“It must be me” or “It could be them?”: The impact of the social network position of bullies and victims on victims’ adjustment

It was examined in this study whether the association between victimization and psychological adjustment (depression and self-esteem) is moderated by the classroom network position of bullies and victims. Multivariate multilevel regression analysis was used on a large sample representative of grades three to five in Finland (N = 7192 children from 376 classrooms). Consistent with the person-group (dis)similarity model and attributional mechanisms, it was found that victims were better adjusted in classrooms when others shared their plight and when they could attribute the blame to bullies. The results indicate that victimization consequences might be partly generated by person–environment interactions.