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Cyber bullying: exploring bystander intervention

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 03 Jul 2015
The study highlights the greater role of anonymity in digital communication, which can make intervention during bullying less likely.
The study highlights the greater role of anonymity in digital communication, which can make intervention during bullying less likely.

Cyber bullying is drawing increasing attention, with online activity soaring and a larger number of bullying cases making headlines recently.

A new study, Bystander Intervention in Cyber Bullying, published in the National Communication Association's Communication Monograph, reveals specific online conditions under which witnesses to cyber bullying are likely (or unlikely) to intervene in defence of a victim.

The study sheds light on the behaviour of "bystanders" who "witness" cyber bullying episodes. Authors Nicholas Brody, of the University of Puget Sound, and Anita L Vangelisti, of the University of Texas in Austin, confirmed several tendencies also associated with face-to-face bullying. They also highlighted the greater role of anonymity in digital communication, which can make intervention during bullying episodes less likely.

According to a statement, the researchers used a two-pronged approach in this study of undergraduate students. "Students in one group were asked to recall a Facebook cyber bullying incident in the last six months in which they knew the victim; they were also asked to narrate several elements of the episode, including their own reaction to it, and their past personal experience of bullying."

Students in a second group, says the statement, were placed into a hypothetical cyber bullying situation in which they witnessed embarrassing pictures being posted to a friend's Facebook page, without the friend's consent. "Participants were asked to report the manner in which they would intervene and, when presented with varying options, under what conditions and to what extent they would defend the victim."

Study results supported the "diffusion of responsibility effect". The higher the number of "bystanders," the less likely intervention would occur during a cyber bullying incident. Moreover, the perceived anonymity of "bystanders" also reduced the likelihood of intervention. However, the closeness that a particular "bystander" felt toward the victim was most consistently related to his or her decision to intervene. The perceived "invisibility" offered by digital communication is a significant concern.

According to the authors, the feeling of invisibility among online witnesses "allows for less adherence to societal standards", and may result in antisocial behaviour.

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