Correlations among support from friends, class functions, and the tendency to bully were empirically examined based on the hypothesis that support from friends would be correlated with bullying tendencies, mediated by class functions. A questionnaire consisting of the Support from Friends Scale, Class Functions Scale, and Bullying Tendency Scale was administered to fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students (N=242; 134 boys and 108 girls). Covariance structure analysis was conducted through modeling correlations among the three latent variables, i.e. support from friends, class functions, and bullying tendencies. The results indicated that support from friends was correlated with bullying tendencies, medicated by class functions. It was considered important to activate support from friends and facilitate effective class functions for suppressing bullying tendencies.
Future studies should examine casual relationships among three variables in detail by longitude studies.