IRRT2 = 0.35, IRRT3 = 0.26) predicted victimization throughout the school year.