Cyberbullying bystanding: a multi-faceted sociocognitive approach

The prevalence of cyberbullying has been rising. To reduce the incidence of cyberbullying, it has been proposed to enlist the assistance of bystanders. However, most bystanders do not intervene in bullying episodes. As a result, anti-bullying programs have begun to encourage witnesses to become defenders (those who help the victim). However, further research is needed to investigate the sociocognitive processes associated with different bystander responses. The present study investigated the role of morality (moral disengagement and prosocial self-efficacy) and three bystander responses: passive bystanding, constructive defending, and aggressive defending. Participants were 257 male and female ethnically diverse 11- to 15-year-old students who completed a questionnaire involving two sociocognitive measures (cyberbullying moral disengagement and prosocial self-efficacy) and their frequency of passive bystanding, constructive defending, and aggressive defending. Results revealed that constructive defending was associated with low levels of moral disengagement and high levels of prosocial self-efficacy. Aggressive defending was only associated with high levels of moral disengagement, and passive bystanding was not associated with either moral disengagement or prosocial self-efficacy. These results suggest that promoting constructive defending will require students to assume moral responsibility for observing cyberbullying and also believe in their ability to intervene prosocially.