Speaker
Description
Theoretical background and objective
Bystanders' responses to cyberviolence, such as cyberbullying, cyberhate, and non-consensual sexting, play a critical role in mitigating or intensifying its impact. Traditional research has been limited to classifying bystanders —defender, reinforcer, and passive—without considering possible roles’ variations based on context. Therefore, this study aims to understand how factors such as the bystander's relationship with the victim or perpetrator, their popularity, perceived social support, perceived situation’s severity and the social network influence these responses.
Methodology
The study involved 195 Spanish adolescents (48.9% girls) aged 12-18 years (M= 14.11; SD= 1.48). Thirty web-based scenarios assessed bystander responses on cyberviolence examining influences of the conditioners.
Results
In cyberbullying, defensive responses stood out in identity theft on Instagram, reinforcing responses in social exclusion on WhatsApp, and passive responses in the same type of situation on TikTok. In cyberhate, defensive responses were prominent in bias-based hate on TikTok, reinforcing responses on WhatsApp, and passive responses in hate-by-hate situations on TikTok. For sexting, defensive responses were highest when receiving girls’ content on WhatsApp, reinforcing responses in receiving boys’ content from TikTok, and passive responses in forwarding boys’ content on Instagram. Furthermore, across all forms of cyberviolence, adolescents primarily responded defensively when the situation seemed severe, and the victim was a friend. Reinforcing and passive responses occurred mainly when severity was perceived as low, and the victim was unknown.
Conclusion
Findings highlight the importance of considering context on the cyberviolence situations and underscore the relevance of these findings for future psychoeducational programs.
Keywords
defender, reinforcer, passive, severity
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
|---|---|
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
