title: Bystander behavior in bullying situations: basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate how basic moral sensitivity in bullying, moral disengagement in bullying and defender self-efficacy were related to different bystander behaviors in bullying. Therefore, we examined pathways that linked students' basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement, and defender self-efficacy to different bystander behaviors in bullying situations. Three hundred and forty-seven teenagers completed a bullying survey. Findings indicated that compared with boys, girls expressed higher basic moral sensitivity in bullying, lower defender self-efficacy and moral disengagement in bullying. Results from the SEM showed that basic moral sensitivity in bullying was negatively related to pro-bully behavior and positively related to outsider and defender behavior, mediated by moral disengagement in bullying, which in turn was positively related to pro-bully behavior and negatively related to outsider and defender behavior. What differed in the relations between outsider and defender behaviors was the degree of defender self-efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. robert.thornberg@liu.se
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thornberg
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jungert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals; D010379:Peer Group; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult