Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate if affective (vicarious sharing of emotions) and cognitive empathy (mental perspective taking) induction may stimulate adolescent online bystanders’ intervention in cyberbullying cases. The role of reporting the abuse is crucial because it is a form of active support to the victim, initiated by children, to stop the bullying. The effectiveness of empathy activation in decreasing negative cyberbystander reinforcing behavior has been proved in previous studies. The effects of affective and cognitive empathy activation on positive cyberbystander behavior, defined as reporting the bullying online, were explored in two follow-up studies N = 271 and N = 265. The influence of experiencing cyberbullying as perpetrator, victim, and as determined by gender on prosocial cyberbystander behavior was also controlled. The results indicate that only cognitive empathy activation increases the likelihood of intervening bystander behavior. Neither affective empathy induction, previous experience of cyberperpetration, cybervictimization, nor gender affected the engagement in prosocial bystander behavior. The conclusion of the research is that a program consequently activating more reflective cognitive empathy induction can contribute toward the establishment of healthier behavioral patterns among bystanders to cyberbullying, increasing the probability of their reporting the cyberbullying acts.
Highlights
One of the most serious threats to individual and social well-being online is cyberbullying among adolescent internet users
The results of the current study indicated that affective empathy activation did not increase cyberbystander intervening behavior
The results suggested that gender does not affect cyberbystanders’ behavior, which is consistent with some of the results of other research
Summary
One of the most serious threats to individual and social well-being online is cyberbullying among adolescent internet users. Social status, and student–teacher relationships play a dominant role in the socialization of adolescence, both online and offline (Hinduja and Patchin, 2013; Longobardi et al, 2018) This highlights the importance of bystanders as a powerful social influence in creating positive anti-bullying behavioral models, with such responses as intervention in cyberbullying cases (Salmivalli et al, 1996; Menesini et al, 2003; DeSmet et al, 2012; Barlinska et al, 2013, 2015; Machácková et al, 2013, 2015; Bastiaensens et al, 2014; Pfetsch, 2016). We decided to test whether affective empathy activation is associated with a higher likelihood of cyberbystander intervening behavior
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