ORIGINAL ARTICLE Popularity: Does it magnify associations between popularity prioritization and the bullying and defending behavior of early adolescent boys and girls? Amanda L. Duffy | Sarah Penn | Drew Nesdale | Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia Correspondence Amanda L. Duffy, School of Applied Psychology, Gold Coast campus, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia. Email: a.duffy@griffith.edu.au Abstract We investigated the contribution of popularity, popularity prioritiza- tion, and gender to the explanation of bullying and defending behavior. Participants were 191 early adolescents (124 girls and 67 boys), aged from 10.9 to 13.6 years. Results revealed that adolescents high on popularity were more likely to bully others. Greater popularity prioritization was also associated with more bullying among boys with high levels, and girls with low levels, of popularity. In addition, popu- larity was positively related to defending among girls, but not boys. Lower popularity prioritization also contributed to greater defending overall. The implications of these findings for understanding bullying and defending are discussed. KEYWORDS bullying, popularity, social behavior, gender 1 | INTRODUCTION When school bullying occurs, some adolescents assume the role of the bully and others assume the role of the defender of the victim. Adolescents who bully repeatedly inflict harm on weaker, less powerful individuals (Nesdale & Scarlett, 2004), and are the active initiators of bullying incidents (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Bj€ orkqvist, € Osterman, & Kaukiainen, 1996). In contrast, adolescents who engage in defending behavior attempt to stop bullying from occurring and may support and comfort those who are victimized (Salmivalli et al., 1996). In order to understand an individual’s behavior in bullying situations, both their personal characteristics and their place in the broader relational context must be considered. This notion is clearly captured by the “child-by- environment” framework, which posits that behaviors “originate not only from within the child but also from within the child’s relational environment” (Ladd, 2005, p. 248). Research on bullying and defending behavior has increasingly utilized this framework (e.g., Caravita, Di Blasio, & Salmivalli, 2010; Peets, P€ oyh€ onen, Juvonen, & Salmivalli, 2015) and, Social Development 2016; 00: 00-00 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sode VC 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd | 1 Received: 25 August 2015 | Revised: 1 May 2016 | Accepted: 7 July 2016 DOI 10.1111/sode.12206