Journal of Interpersonal

Violence
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School Bullying in Adolescence and Personality Traits: A

Person-Centered Approach
Jasmina Kodzopeljic, Snezana Smederevac, Dusanka Mitrovic, Bojana Dinic
and Petar Colovic
J Interpers Violence 2014 29: 736 originally published online 18 November 2013
DOI: 10.1177/0886260513505216

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505216
research-article2013
JIV29410.1177/0886260513505216Journal of Interpersonal ViolenceKodopelji et al.

Article
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
2014, Vol. 29(4) 736757
School Bullying in The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0886260513505216
Personality Traits: jiv.sagepub.com

A Person-Centered
Approach

Jasmina Kodopelji, PhD,1 Sneana Smederevac,

PhD,1 Duanka Mitrovi, PhD,1 Bojana Dini, MSc,1
and Petar olovi, PhD1

Abstract
This study examined the differences in personality traits between the
clusters reflecting the roles in violent interactions among high school
students. The sample included 397 students (51.1% male) of Serbian
nationality from the first to the fourth grades of different high schools. Based
on scores of five dimensions related to peer violence (Physical Aggression,
Psychological Aggression, Victimization, Adapted Behavior, and Risky
Behavior), three clusters were extracted: Adapted Adolescents, Victims,
and Bullies. These three clusters were compared with respect to lexical
Big Seven personality traits, and the results indicate that the clusters differ
significantly on Aggressiveness, Neuroticism, and Negative Valence. The
Adapted Adolescents have the lowest scores on all three dimensions, while
the Victims score highest on Neuroticism, and the Bullies on Aggressiveness.
The potential importance of certain Extraversion facets for the roles in
violent interaction was discussed.

Keywords
bullying, victimization, peer violence, Big Seven

1University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Corresponding Author:
Bojana Dini, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Email: bojana.dinic@ff.uns.ac.rs

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Kodopelji et al. 737

Introduction
Bullying has been the subject of researchers interest since the first studies
were conducted in Scandinavian countries in the late 1970s (Olweus, 1978,
1993). Although it is very difficult to compare the results of the frequency of
violent behavior in different cultures and educational systems, the results of
studies in many countries have suggested that the frequency of violent behav-
ior among students had been on the increase (Carney & Merrell, 2001). In
addition to that, the results of numerous studies have pointed to the negative
and long-term consequences of bullying for all participants (increased depres-
siveness, anxiety, social exclusion and withdrawal, reactive aggression, and
so on in victims; Craig, 1998; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Hourbe, Targuinio,
Thuillier, & Hergott, 2006; Nansel et al., 2001; Pepler et al., 2006). Such
results may be the reason for the unfading interest in the phenomenon of bul-
lying in recent decades.
In spite of the notably rising number of studies since the 1970s, disagree-
ments among authors regarding the definition of bullying have persisted
throughout this period (Arora, 1996; Griffin & Gross, 2004). However,
despite the differences in defining bullying, certain common elements are
present in works of many authors. Price and Dodge (1989) defined bullying
as a type of proactive aggression that can be displayed in the form of direct or
relational aggressive behavior (Connor, 1988). Therefore, many authors per-
ceived intentional and repetitive infliction of physical pain and/or intimida-
tion not provoked by the victims actions as significant determinants of
bullying (Olweus, 1993, 2010). However, the power imbalance that exists
between the bully and the victim has also been emphasized (Peterson &
Rigby, 1999). To conduct a more comprehensive research of the social cli-
mate in schools, some studies shifted their focus from the narrowly defined
bullying phenomenon to more broadly defined concepts of peer and school
violence (Benbenishty & Astor, 2005; Kodopelji, Smederevac, & olovi,
2010; Popadi & Plut, 2007; Thomson, Arora, & Sharp, 2002). In addition to
the aforementioned components of bullying, these concepts include individ-
ual violent interactions between peers, where an imbalance of power is not
necessarily present. However, disagreements over defining the concept have
gained or lost importance depending on the goal of the research. Whereas the
way of assessment of violent behavior can affect the estimation of the preva-
lence rate (Cook, Williams, Guerra, & Kim, 2009; Solberg & Olweus, 2003),
its effect on determining predictors has not been confirmed (Cook, Williams,
Guerra, Kim, & Sadek, 2010). The results of the meta-analytic study (Cook
et al., 2010) showed that the predictors of bullying do not differ from predic-
tors of aggressive behavior.

