A Comparison of Identity Style among Students with Bully, Victim and Normal Behaviors

The aim of this study is to compare the identity styles of students with bully, victim and normal behavior. The statistical population of the present study included all male students studying at secondary studies in Tabriz during the academic year 1993-1994. The statistical sample of the study included 372 male students with an average age of 16 years who were selected through a multistage cluster sampling and screening methods. To carry out the study, the samples were identified and tested through teachers’ nomination and completing the Victim-Bully questionnaire of Olweus and the Identity Styles questionnaire of Berzonsky. To analyze the data, a multivariate variance analysis was used. The findings showed that there is a significant difference between the identity styles of students with bully, victim and normal behaviors, and that the bully students have an avoidant and confused identity, the victim students have normative/ informative identity styles, and finally, the ordinary students have normative identity styles. There was not significant difference between the identity commitments of the three groups. The results of this study highlighted the affection of the bullying and victim characteristics in the identity style. Therefore, it can open the ways for further research on the cause and effect relationship between the bully behavior and identity styles.