According to the research I´m conducting the best predictor for the reported aggressive behaviour is the perceived difference that each individual has of its self compared to his peers. I´m trying to determine if there is a social need towards homogenity that provokes aggressive behaviour.
What a cool question! Thanks for posting it. I don't do research on aggression or bullying - I am a group psychotherapist by training and disposition, trying to move more toward psychotherapy process research in recent years.
As I see it, homogeneity/heterogeneity can be measured along all kinds of lines. So ... doesn't bullying behavior introduce new subgroups (and more heterogeneity) by itself? There is now another difference in the mix (bullying) with associated subgroups (the bullies, the bystanders and the bullied). So, I wonder how you account for all the variety which can contribute to heterogeneity - all groups have some, I think, even the robot armies (joke).
I think that the answer to your question may also depend on group size. Small-group, median-group and large-group dynamics are described in different ways in the literature. What size groups are you studying? How strongly does homogeneity predict aggressive behavior?
I'll be thinking about this for a while now, I'm sure. Again, thanks for posting.
Interesting answer!
Does bullying introduce new subgroups? From where I see it and a couple of studies I´ve done in my country, there is social desirability to some attributes and according to this attributes the sub-groups are formed. The sub-groups in the classroom produce homogeneity inside and provide protection, but they might also produce some sort of aggression to other group members. In this logic, individuals without the attributes of one of the sub-groups are more likely to receive aggression and therefore bullying.
Other studies I´ve done, that classrooms with fewer students show lower rates of aggression and bullying. I´m following the idea that it might be related to the fact that in small groups each individual needs to interact with the heterogeneity of the group and in large groups each individual tends to interact with the homogeneity of the sub-group reducing the probability of being bullied.
The other reason I follow this line of though is that my data in more than 5 studies shows that the larger slope when trying to predict the reported aggression is each individual´s perceived difference from he´s peers.
Thank you for your answer, and I´d love your insights on this ideas.
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