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738 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

According to the definition, bullying occurs in a social context determined

by the individual characteristics of the participants, as well as by different
contextual features of the environment (Cook et al., 2010). Bullying appears
to be a group activity in which the parties involved participate differently
according to their personal characteristics (Salmivalli, Kaukiainen,
Kaistaniemi, & Lagerspetz, 1999). Roles in violent interactions tend to
remain stable not only throughout elementary school (Salmivalli, Lappalainen,
& Lagerspetz, 1998) but also as participants transfer to high school (Paul &
Cillessen, 2003). Most authors consider three roles in violent interaction:
bully, victim, and bully-victim. Bullies may be considered as children who
show intentional and repeated aggressive behavior toward other children.
Victims in general may be defined as targets of bullying, while bully-victims
are both targets of bullying and aggressors (Griffin & Gross, 2004). In the
meta-analysis of 153 studies, Cook et al. (2010) gave a short review of the
most important predictors of each role in violent interaction. Even though
some of the personal and contextual predictors appeared in all three groups
(gender, family and home environment, school climate, poor social skills),
bullies were also characterized by a more pronounced externalizing behavior,
low school achievement, and negative attitudes and beliefs about others and
themselves. Typical victims showed greater tendency toward internalized
problems (decrease in self-esteem, increase in anxiety, and depressiveness,
etc.) and negative self-related cognitions. In addition to that, they were fre-
quently rejected by their peers and socially isolated. Bully-victim group
exhibited a comorbidity of externalized and internalized problems, a negative
image of oneself and others, as well as poor social competence, while peer
rejection was accompanied by succumbing to negative peer influence. In
addition, some authors single out the role of bystanders or witnesses as
important group in bullying situations (e.g., Cuadrado-Gordillo, 2012; Gini,
Pozzoli, Borghi, & Franzoni, 2008; Salmivalli, 2010). It may be important to
make a distinction between bystanders and other participants in bullying. The
bystanders do not take active part in violent interactions; however, they can
indirectly reinforce the bullies behavior, passively support the victims, or
behave as observers (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Bjrkqvist, sterman, &
Kaukiainen, 1996). Bystanders role in violent interaction is important
because their behavior can contribute to persistence of violent patterns.
Temporal stability of the role in violent interaction, among other factors,
was also shown to be affected by personality traits (Olweus, 1993; Salmivalli
et al., 1998). Among studies that have investigated relations between person-
ality traits and roles in bullying incidents, two approaches are noted: vari-
able-centered and person-centered (Grumm & von Collani, 2009). Traditional,
variable-centered approach to this problem explored the relationship between

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Kodopelji et al. 739

personality traits and aggressive behavior or bullying. The Big Five model
was used in several studies as the most influential theoretical framework.
This model includes five dimensions: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness,
Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. The results of numerous studies indi-
cated that Agreeableness had the strongest correlation and emerged as the
most important predictor of all roles in violent interactions (Gleason, Jensen-
Campbell, & Richardson, 2004; Jensen-Campbell et al., 2002; Sharpe &
Desai, 2001; Tani, Greenman, Schneider, & Fregoso, 2003; Trebblay &
Ewart, 2005). Low Agreeableness was found in both bullies and victims
(Tani et al., 2003), and it was also a significant predictor of victimization
increase over time (Jensen-Campbell et al., 2002). Agreeableness also nega-
tively correlated with antisocial behavior and adolescent delinquency
(Robins, John, & Caspi, 1994; Van Dam, Janssens, & De Bruyn, 2005). A
number of factors contributing to social adaptation, such as peer acceptance
(Jensen-Campbell et al., 2002), cooperation in group activities (Graziano,
Hair, & Finch, 1997), and self-control in interpersonal relations (Jensen-
Campbell, Graziano, & Hair, 1996), also correlated significantly with
Agreeableness. Such behaviors may occur as protective factors in bullying
situations. Other dimensions, apart from Agreeableness, correlated signifi-
cantly with different roles in violent interactions. Both victims and bullies
scored high on Neuroticism (Maynard & Joseph, 1997; Tani et al., 2003).
However, some studies indicated that bullies showed higher positive affect
than other participants in violent interaction (Craig & Pepler, 1997). It was
assumed that hostility and lack of empathy of the bullies may have been the
result of not only low Agreeableness but also of low Conscientiousness. At
the same time, social exclusion of the victim can stem from low Extraversion
and high Neuroticism (Tani et al., 2003). Substantial correlations between
Openness and violent behavior have not been found in most studies.
Nonetheless, the results of our research on senior elementary school students
suggested that higher Openness is a feature of victims (Smederevac &
olovi, 2011).
The person-centered approach investigates specific trait configurations
distinctive for certain groups of individuals belonging to a specific personal-
ity type (Grumm & von Collani, 2009). Typology introduced by Block and
Block (1980) has often been used in the search for different outcomes of
specific personality types. Three personality types, labeled resilient, overcon-
trolled, and undercontrolled, represent unique combinations of traits that
have specific behavioral outcomes. Some of these outcomes are related to
bullying. Thus certain findings showed that overcontrolled individuals, char-
acterized by high Neuroticism and low Extraversion, inclined to internalized
problems, while undercontrolled ones, characterized by low Agreeableness

