Ricerc@Sapienza

Bullying is one of the most serious problems faced by young people at school. Due to its well-documented negative impact on their well-being and learning, its monitoring and prevention is now a highly relevant issue. The present study uses multilevel modelling to investigate the effects of the class characteristics (the number of students, the proportion of male students and immigrant students, the overall socio-economic level and the initial achievement level) on bullying and/or victimization, also controlling for high school typology.

Individuals’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviors, aside from being affected by intra-psychological influences, are influenced by the knowledge that comes with their belonging to social groups. This is particularly true for students, whose academic experiences are affected by numerous dynamics that exist in their classrooms. This chapter focuses, in particular, on bullying and social comparison processes.