Social support, empathy and satisfaction with life in the different roles of aggressor-victim of bullying

• Main Authors: Laura Carrascosa, J. Ortega- Barón
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Asociación Nacional de Psicología Evolutiva y Educativa de la Infancia Adolescencia Mayores y Discapacidad 2018-05-01
• Series: INFAD
• Subjects: acoso escolar; apoyo social; empatía; satisfacción con la vida
• Online Access: http://www.infad.eu/RevistaINFAD/OJS/index.php/IJODAEP/article/view/1221
• ISSN: 0214-9877; 2603-5987

Bullying is one of the main problems in adolescence, with serious consequences. In comparison with the large number of studies focused on the role of passive victim and pure aggressor, research focused on the double role of aggressor-victim is still scarce. The aim of this study was to  analyze possible differences in emotional and cognitive empathy, evaluation of the social network, emotional loneliness and life satisfaction among five groups of adolescents with different involvement in bullying: “not involved”, “occasional aggressors/victims”, “frequent victims”, “frequent aggressors” and “frequent aggressors/victims “. The sample consisted of 1034 adolescents (50.6% boys and 49.4% girls), between 12 and 19 years old. The results show that frequent aggressors have less emotional empathy than frequent victims and occasional aggressive-victims. On the other hand, frequent victims show a more negative evaluation of the social network than occasional aggressivevictims. Victims and frequent aggressive-victims show greater loneliness. Finally, the non-involved and the occasional aggressive-victims have greater satisfaction with life. These results and their implications are discussed.