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740 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

and Conscientiousness, were more prone to externalized problems (Robins,

John, Caspi, & Moffit, 1996; Van Leeuwen, de Fruyt, & Mervielde, 2004).
Aggressive behavior as the behavioral outcome of the above-mentioned per-
sonality types has also been the subject of research. A longitudinal study by
Hart, Hoffman, Edelstein, and Keller (1997) revealed that children who were
identified as overcontrolled at the age of seven, showed a greater predisposi-
tion to withdraw from social interactions in adolescence, as well as a lower
level of self-esteem compared with the other two types. The increase of
aggressive behavior during adolescence was noted in children classified as
undercontrolled. Considering that the low scores on Agreeableness and
Conscientiousness in undercontrolled individuals are sometimes accompa-
nied by moderate and high Neuroticism (Herzberg & Roth, 2006), it is appar-
ent that there is a high level of compliance between the results of
variable-centered and person-centered approach to personal characteristics of
bullies. The resilient type is characterized by high social competence and
emotional stability (Asendorpf & van Aken, 1999). In terms of five-factor
model, resilient persons are characterized by moderate Extraversion,
Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness, and low Neuroticism (Van
Leeuwen et al., 2004). Therefore, it is less likely that the Resilients will tend
to participate regularly in violent interactions.
Besides the studies that investigated relations between personality types
and violent behavior, attempts have been made to extract types of adolescents
based on self- or peer-reported measures of bullying and/or victimization
(Espelage & Holt, 2001; Peeters, Cillessen, & Scholte, 2010). The results
suggest that there are three subtypes of bullies in both boys and girls (Peeters
et al., 2010), while five clusters are extracted when both measures of bullying
and victimization are taken into account (Espelage & Holt, 2001).
Studies concerning personality traits of bullies and victims have, up to
now, used the Big Five model framework, regardless of the approach applied.
Some traits not included in this model can potentially be significant in
describing children displaying violent behavior and children enduring vio-
lence. Taking that into consideration, a questionnaire aimed at assessing
seven personality dimensions is applied in this study. The questionnaire Big
Five Plus Two (BF+2; Smederevac, Mitrovi, & olovi, 2010) was devel-
oped on the basis of lexical studies of personality descriptors in the Serbian
language. It contains scales for the assessment of Neuroticism, Extraversion,
Aggressiveness, Conscientiousness, Openness, Positive Valence, and
Negative Valence. The latter two dimensions are referred to by the common
term evaluative dimensions, because they comprise indicators of positive
and negative self-evaluation. Previous studies have pointed to low self-
esteem as one of the important characteristics of victimized children (Carney

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Kodopelji et al. 741

& Merrell, 2001). Therefore, evaluative dimensions, which contain markers

of self-esteem, may play an important role in the personality description of
both bullies and victims. Victims could achieve significantly lower scores on
Positive Valence than other children, and possibly higher scores on Negative
Valence, considering the findings pointing to their proneness to depression
(Carney & Merrell, 2001). Some thus far findings have spoken in favor of
increased Neuroticism and Openness in victims (Smederevac & olovi,
2011); therefore, such results can be expected in this study. As research on a
sample of children aged 11 to 15 indicated elevated scores on Positive and
Negative Valence in children who show violent behavior (Mitrovi,
Kodopelji, & olovi, 2011), similar results can be expected in high school
students. Apart from this, Aggressiveness and Neuroticism may be signifi-
cant for the description of both groups of participants in violent interactions.
This study is based on a somewhat broader definition of bullying which
includes Olweus criteria (Olweus, 2010), as well as incidental cases of non-
repetitive bullying not necessarily including power imbalance. The study
uses person-centered approach, which has been previously used in studies
regarding adolescents violent behavior (Peeters et al., 2010). However, it
appears that person-centered studies of self-reported violence in adolescents
(Espelage & Holt, 2001; Peeters et al., 2010) are much less frequent than
person-oriented studies that are primarily based on personality traits
(Asendorpf & van Aken, 1999; Robins et al., 1996; Scholte, van Lieshout, de
Wit, & van Aken, 2005; Van Leeuwen et al., 2004), particularly in older ado-
lescents. This study attempts to examine whether self-reported tendencies to
participate in violent interactions may serve as a basis for plausible typology
of adolescents, and if so, whether adolescents in such clusters differ with
regard to personality traits. By using violent behavior as a framework for
cluster extraction, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of
different roles in violent interactions among adolescents. At the same time,
by using BF+2, this study takes into consideration both descriptive and eval-
uative personality dimensions, the latter being neglected in studies of adoles-
cents violent behavior so far.

Method
Participants and Procedure
The study was conducted in 2011. The sample comprised 203 (51.1%) male
and 194 (48.9%) female first- to fourth-grade high school students from
Serbia. The participants were White and of Serbian nationality. The average
age of the participants was 16.68 (SD = 1.15, range = 15-19). Informed

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742 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

consent was obtained prior to administration of the questionnaires. Participants

were told that the study was investigating the frequency of violence in the high
school population. In addition, participants were informed that their participa-
tion was voluntary and that they could withdraw from the study at any time
without penalty. No participants declined to participate in the study.

