Analysis of Bystander Intervention Behavior in Chinese Adolescents' Cyberbullying in Post-epidemic Era

Abstract

This paper analyzed the bystander intervention behavior of Chinese adolescents' cyberbullying in the post-epidemic period. In cyberbullying incidents, bystander inaction often exacerbates the adverse effects of cyberbullying on victims. However, bystanders can intervene in behaviors to prevent cyberbullying or provide support to victims. In this study, questionnaires were distributed on social media platforms utilizing questionnaires, and the relationship between variables was explained based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) theory. The results showed that in the post-epidemic era when adolescents were exposed to violent content on the Internet, their attitude towards cyberbullying intervention behavior, their subjective norms of cyberbullying intervention behavior, and their perceived behavioral control of cyberbullying intervention behavior were positively correlated with cyberbullying intervention behavior. However, the experiences of cyberbullying and bystander intervention were not significantly related among teenagers. Therefore, this analysis asserted that in the post-epidemic era, under the effect of COVID-19, views, norms, and sense of agency around cyberbullying among teenagers Cyberbullying bystander intervention behavior was favorably affected by bystander intervention. This can enrich the theoretical results of TPB and provide academic support for subsequent scholars' analysis.