Abstract
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to examine how different bystander roles in peer victimisation situations relate to moral disengagement, defender self-efficacy, and student-teacher relationship quality. Self-reported survey data were collected from 333 middle and junior high school students (10–15 years of age) from four schools in Sweden. Random intercept model analyses of factor scores revealed that, when witnessing peer victimisation, students high in moral disengagement and low in defender self-efficacy were more inclined to act as reinforcers or outsiders, and that students high in defender self-efficacy and student-teacher relationship quality were more inclined to act as defenders. Furthermore, examining these relationships within and between classes revealed that reinforcer and outsider behaviours were more common among students who, compared to their classmates, were higher in moral disengagement and lower in defender self-efficacy, whereas defending was more common among students who, compared to their classmates, were higher in defender self-efficacy. The results enrich the knowledge of factors related to different bystander behaviours, which has potential implications for prevention and intervention work.
Highlights
IntroductionPeer victimisation here refers to the experience among children of being a target of any form (e.g. physical, verbal, and relational) of harmful behaviour perpetrated by other children (see Finkelhor, Turner, and Hamby 2012; Hawker and Boulton 2000)
Peer victimisation here refers to the experience among children of being a target of any form of harmful behaviour perpetrated by other children
As bystanders are able to influence the course of the victimisation (e.g. Salmivalli, Voeten, and Poskiparta 2011), it is crucial to learn about underlying factors that are associated with how students behave when they witness peer victimisation events
Summary
Peer victimisation here refers to the experience among children of being a target of any form (e.g. physical, verbal, and relational) of harmful behaviour perpetrated by other children (see Finkelhor, Turner, and Hamby 2012; Hawker and Boulton 2000). Such harmful behaviours have mostly been studied under the label of bullying. As Finkelhor and colleagues (2012) point out, bullying is a subset of peer victimisation involving repeated harmful behaviours carried out with an intention to harm within the context of a power imbalance.
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