Measures
Peer Violence Questionnaire (PVQ).The PVQ (Maksimovi, Rakovi,
Jovanovi, & olovi, 2008) was developed to measure the tendency toward
different forms of violent behavior. Apart from behavioral indicators of peer
violence in the more narrow sense, PVQ includes indicators of some forms of
risky behavior which could be related to violent behavior and bullying. PVQ
contains five facets: Physical Violence, which assesses a variety of physical
forms of violence from direct physical violence toward peers to incitement of
physical violence (e.g., I often take a part in fights); Psychological Vio-
lence, which measures psychological forms of violence such as gossip, mock,
disregard, and so on (e.g., I gossip with my friends about people who deserve
it); Victimization, which measures the exposure to different forms of vio-
lence (e.g., Other students often push me); Adapted Behavior, which mea-
sures behavior such as protecting peers, exemplary behavior, and so on (e.g.,
Even when I mess up, I try to set things right.); and Risky Behavior, which
assesses behavior such as substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, theft, and
so on (e.g., I tried marijuana). The questionnaire contains 59 binary items
(Yes/No), of which seven are fillers (e.g., I have many hobbies). Fillers are
included in the questionnaire to obscure the purpose of the scale.
Higher scores on all the scales in PVQ indicate increased tendency to dis-
play certain patterns of behavior labeled by the scale name, while lower
scores indicate decreased proneness to these behaviors. The descriptives and
reliabilities of scales are shown in Table 1.

BF+2. The BF+2 (Smederevac et al., 2010) is a 184-item measure of seven

lexical personality dimensions in the Serbian language. The psycho-lexical
study, on which the BF+2 is based, was conducted according to Tellegen and
Wallers non-restrictive criteria (Waller, 1999), which suggest that any per-
sonality descriptor can be included in the descriptor list. The items were
designed as simple statements in accordance with dictionary definitions, with
the 5-point Likert response format ranging from very false for me to very
true for me. The instrument measures 7 higher order and 18 lower order
personality dimensions. Seven higher order scales were Neuroticism, Extra-
version, Conscientiousness, Aggressiveness, Openness, Positive Valence,

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Kodopelji et al. 743

Table 1. Number of Items, Means, Standard Deviations, and Reliabilities for Scales
of PVQ and BF+2.

n M SD
PVQ
Physical violence 15 11.91 2.87 .80
Risky behavior 10 6.59 1.92 .64
Victimization 9 7.81 1.30 .60
Adapted behavior 10 2.20 1.46 .63
Psychological violence 8 5.89 1.59 .56
BF+2
Anxiety 13 34.83 9.01 .80
Depression 10 20.85 7.02 .79
Negative affect 12 33.02 9.27 .82
Warmth 8 32.80 3.92 .60
Positive affect 8 33.89 3.81 .65
Sociability 8 31.54 4.75 .65
Self-discipline 8 24.98 6.85 .72
Persistence 11 41.80 6.33 .73
Cautiousness 9 31.35 5.25 .59
Anger 9 26.03 7.57 .80
Disagreeableness 11 27.53 6.90 .68
Tough-mindedness 10 32.66 6.80 .71
Intellect 13 46.84 8.25 .77
Novelty seeking 7 27.36 4.18 .52
Superiority 14 43.31 10.15 .83
Positive self-concept 11 41.65 6.05 .76
Manipulative style 12 25.64 8.23 .82
Negative self-concept 10 17.29 5.03 .68
Neuroticism 35 88.75 21.75 .91
Extraversion 24 98.22 9.89 .79
Conscientiousness 28 98.09 14.78 .84
Aggressiveness 30 86.20 16.50 .84
Openness 20 74.19 10.35 .77
Positive valence 25 84.97 14.80 .88
Negative valence 22 42.92 11.34 .83

Note. PVQ = Peer Violence Questionnaire; BF+2 = Big Five Plus Two.

and Negative Valence. The Neuroticism scale refers to the tendency to expe-
rience negative emotions and contains three facets: Anxiety, Depression, and
Negative Affect. The Extraversion scale mostly includes indicators of

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744 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

sociability and positive emotionality and contains the following facets:

Warmth, Positive Affect, and Sociability. The Conscientiousness scale
includes indicators of persistence and responsible attitude toward obligations
and consists of the facets named Self-discipline, Persistence, and Cautious-
ness. The Aggressiveness scale, for the most part, includes indicators of the
display of aggressive impulses and aggressive reactions, and comprises three
facets: Anger, Disagreeableness, and Tough-mindedness. The Openness scale
refers to a variety of interests and proneness to novelties, and contains two
facets: Intellect and Novelty Seeking. The Positive Valence includes two fac-
ets: Superiority and Positive Self-Concept. The Negative Valence scale con-
sists of two facets: Manipulative Style and Negative Self-Concept. The
descriptives and reliabilities of scales are shown in Table 1.

Data Analysis
To determine types of violent and risky behavior, two-step cluster analysis
(with log-likelihood as distance measure) was conducted based on the PVQ
scores. Three-, four-, and five-cluster solutions were compared according to
their silhouette widths. Silhouette width (Kaufman & Rousseeuw, 2005) was
used as a measure of cluster validity. The silhouette is a graphical representa-
tion of cluster cohesion or separation. Values of silhouette width span from
1 to 1. Larger values indicate better clustering, and thus they are preferred
(Brock, Pihur, Datta, & Datta, 2008; Kaufman & Rousseeuw, 2005).

