Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy
IntroductionCyberbullying poses a significant challenge among adolescents. If bystanders stand up and help victims, their helping behavior may be able to reduce the frequency and negative impact of cyberbullying. This study investigates the association of empathy, internet moral judgment, and intern...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1196571/full |
| _version_ | 1797692530633998336 |
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| author | Yang Hu Yang Hu Tian Zhang Hui-fen Shi Cui-ying Fan |
| author_facet | Yang Hu Yang Hu Tian Zhang Hui-fen Shi Cui-ying Fan |
| author_sort | Yang Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionCyberbullying poses a significant challenge among adolescents. If bystanders stand up and help victims, their helping behavior may be able to reduce the frequency and negative impact of cyberbullying. This study investigates the association of empathy, internet moral judgment, and internet self-efficacy with bystander helping behavior among adolescents, building upon the empathy-altruism hypothesis, bystander intervention model, and dual-process model of morality.MethodsA sample of 919 Chinese adolescents from 3 schools in Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces completed the Basic Empathy Scale, Internet Moral Judgment Questionnaire, Internet Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and Styles of Bystander Intervention Scale. And we constructed a moderated mediation model to examine the relationship between empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying and assessed the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy.ResultsOur findings revealed a significant positive correlation between empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying. Internet moral judgment mediated the relationship between empathy and helping behavior, whereas internet self-efficacy moderated the latter half of the mediation pathway. Specifically, the association between internet moral judgment and helping behavior was stronger for bystanders with higher levels of internet self-efficacy compared with those that have lower levels.DiscussionThese results further deepen our understanding of the mechanisms involved in bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying, thus providing a basis for future interventions to encourage more helping actions from bystanders during cyberbullying incidents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:28:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6816fc41afb14a1db85a8f18e278e504 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:28:58Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6816fc41afb14a1db85a8f18e278e5042023-09-05T09:21:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-09-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11965711196571Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacyYang Hu0Yang Hu1Tian Zhang2Hui-fen Shi3Cui-ying Fan4Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Preschool Education, Hubei Preschool Teachers College, Wuhan, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, ChinaIntroductionCyberbullying poses a significant challenge among adolescents. If bystanders stand up and help victims, their helping behavior may be able to reduce the frequency and negative impact of cyberbullying. This study investigates the association of empathy, internet moral judgment, and internet self-efficacy with bystander helping behavior among adolescents, building upon the empathy-altruism hypothesis, bystander intervention model, and dual-process model of morality.MethodsA sample of 919 Chinese adolescents from 3 schools in Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces completed the Basic Empathy Scale, Internet Moral Judgment Questionnaire, Internet Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and Styles of Bystander Intervention Scale. And we constructed a moderated mediation model to examine the relationship between empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying and assessed the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy.ResultsOur findings revealed a significant positive correlation between empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying. Internet moral judgment mediated the relationship between empathy and helping behavior, whereas internet self-efficacy moderated the latter half of the mediation pathway. Specifically, the association between internet moral judgment and helping behavior was stronger for bystanders with higher levels of internet self-efficacy compared with those that have lower levels.DiscussionThese results further deepen our understanding of the mechanisms involved in bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying, thus providing a basis for future interventions to encourage more helping actions from bystanders during cyberbullying incidents.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1196571/fullempathycyberbullyingbystander helping behaviorinternet moral judgmentinternet self-efficacy |
| spellingShingle | Yang Hu Yang Hu Tian Zhang Hui-fen Shi Cui-ying Fan Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy Frontiers in Psychology empathy cyberbullying bystander helping behavior internet moral judgment internet self-efficacy |
| title | Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy |
| title_full | Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy |
| title_fullStr | Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy |
| title_short | Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy |
| title_sort | empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self efficacy |
| topic | empathy cyberbullying bystander helping behavior internet moral judgment internet self-efficacy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1196571/full |
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