@article{ref1,
title="Resurrecting the empathy-bullying relationship with a pro-bullying attitudes mediator: the Lazarus effect in mediation research",
journal="Journal of abnormal child psychology",
year="2018",
author="Walters, Glenn D. and Espelage, Dorothy L.",
volume="46",
number="6",
pages="1229-1239",
abstract="The purpose of this study was to determine whether pro-bullying attitudes are capable of mediating the low empathy-bullying relationship in the absence of a significant unmediated correlation between low empathy and bullying behavior. Using three waves of self-report data from 1371 (677 boys, 694 girls) pre-adolescent/early adolescent members of the Illinois Study of Bullying and Sexual Violence (ISBSV), the mediating effect of pro-bullying attitudes on the low empathy-bullying connection was examined. A path analysis revealed that pro-bullying attitudes successfully mediated the pathway running from low empathy to bully perpetration even though the unmediated relationship between low empathy and bullying perpetration was non-significant. A control or comparison pathway running from bully perpetration to pro-bullying attitudes to low empathy was also tested and found to be non-significant. It would appear that low empathy contributes to bullying perpetration by stimulating pro-bullying attitudes which, in turn, promote bullying perpetration. The theoretical, research, and practical implications of these results are discussed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0091-0627",
doi="10.1007/s10802-017-0355-9",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-017-0355-9"
}