Results
Descriptives and Reliability
The descriptives and reliabilities for PVQ and BF+2 scales are shown in
Table 1. Reliabilities of scales were acceptable to good, except for
Psychological Violence, Novelity Seeking, and Cautiousness. Students gen-
erally scored higher on Physical Violence, Victimization, and Psychological
Violence, and lower on Adapted Behavior.

Cluster Analysis
To identify clusters based on the PVQ scores, a two-step cluster analysis was
performed. The silhouette width was the most favorable for the three-cluster
solution. One-way analysis of variances (ANOVAs) revealed significant dif-
ferences at the p < .01 between groups on all PVQ scores: Physical Violence,
F(2, 373) = 145.95; Psychological Violence, F(2, 373) = 33.54; Victimization,

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Kodopelji et al. 745

Figure 1. Mean standardized scores for Peer Violence Questionnaire scales in the
three-cluster solution.

F(2, 373) = 98.13; Adapted Behavior, F(2, 373) = 82.63; and Risky Behavior,
F(2, 373) = 139.13. Scheffe post hoc tests showed that only the differences
between the first and the second subgroup on Risky Behavior (p = .94) and
between the first and the third subgroup on Adapted Behavior (p = .57) are
not statistically significant. Classification results from the discriminant anal-
ysis showed that 97.2% of cases for the first subgroup are classified correctly,
100% for the second, and 94.5% for the third subgroup.
Figure 1 shows the mean standardized scores for the three-cluster solu-
tion. The first cluster comprised the majority of the sample (n = 250, 66.5%).
This cluster was described by relatively low scores on each of the PVQ fac-
ets, except for the Adapted Behavior, so the cluster was named Adapted. The
adolescents belonging to this cluster scored the lowest on Physical and
Psychological Violence and Victimization, while on Adapted Behavior they
scored same as the members of the third cluster but significantly higher than
the adolescents from the second cluster. Their scores on Risky Behavior were
the same as those achieved by the members of the second cluster but signifi-
cantly lower than in the third cluster. The Adapted cluster comprised 103
boys (41.2%) and 147 girls (58.8%), average age of 16.62 (SD = 1.14). The
second cluster comprised 53 participants (14.1% of the whole sample), 27

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746 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

boys, and average age of students in this cluster was 16.92 (SD = 1.12). This
cluster was described by relatively high scores on Victimization and low
scores on Adaptive and Risky Behavior, so it was named Victims. The Victims
cluster had the highest scores on Victimization and the lowest scores on
Adapted Behavior, as well as the lowest scores on Risky Behavior along with
the Adapted cluster, while scores on Physical and Psychological Violence
were moderate compared with other clusters. The third cluster comprised 73
participants (19.4%), with relatively high scores on Physical Violence and
Risky Behavior, and low on Victimization, so this cluster was named Bullies.
The Bullies cluster had the highest scores on Physical and Psychological
Violence and Risky Behavior, moderate scores on Victimization, and nearly
the same scores on Adapted behavior as the Adapted cluster but higher than
the Victims cluster. Boys were the majority of the Bullies cluster (n = 58,
79.5%), and the average age of students in this cluster was 16.74 (SD = 1.21).
Results of a Profile (3) Gender (2) chi-square test indicated that the
numbers of male and female students in clusters were significantly different,
2(2) = 33.09, p < .001. Inspection of crosstabulation suggested that the main
difference concerned the group of Bullies, which included mostly male
participants.

Clusters and Personality Traits

Univariate F tests were performed on all BF+2 variables with the three clus-
ters as the grouping factor, followed by Scheffe post hoc tests (see Table 2).
F tests yielded significant univariate effects of group membership on
almost all personality variables (Table 2). Results indicated that the Victims
had the highest scores on all facets of Neuroticism, and the Bullies had the
highest scores on all facets of Aggressiveness and on Manipulative Style
facet of Negative Valence. The Adapted and the Bullies differed significantly
on Conscientiousness. However, at the facet level, the only difference was on
Self-Discipline between the Adapted and the others, with the Adapted scor-
ing higher. The Bullies scored higher than adapted on Superiority (Positive
Valences facet). The Adapted scored higher than the Victims on Warmth
(Extraversions facet). The Bullies scored higher on the Sociability than the
Victims. The Intellect (facet of Openness) also discriminated between the
Victims and the Bullies, with the latter scoring lower. Eta-squared effect sizes
were moderate for domains of Negative Valence, Aggressiveness, and
Neuroticism, as well as for Manipulative Style, Negative Self-Concept,
Depression, and Anger facets. For the remaining personality variables, effect
sizes were small.

