Being in the Know

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that early adolescents’ ( N = 951) knowledge of who bullies whom is differentially distributed across peers. Knowledge of bullying was assessed by asking middle school students to nominate grademates who bullied or were bullied using physical or relational means. We hypothesized that peers who were closer to bullies and victims in the grade-level friendship network, such as bullies, victims, their friends, and socially central youth, would be more knowledgeable than would peers who were socially distant. Findings revealed that approximately half of the adolescents were able to identify bullies and victims, and those who were most able to do so were socially closer, particularly victims and their friends. Bullies and their friends were less likely to name peers as bullies or victims.