Bystander motivation in bullying incidents: To intervene or not to intervene?
(2012) In Western Journal of Emergency Medicine 13(3). p.247-252- Abstract
- Introduction: This research sought to extend knowledge about bystanders in bullying situations with a focus on the motivations that lead them to different responses. The 2 primary goals of this study were to investigate the reasons for children's decisions to help or not to help a victim when witnessing bullying, and to generate a grounded theory (or conceptual framework) of bystander motivation in bullying situations. Methods: Thirty students ranging in age from 9 to 15 years (M =11.9; SD = 1.7) from an elementary and middle school in the southeastern United States participated in this study. Open- ended, semistructured interviews were used, and sessions ranged from 30 to 45 minutes. We conducted qualitative methodology and analyses to... (More)
- Introduction: This research sought to extend knowledge about bystanders in bullying situations with a focus on the motivations that lead them to different responses. The 2 primary goals of this study were to investigate the reasons for children's decisions to help or not to help a victim when witnessing bullying, and to generate a grounded theory (or conceptual framework) of bystander motivation in bullying situations. Methods: Thirty students ranging in age from 9 to 15 years (M =11.9; SD = 1.7) from an elementary and middle school in the southeastern United States participated in this study. Open- ended, semistructured interviews were used, and sessions ranged from 30 to 45 minutes. We conducted qualitative methodology and analyses to gain an in-depth understanding of children's perspectives and concerns when witnessing bullying. Results: A key finding was a conceptual framework of bystander motivation to intervene in bullying situations suggesting that deciding whether to help or not help the victim in a bullying situation depends on how bystanders define and evaluate the situation, the social context, and their own agency. Qualitative analysis revealed 5 themes related to bystander motives and included: interpretation of harm in the bullying situation, emotional reactions, social evaluating, moral evaluating, and intervention self-efficacy. Conclusion: Given the themes that emerged surrounding bystanders' motives to intervene or abstain from intervening, respondents reported 3 key elements that need to be confirmed in future research and that may have implications for future work on bullying prevention. These included: first, the potential importance of clear communication to children that adults expect bystanders to intervene when witnessing bullying; second, the potential of direct education about how bystanders can intervene to increase children's self-efficacy as defenders of those who are victims of bullying; and third, the assumption that it may be effective to encourage children's belief that bullying is morally wrong. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5368533
- author
- Thornberg, Robert ; Tenenbaum, Laura ; Varjas, Kris ; Meyers, Joel ; Jungert, Tomas LU and Vanegas, Gina
- publishing date
- 2012
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 247 - 252
- publisher
- University of California
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84865705673
- pmid:22900122
- ISSN
- 1936-900X
- DOI
- 10.5811/westjem.2012.3.11792
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 917511c3-2f32-46af-b1c2-e16f52021eb1 (old id 5368533)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:13:11
- date last changed
- 2022-04-12 03:07:28
@article{917511c3-2f32-46af-b1c2-e16f52021eb1,
abstract = {{Introduction: This research sought to extend knowledge about bystanders in bullying situations with a focus on the motivations that lead them to different responses. The 2 primary goals of this study were to investigate the reasons for children's decisions to help or not to help a victim when witnessing bullying, and to generate a grounded theory (or conceptual framework) of bystander motivation in bullying situations. Methods: Thirty students ranging in age from 9 to 15 years (M =11.9; SD = 1.7) from an elementary and middle school in the southeastern United States participated in this study. Open- ended, semistructured interviews were used, and sessions ranged from 30 to 45 minutes. We conducted qualitative methodology and analyses to gain an in-depth understanding of children's perspectives and concerns when witnessing bullying. Results: A key finding was a conceptual framework of bystander motivation to intervene in bullying situations suggesting that deciding whether to help or not help the victim in a bullying situation depends on how bystanders define and evaluate the situation, the social context, and their own agency. Qualitative analysis revealed 5 themes related to bystander motives and included: interpretation of harm in the bullying situation, emotional reactions, social evaluating, moral evaluating, and intervention self-efficacy. Conclusion: Given the themes that emerged surrounding bystanders' motives to intervene or abstain from intervening, respondents reported 3 key elements that need to be confirmed in future research and that may have implications for future work on bullying prevention. These included: first, the potential importance of clear communication to children that adults expect bystanders to intervene when witnessing bullying; second, the potential of direct education about how bystanders can intervene to increase children's self-efficacy as defenders of those who are victims of bullying; and third, the assumption that it may be effective to encourage children's belief that bullying is morally wrong.}},
author = {{Thornberg, Robert and Tenenbaum, Laura and Varjas, Kris and Meyers, Joel and Jungert, Tomas and Vanegas, Gina}},
issn = {{1936-900X}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{247--252}},
publisher = {{University of California}},
series = {{Western Journal of Emergency Medicine}},
title = {{Bystander motivation in bullying incidents: To intervene or not to intervene?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2012.3.11792}},
doi = {{10.5811/westjem.2012.3.11792}},
volume = {{13}},
year = {{2012}},
}