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Kodopelji et al. 747

Table 2. Means, Standard deviations, and Post Hoc Tests for BF+2 Variables by
the Three-Cluster Classification.
1-Adapted 2-Victims 3-Bullies
Scheffe Post
F(2, 372) 2 M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) Hoc

Anxiety 7.16** .04 33.90 (8.98) 38.96 (9.06) 35.01 (8.33) 2 > 1 and 3
Depression 37.43*** .17 18.95 (5.89) 26.70 (7.82) 23.12 (7.05) 2>3>1
Negative affect 19.86*** .10 31.22 (8.73) 39.32 (8.75) 34.62 (9.24) 2>3>1
Warmth 3.86* .02 33.18 (3.67) 31.75 (4.33) 32.25 (4.29) 1>2
Positive affect 2.51 .01 34.20 (3.49) 33.34 (4.46) 33.22 (4.26)
Sociability 6.01** .03 31.43 (4.71) 30.08 (5.68) 32.96 (3.68) 3>2
Self-discipline 14.10*** .07 26.27 (6.74) 22.36 (6.27) 22.48 (6.45) 1 > 2 and 3
Persistence 1.81 .01 42.24 (6.45) 40.94 (6.97) 40.90 (5.26)
Cautiousness 2.51 .01 31.58 (5.04) 31.91 (5.61) 30.14 (5.56)
Anger 36.04*** .16 24.03 (7.07) 27.68 (6.93) 31.68 (6.54) 3>2>1
Disagreeableness 10.52*** .05 26.82 (6.44) 26.45 (7.10) 30.79 (7.42) 3 > 1 and 2
Tough-mindedness 18.77*** .09 31.34 (6.63) 33.51 (6.02) 36.56 (6.38) 3 > 1 and 2
Intellect 3.81* .02 46.98 (8.30) 48.94 (8.75) 44.89 (7.39) 2>3
Novelty seeking 2.03 .01 27.07 (4.20) 27.62 (4.45) 28.15 (3.82)
Superiority 3.32* .02 42.53 (10.07) 43.34 (10.94) 45.99 (9.51) 3>1
Positive self-concept 0.57 .00 41.57 (6.00) 41.17 (6.58) 42.28 (5.87)
Manipulative style 39.29*** .17 23.31 (7.19) 28.19 (7.17) 31.74 (8.68) 3>2>1
Negative self-concept 50.57*** .21 15.64 (3.86) 20.21 (5.85) 20.79 (5.26) 2 and 3 > 1
Neuroticism 24.77*** .12 84.07 (20.05) 104.98 (21.86) 93.07 (20.96) 2>3>1
Extraversion 3.02* .02 98.81 (9.44) 95.17 (11.52) 98.42 (9.85) 1>2
Conscientiousness 7.29** .04 100.08 (14.80) 95.21 (15.60) 93.31 (12.70) 1>3
Aggressiveness 34.77*** .16 82.19 (15.35) 87.64 (14.27) 99.06 (15.23) 3>1
Openness 1.82 .01 74.04 (10.51) 76.54 (10.94) 73.04 (9.19)
Positive valence 2.32 .01 84.10 (14.75) 84.51 (15.85) 88.32 (13.89)
Negative valence 63.62** .26 38.96 (9.32) 48.40 (10.23) 52.53 (11.12) 2 and 3 > 1

Note. All post hoc results presented in this table are significant at p < .05. BF+2 = Big Five Plus Two.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Discussion
The first aim of this study was to identify distinct groups of adolescents who
differ according to the participants roles in violent interaction. Three clusters
with the following features were identified: (1) cluster of adapted adolescents
who showed lower tendency to participate in violent interaction than other
participants; (2) cluster of adolescents who were most often victims in violent
interaction; and (3) cluster of adolescents who showed violent behavior
toward others.
The cluster named the Adapted was the most numerous (66.5% of sample)
and included adolescents who scored lower than others not only on
Physical Violence, Risky Behavior, and Psychological Violence but also on
Victimization. On the other hand, these participants scored highest on Adapted

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748 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

Behavior, which implies a negative attitude toward violence. Adapted adoles-

cents are more emotionally stable than the other two groups, which is sup-
ported by the findings regarding Neuroticism domain and facets. Higher
emotional stability is an important basis for resilience and adaptive strategies
for facing potentially threatening stimuli from the environment (Robins et al.,
1996). Although the Adapted had the highest overall Extraversion score, they
did not differ from other groups regarding Positive Affect and Sociability.
Thus, it appears that these differences are not predominantly temperament-
based. Rather, the Adapted express most prominently those aspects of extro-
verted behavior connected to the intensity of interest in others, social skills,
and socialization, which is reflected in higher score on the Warmth facet. The
Adapted, compared with the other groups, scored lower on Negative Valence,
which includes Negative Self-Concept and Manipulative Style. This suggests
a lower tendency toward manipulative behavior and negative self-evaluation.
In addition to that, Aggressiveness scores show that the Adapted are less prone
to anger and that they are less stubborn and tough-minded than the Bullies.
Self-discipline of the Adapted is high. This most likely contributes to success
in carrying out various obligations. Such success, in turn, increases self-
esteem and maintains emotional stability. However, the finding that they score
lower on Superiority than the Bullies indicates that their self-esteem has sound
emotional and cognitive bases. These results correspond to the findings refer-
ring to the features of adapted individuals (Asendorpf & van Aken, 1999).
Domain and facet configuration in the Adapted cluster, obtained in our
research, corresponds with the prototypical features of the resilient type (Hart
et al., 1997; Robins et al., 1996).
The cluster Victims (14.1% of the sample) included adolescents scoring
extremely high on Victimization, with lower scores on Risky Behavior and
Adapted Behavior. However, their proneness to physical and psychological
violence is more prominent than in the cluster Adapted. This finding points to
a possibility that the cluster Victims also partly incorporates the adolescents
who are simultaneously in both the position of a victim and a bully, or the
adolescents who react to the exposure to violence using non-adaptive strate-
gies. Therefore, although bully-victims were not identified as a separate clus-
ter, they are most probably included in the cluster of Victims. The scores on
the personality dimensions of the BF+2 questionnaire support this. The
Victims scored highest on Neuroticism and lowest on Extraversion, whereas
their scores on Aggressiveness, Conscientiousness, and Negative Valence are
between the Adapted and the Bullies. The Victims pronounced reactivity to
unpleasant stimuli from the environment, reflected in higher scores on all
aspects of Neuroticism (Robins et al., 1994), may partially be a consequence
of their frequent exposure to bullying. Moreover, it may be a trigger for

