Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
["Violence is no solution but a cool alternative?" Why bullies are so effective]
Manuel Stoiber1, Mechthild Schäfer
1Departement Psychologie der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München.
Abstract:
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.
More Related Videos
06:42Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
07:19A New Approach that Eliminates Handling for Studying Aggression and the "Loser" Effect in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: December 30, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Bullying
Aggression
Milgram's Obedience to Authority
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Bystander Effect
Coping Strategies: Problem Focused
For example, consider a student who struggles to understand their...