Background and purpose: Communication needs to keep track of social, linguistic and physical information and at the same time to manage the flow of this information between conversational partners. Successful communication requires the conversational partners to be aware of each other's mental states. So, the objective of the present study is to compare the affective perspective taking and the empathy level in bully students and the victims of bullying.  

Method: The method of present study is a descriptive method and ex-post factor type and its statistical population includes all the students of Isfahan's elementary school in the academic year 1391-92. For sampling, 192 bully students and victims of bullying students were selected randomly during several stages. The tools used include affective perspective taking researcher-made questionnaire (2005) and Bryant empathy questionnaire (1982).

Results: The results of multivariate variance analysis test showed that there is a significant difference between the groups in the study variables (P˂0.001). The results of univariate analysis test showed no significant difference between the groups in empathy variable (P˃0.05), but this difference in affective perspective taking variable is significant. This means that the grouping in affective perspective taking variable explains 8 percent of the variance (P˂0.05).

Conclusion: To prevent the interpersonal problems as a result of weakness in perspective taking and empathy skills, affective perspective taking and empathy should be entered in formal and parenting skills education in the form of basic and essential skills as two factors affecting the social understanding and success in communication with peers.