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Kodopelji et al. 749

Bullies for whom they may represent an easy target. This result corresponds
to the findings regarding personality traits of Victims (Maynard & Joseph,
1997; Tani et al., 2003). The tendency toward introvert behavioral patterns
(lower Warmth and Sociability scores) probably points to a temperamental
predisposition for fewer social contacts (Robins et al., 1994), which implies
fewer potential protectors. The results of several studies maintained that the
number of social contacts was a protective factor for exposure to violence
(Carney & Merrell, 2001; Dini, Kodopelji, & olovi, 2010; Kodopelji,
Smederevac, & Dini, 2010). Bullies scored significantly higher than Adapted
on the Aggressiveness, while there was no significant difference between the
Bullies and the Victims. However, the Victims scored higher than the Adapted
and lower than the Bullies on the Anger facet, but they did not differ signifi-
cantly from the Adapted regarding the scores on Disagreeableness and
Tough-Mindedness. In this context, Anger for Victims can represent the reac-
tion to the inability to establish an adequate social position. In addition,
Negative Valence scores suggest that the Victims show a higher tendency to
manipulative behavior than the Adapted. This is in accordance with the clus-
ters structure, which suggests Victims more pronounced tendency toward
psychological violence compared with the Adapted group. It is likely that the
Victims manifest their aggressive impulses indirectly, avoiding direct con-
frontations with the others. Although Victims scored similarly to Bullies on
Negative Self-Concept, it can be assumed that the quality and the content of
this aspect of self-evaluation are considerably different in those two groups,
according to the differences in other personality traitsnamely, negative
self-evaluation may represent a consequence of perceiving oneself as a per-
son less worthy and less capable, which could be the property of the Victims
(Cook et al., 2010). On the other hand, the Bullies probably are highly aware
of, or even emphasize, their own negative features, as they want to be feared
by others. Therefore, these socially inappropriate traits have an important
role in their social positioning. However, regardless of the hypothesized
source of negative self-evaluation in Victims and Bullies, the meta-analysis
by Cook et al. (2010) has shown that negative self-related cognition is a com-
mon feature of the victims and bullies that can result in acquiring different
positions in violent interactions.
The cluster Bullies (19.4% of sample) included adolescents scoring high
on Physical Violence, Risky Behavior, and Psychological Violence, and low
on Adapted Behavior and Victimization. External validation showed that
these adolescents scored the highest on Aggressiveness and Negative Valence
and the lowest on Conscientiousness. While having similar scores to the clus-
ter Adapted on Extraversion, their scores on Neuroticism were lower than in
the cluster Victims but higher than in the cluster Adapted. Although Bullies

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750 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

scored lower than the Victims on Anxiety, and did not differ significantly
from the Adapted in this aspect, they did differ from the Adapted in the mani-
festation of Negative Affect and Depression. High scores on Sociability and,
in general, Extraversion most likely contribute to the fact that Bullies react to
the increase of emotional tension with the overt aggression aimed at other
people. Anger, Disagreeableness, and Tough-Mindedness were most pro-
nounced in the Bullies group, which indicates an adopted pattern of social
interactions aimed at gaining and maintaining the position of power.
Extremely high self-evaluation reflected in higher scores on Superiority, sup-
ported by manipulative behavioral patterns and negative self-assessment,
also contributes to this. It has already been mentioned that Negative Self-
Concept in this context probably refers to the need to make an impression of
a strong and dangerous person. This study confirms the findings of many
previous studies that have suggested that dimensions Agreeableness (which
significantly corresponds to dimension Aggressiveness in the BF+2 question-
naire) and Neuroticism are closely related to different positions and outcomes
in violent interaction (Gleason et al., 2004; Jensen-Campbell et al., 2002;
Tani et al., 2003). In addition to that, this study points more clearly to the
importance of evaluative dimensions in the configuration of the traits of bul-
lies and victims.
Openness did not discriminate between the groups. This dimension refers
to the need for stimulation, which, at the adolescent age, probably has only a
minor (if any) impact on violent interaction.
The distribution of the gender within clusters has shown that boys were
predominant in cluster named Bullies and girls in Adapted cluster, and that
there were similar percentage of boys and girls in cluster named Victims,
which is in line with the main results regarding gender differences in bullying
(Felix & Green, 2010). However, the main indicators of violence in this
research included forms of overt violent behavior, which are more typical for
violent behavior among boys. Girls are more frequently involved in types of
violent interaction that include different forms of relational aggression (Crick
& Grotpeter, 1996). Such findings are congruent with assumptions that gen-
der differences are shaped by social roles (Eagly & Wood, 1991), suggesting
that overt violent behavior is an acceptable feature of males rather than
females.
The results of this study indicate the role of certain temperamental traits
in the development and manifestation of specific maladaptive pattern of
social interactions (Jensen-Campbell et al., 2002; Tani et al., 2003). In this
context, the role of Sociability could be important. The lower Sociability in
the Victims group contributes to withdrawal and the development of the
submissive attitude, whereas the high Sociability in the Bullies group

