Why Do Children Bully Others? What the Research Says

Understanding why children bully is
essential for addressing bullying effectively —
because the most effective interventions
target the causes rather than only
the behavior. Research consistently
finds that bullying is not simply
the behavior of “bad kids” — it is
a complex behavior with identifiable
causes that respond to specific,
evidence-based approaches.

This article covers what the research
shows about why children bully —
the individual, family, social, and
school factors that contribute —
and what this understanding means
for parents and educators.

What the Research Shows About
Why Children Bully

Research on bullying perpetration —
including extensive work by Dan Olweus
at the University of Bergen and Dorothy
Espelage at the University of Florida —
identifies several consistent factors:

Social dominance and status seeking.
Research finds that one of
the most significant motivators
of bullying is the pursuit of
social status and dominance.
Contrary to the popular belief
that bullies have low self-esteem,
research finds that many children
who bully have average or above-average
self-esteem — and use bullying
as a tool for establishing and
maintaining social dominance.

Research by Jaana Juvonen at
UCLA finds that bullying frequently
works as a social strategy —
increasing the bully’s perceived
popularity and social power
in the short term.

Lack of empathy. Research on
bullying and empathy finds that
children who bully show significantly
lower empathy — particularly
affective empathy, the capacity
to feel what others feel —
than non-bullying peers. This
reduced empathy means the suffering
of the target does not produce
the discomfort that would inhibit
bullying in more empathic children.

Difficulty managing emotions
and impulses. Research on bullying
and self-regulation finds that
children who bully frequently
show poor emotional regulation
and poor impulse control —
responding to frustration, perceived
disrespect, or social threat
with aggression rather than
more regulated responses.

Having been bullied themselves.
Research on bullying perpetration
finds that children who have
been bullied are at elevated
risk of becoming bullies themselves —
a pattern researchers call
bully-victim. Research finds
approximately fifteen to twenty
percent of children fall into
this category.

Home environment factors. Research
on family factors and bullying
perpetration identifies several
consistent associations:

Harsh or inconsistent parenting —
research finds that children
who experience harsh, punitive,
or inconsistent parenting show
significantly elevated rates
of bullying perpetration.

Exposure to violence — research
finds that children who witness
or experience violence at home
are at significantly elevated
risk of bullying peers.

Low parental warmth and involvement —
research finds that children
whose parents show low warmth
and low involvement are at
elevated risk of bullying.

Modeling of aggressive behavior —
research finds that children
who observe adults using aggression
to manage conflict learn aggression
as a conflict management strategy.

Peer group influences. Research
on peer groups and bullying
finds that children who associate
with peers who bully are significantly
more likely to bully themselves —
because peer groups both model
and reward bullying behavior
within the group.

School environment factors. Research
on school climate and bullying
finds that bullying is significantly
more common in schools with:

Poor supervision of common
areas — playgrounds, corridors, bathrooms.
Weak or inconsistently applied
anti-bullying policies.
Low teacher awareness of bullying.
School cultures where social
hierarchies and dominance are
implicitly valued.

Different Types of Children
Who Bully

Research distinguishes several
profiles of children who bully:

Proactive bullies — who use
bullying deliberately as a
tool for social dominance.
Research finds these children
are often socially skilled,
popular, and strategic in their bullying.

Reactive bullies — who respond
to perceived provocation or
threat with aggression. Research
finds these children frequently
show poor emotional regulation
and misattribute hostile intent
to neutral social situations.

Bully-victims — who are both
bullied and bully others. Research
finds this group shows the
poorest outcomes of any group
involved in bullying — highest
rates of anxiety, depression,
and behavioral difficulty.

What This Means for Parents
and Educators

Understanding why children bully
has several important implications:

Bullying requires addressing
causes — not only consequences.
Research on bullying intervention
finds that punishment alone —
without addressing the underlying
causes — produces limited improvement.
Effective intervention addresses
empathy, emotion regulation,
social skills, and home factors
alongside consequences.

Empathy development is central.
Research on empathy and bullying
prevention finds that explicitly
building empathy — helping children
understand and feel the impact
of their behavior on others —
is one of the most effective
bullying prevention strategies.

Children who bully need support —
not only consequences. Research
on long-term outcomes for children
who bully finds significant
risks — elevated rates of antisocial
behavior, relationship difficulties,
and mental health problems in
adulthood. Early, effective intervention
serves both the victim and
the child who is bullying.

Try This This Week

Practice 1 — The Empathy Building Practice
What it is: A deliberate daily
practice of building empathy —
one of the most important bullying prevention strategies.

How to do it: Once each day —
in natural moments — ask perspective-taking questions:

When watching television:
“How do you think that character
is feeling right now?”
When discussing social situations:
“How do you think [person]
felt when that happened?”
When reading: “What do you
think it would feel like to be in that situation?”

Why it works: Research on
empathy development and bullying
prevention consistently finds
that regular perspective-taking
practice — asking children to
consider others’ emotional experiences —
significantly builds empathy
and significantly reduces bullying perpetration.

Practice 2 — The Clear Values Communication
What it is: A deliberate, explicit
communication of family values
around kindness and respect —
building the internal compass
that reduces bullying.

How to do it: This week find
a genuine moment to communicate
family values explicitly:

“In our family we treat people
with kindness — even people
who are different from us.”
“We never use our strength
or our words to hurt others.”
“How we treat people who
can’t do anything for us
says a lot about who we are.”

Why it works: Research on
family values and bullying prevention
finds that children from families
with clear, consistently communicated
values around kindness and
respect show significantly lower
rates of bullying perpetration —
because the internal values
provide guidance when external
supervision is absent.

Practice 3 — The Social Media and Peer Group Awareness
What it is: A deliberate weekly
awareness of your child’s peer
group and online social environment —
one of the strongest influences on bullying behavior.

How to do it: Once each week —
genuine, curious check-in:

“Who have you been spending
time with lately?”
“How are things going in
your friend group?”
“Is there anyone in your
group who is unkind to others?”

Listen genuinely — without
immediately interrogating.

Why it works: Research on
peer group influences and bullying
consistently finds that children
who associate with peers who
bully are significantly more
likely to bully — and that
parents who maintain awareness
of peer group dynamics are
better positioned to address
concerning peer influences early.

The Bottom Line

Children bully for identifiable,
understandable reasons — social
dominance seeking, low empathy,
poor emotional regulation, home
environment factors, and peer
group influences. Understanding
these causes is the foundation
of effective prevention and intervention.

The research is clear: bullying
is not simply the behavior
of bad children — it is a
complex behavior with complex
causes that responds to empathy
building, values communication,
consistent consequences, and
addressing the underlying factors
that drive the behavior.

Children who bully deserve
effective intervention — not
only for the sake of those
they target but for their own
long-term wellbeing.

Sources

Olweus, D. (1993).
Bullying at School. Blackwell.

Espelage, D. L., & Swearer, S. M.
(2003). Research on school bullying
and victimization.
School Psychology Review,
32(3), 365–383.

Juvonen, J., & Graham, S. (2014).
Bullying in schools: The power
of bullies and the plight of victims.
Annual Review of Psychology,
65, 159–185.

Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D.
(1987). Social information-processing
factors in reactive and proactive
aggression in children’s peer groups.
Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 53(6), 1146–1158.