Leadership in the classroom is not always positive

Even in primary school, informal leaders emerge: pupils who set the tone and influence the behavior of their classmates. On 23 February 2026, sociologist Zhe Dong will defend a PhD dissertation on this phenomenon, based on data from the Dutch KiVa anti-bullying program in grades 5 through 8.

Dong’s study identifies two types of leaders. Positive leaders are well liked and popular, and stand up for victims of bullying. Negative leaders engage in bullying but, strikingly, sometimes also stand up for bullied children.

Classes with mainly positive leaders show, on average, better mental well-being. One downside, however, is that bullied girls in these classes experience more problems with low self-esteem and depressive feelings, presumably because they attribute the bullying to themselves.

In classes with mainly negative leaders, school motivation is lower, but victims are less likely to blame themselves for the bullying and more likely to blame the leaders. As a result, they experience less severe psychological problems than bullied children in classes with exclusively positive leaders.

The research shows that interventions can make a difference. Schools that work with KiVa—which approaches bullying as a group process and focuses on empathy and support from bystanders—see a shift from negative to positive leadership.

The implication is that leadership among children is not inherently positive, but it is malleable. Teaching young leaders to use their influence constructively can improve the social climate in the classroom. According to Dong, however, extra attention is needed for girls who, even in a positive classroom environment, attribute the cause of bullying to themselves.