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Kodopelji et al. 751

contributes to the development of the dominant attitude. Considering that

these positions in social interactions are compatible, it is unlikely that a
spontaneous change of these dysfunctional patterns of communication will
take place. Thus, different programs of acquiring social skills are an ade-
quate approach to changing such patterns. Furthermore, the results point to
different manifestations of aggressive tendencies with Bullies and Victims.
Bullies are more prone to direct attacks, whereas Victims are inclined to
indirect forms of aggression. The significance of self-evaluation in this
context is reflected in the importance of negative self-perception that con-
tributes to behavioral inhibition with the Victims, while with Bullies it can
encourage aggressive tendencies provoking the feeling of awe in persons
they interact with.
In general, results of this study confirm the assumption that violent behav-
ior can be a basis for plausible typology of adolescents. This typology is
congruent with the dominant approach in research of personality, which pro-
poses three main personality types, named resilient, overcontrolled, and
undercontrolled (Asendorpf & van Aken, 1999). The Adapted cluster, which
was extracted in this study, has shown the features usually associated with
resilient type. Bullies are similar to the undercontrolled, while Victims have
shown some of the features of the overcontrolled. In addition to that, the
structure of clusters bears similarities to usual roles in violent interaction,
a.k.a. victims, bullies, and bystanders. Although there is no evidence that
bystanders fit into Adapted cluster, the possibility that adapted adolescents
may take the role of bystanders cannot be ruled out. Therefore, the Adapted
may also contribute to the circumstances in which violent behavior is exhib-
ited. However, typical bystanders behavior is not included in the measures
that were applied in this study. Therefore, all conclusions regarding bystand-
ers role may be treated as hypothetical.
The results of this research emphasize the general importance of person-
centered approach, but also point to its relevance for violence studies. The
results confirm that distinctive clusters can be extracted that are related to the
roles in violent interaction and that such clusters differ substantially with
regard to personality traits. Therefore, in personality assessment, it may be of
crucial importance to consider not only separate dimensions but also their
configuration. This way, a more thorough understanding of specific roles in
violent interaction can be ensured.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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752 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(4)

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was partially supported by the
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Grants ON179006) and
by the Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development.

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Author Biographies
Jasmina Kodopelji, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology,
University of Novi Sad. She is currently taking part in several research projects,
including Violence in Contemporary Society: Dispositional and Contextual
Predictors (funded by Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological
Development) and was the principal investigator of the project School Without
Violence (funded by UNICEF Serbia). Her main research interest is educational
psychology.
Sneana Smederevac, PhD, is a full professor at the Department of Psychology,
University of Novi Sad. She is the principal investigator of several research projects,
including Violence in Contemporary Society: Dispositional and Contextual
Predictors (funded by Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological
Development). She also took part in the research project School Without Violence
(funded by UNICEF Serbia) in 2009-2010. Among her main research interests is the
role of personality traits in different aspects of maladaptive behavior.
Duanka Mitrovi, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology,
University of Novi Sad. She is a researcher in several research projects, including
Violence in Contemporary Society: Dispositional and Contextual Predictors
(funded by Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development). Her
main research interests include personality assessment, psychobiological and lexical
models of personality, and relationships between personality traits and various types
of maladaptive behavior.
Bojana Dini, MSc, PhD candidate, is a teaching assistant at the Department of
Psychology, University of Novi Sad. She is currently taking part in several research
projects, including Violence in Contemporary Society: Dispositional and Contextual

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Kodopelji et al. 757

Predictors (funded by Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological

Development). Her main research interest is the study of aggressive behavior, includ-
ing the assessment of various aspects of aggression.
Petar olovi, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology,
University of Novi Sad. He is participating in several research projects, including
Violence in Contemporary Society: Dispositional and Contextual Predictors
(funded by Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development). He
was among the researchers involved in the project School Without Violence (funded
by UNICEF Serbia) in 2009-2010. His research interests include person-centered
approach to personality and psycho-lexical studies.

Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at KoBSON on April 7, 2014