Abstract:

Bullying remains a persistent educational challenge that affects students’ wellbeing, peer relations, and the learning environment. Although bullying has traditionally been conceptualized within a bully–victim framework, contemporary research increasingly acknowledges the multiplicity of roles and patterns of involvement, including bystander positions. From an educational perspective, understanding how these different experiences relate to students’ readiness for aggression and their prosocial orientation is essential for designing differentiated prevention and support.

This study examined readiness for aggression and prosocial tendencies among students with different bullying experiences: bullying others, being victimized, bully-victim involvement, and bystanding. The sample comprised 566 students aged 11–15 years (M = 13.21) from nine Polish primary schools. Bullying experiences were assessed with a questionnaire covering bullying others, victimization, and bystanding. Readiness for aggression was measured across three components: emotional–impulsive, habitual–cognitive, and immanent–personality. Prosocial tendencies were captured through indicators of prosocial activity frequency and the valuation of prosociality.

Students reporting frequent bullying of others showed the highest readiness for aggression, with a particularly pronounced habitual–cognitive component, suggesting internalized aggressive response scripts. The bully-victim group displayed the highest levels across all readiness-for-aggression components. Students who bullied others did not differ markedly from those who did not in declared prosocial activity; however, they tended to value prosociality less. Among frequently victimized students, elevated emotional–impulsive readiness was observed, while victimization was also associated with a stronger inclination to support others. Bystanders formed distinct profiles: prosocial interveners, passive observers, and those reinforcing the bully. The reinforcing profile most closely resembled bullies, combining higher readiness for aggression with lower prosociality.

Overall, the results support a holistic understanding of bullying as a multi-aspect peer phenomenon in which both direct involvement and bystanding constitute a meaningful socialization context shaping behavioral orientations. In practical terms, the patterns observed, especially the elevated habitual–cognitive readiness among students frequently bullying others, the consistently high readiness across components in the bully-victim group, and the "reinforcing bystander" profile resembling bullies, suggest a need for differentiated prevention that targets aggressive thinking patterns and peer reinforcement processes, not only overt acts. At the same time, the finding that students who bullied others reported comparable prosocial activity but lower valuation of prosociality indicates that educational work should focus on strengthening prosocial norms and the perceived value of helping, alongside building concrete bystander intervention skills and safe school routines for reporting and support.

Keywords:

Bullying, Aggressive behaviors, Adolescents, Students, Peer Relations, School Environment, Prevention.