Citation

Thornberg R, Wänström L, Hong JS, Espelage DL. J. Sch. Psychol. 2017; 63: 49-62.

Affiliation

University of Florida, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Society for the Study of School Psychology, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsp.2017.03.002

PMID

28633938

Abstract

Using the social-ecological and social cognitive theories as integrated guiding frameworks, the present study examined whether moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy at the individual level, and moral disengagement, quality of teacher-student relationships and quality of student-student relationships at the classroom level were associated with passive bystanding and defending in bullying situations. Participants were 900 Swedish students from 43 classrooms, ranging in age from 9 to 13years. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that passive reactions by bystanders were associated with greater moral disengagement and less defender self-efficacy. Defending, in turn, was associated with less moral disengagement and greater defender self-efficacy and classroom student-student relationship quality. Furthermore, students who scored high in moral disengagement were even less prone to defend victims when the classroom student-student relationship quality was low, but more prone to act as defenders when the classroom student-student relationship quality was high. In addition, the negative association between defender self-efficacy and passive bystanding was stronger both in classrooms with higher student-student relationship quality and in those with lower class moral disengagement. Implications for prevention are discussed.

Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Bullying; Bystander; Classroom climate; Moral disengagement; Self-efficacy