Citation

Troop-Gordon W, Frosch CA, Wienke Totura CM, Bailey AN, Jackson JD, Dvorak RD. J. Sch. Psychol. 2019; 77: 77-89.

Affiliation

The University of Central Florida, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Society for the Study of School Psychology, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsp.2019.10.004

PMID

31837730

Abstract

Pro-bullying bystander behavior is a key socio-contextual factor underlying the perpetuation of bullying, yet investigators know relatively little as to what contributes to its development. The current study uses a short-term longitudinal design to identify child characteristics and relationship qualities that predict pro-bullying bystander behavior over the course of one school year. Participants were 484 children (239 girls; M_age = 10.25 years). Children completed self-report measures of pro-bullying bystander behavior, empathy, moral disengagement, and perceived norms for defending, and peer-report measures of peer victimization and popularity. Main effects of fall empathy and moral disengagement emerged in the prediction of spring pro-bullying bystander behavior, although the latter just for boys. At low levels of perceived norms for defending, high levels of popularity and, for girls, high levels of peer victimization predicted heightened pro-bullying bystander behavior. Thus, anti-bullying efforts may benefit from targeting these social-cognitive and relational processes predictive of pro-bullying bystander behavior and fostering group norms that mitigate these risks.

Copyright © 2019 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Aggression; Bullying; Defending norms; Peer victimization; Preadolescence; Pro-bullying bystander behavior