From the point of view of the understanding of the phenomena of
bullying and prevention efforts, it is important to identify the sociocognitive
variables that are associated with attitudes toward roles in bullying. In this
study, we selected variables that are related to aggression and/or behavior
toward victims and we tested their comparative weight in the prediction of
bullying roles. The variables included in this study are moral disengagement,
empathy, belief in a just world, and perception of normative beliefs of the
peer group. The roles in bullying considered were the bully and the
defender of the victim.