Early adolescents' motivations to defend victims in school bullying and their perceptions of student-teacher relationships: A self-determination theory approach.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether various dimensions of student-teacher relationships were associated with different types of motivation to defend victims in bullying and to determine the association between these types of motivations and various bystander behaviors in bullying situations among early adolescents in Italy. Data were collected from 405 Italian adolescents who completed a survey in their classroom. Results showed that warm student-teacher relationships were positively associated with defending victims and with autonomous motivation to defend victims. In contrast, conflictual student-teacher relationships were positively associated with passive bystanding and with extrinsic motivation to defend victims. Different forms of motivation to defend were found to be mediators between student-teacher relationship qualities and bystander behaviors in school bullying. Our findings suggest that teachers should build warm and caring student-teacher relationships to enhance students' autonomous motivation to defend victims of bullying as well as their inclination to defend the victims in practice.

[1]  Pauli Kaikkonen,et al.  School bullying as a creator of pupil peer pressure , 2008 .

[2]  G. Ladd,et al.  Children's interpersonal behaviors and the teacher-child relationship. , 1998, Developmental psychology.

[3]  D. Nemet,et al.  Health-related knowledge and preferences in low socio-economic kindergarteners , 2012, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

[4]  C. Salmivalli,et al.  Participant role approach to school bullying: implications for interventions. , 1999, Journal of adolescence.

[5]  Cixin Wang,et al.  Teachers Matter: An Examination of Student-Teacher Relationships, Attitudes Toward Bullying, and Bullying Behavior , 2015 .

[6]  Christine K. Malecki,et al.  Relationship Between Multiple Sources of Perceived Social Support and Psychological and Academic Adjustment in Early Adolescence: Comparisons Across Gender , 2010, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[7]  W. Pickett,et al.  Negative school perceptions and involvement in school bullying: a universal relationship across 40 countries. , 2011, Journal of adolescence.

[8]  Gianluca Gini,et al.  Active Defending and Passive Bystanding Behavior in Bullying: The Role of Personal Characteristics and Perceived Peer Pressure , 2010, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[9]  J. Ruscio,et al.  Determining the number of factors to retain in an exploratory factor analysis using comparison data of known factorial structure. , 2012, Psychological assessment.

[10]  Eileen G. Merritt,et al.  The Contribution of Teachers' Emotional Support to Children's Social Behaviors and Self-Regulatory Skills in First Grade , 2012 .

[11]  Adam M. Grant,et al.  Intrinsic and Prosocial Motivations, Perspective Taking, and Creativity , 2011, Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

[12]  Andrew V. Dane,et al.  Voices from the classroom: pictorial and narrative representations of children's bullying experiences , 2006 .

[13]  G. Hofstede.  Culture′s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations , 2001 .

[14]  Hans De Witte,et al.  Unraveling the Importance of the Quantity and the Quality of Workers' Motivation for Well-Being: A Person-Centered Perspective. , 2013 .

[15]  Robert Thornberg,et al.  Bystanders to bullying: fourth- to seventh-grade students’ perspectives on their reactions , 2014 .

[16]  Maria Hughes,et al.  A two-method investigation of early adolescents' responses upon witnessing peer victimization in school. , 2012, Journal of adolescence.

[17]  C. Neighbors,et al.  Self‐Determination, Perception of Peer Pressure, and Drinking Among College Students1 , 2002 .

[18]  Robert Thornberg,et al.  Bystander behavior in bullying situations: basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy. , 2013, Journal of adolescence.

[19]  J. Tangney,et al.  Moral emotions and moral behavior. , 2007, Annual review of psychology.

[20]  F. Oort,et al.  The Influence of Affective Teacher–Student Relationships on Students’ School Engagement and Achievement , 2011 .

[21]  Tomas Jungert,et al.  A self-determination theory approach to predicting school achievement over time: the unique role of intrinsic motivation , 2014 .

[22]  S. Rimm-Kaufman,et al.  Teacher–child relationship quality: The roles of child temperament and teacher–child interactions , 2009 .

[23]  Michelle Kilpatrick Demaray,et al.  Gender differences in the relationship between perceived social support and student adjustment during early adolescence. , 2008 .

[24]  G. Roth,et al.  Prevention of school bullying: the important role of autonomy-supportive teaching and internalization of pro-social values. , 2011, The British journal of educational psychology.

[25]  J. Eccles,et al.  Differential effects of support providers on adolescents' mental health , 2003 .

[26]  R. Baumeister,et al.  The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[27]  Christopher P. Niemiec,et al.  Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom , 2009 .

[28]  E. Menesini,et al.  Level and change of bullying behavior during high school: a multilevel growth curve analysis. , 2013, Journal of adolescence.

[29]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[30]  Rebecca P. Ang,et al.  Bystanders' Reactions to Bullying: A Cross‐cultural Analysis of Personal Correlates Among Italian and Singaporean Students , 2012 .

[31]  E. Deci,et al.  Facilitating health behaviour change and its maintenance: Interventions based on Self-Determination Theory , 2008 .

[32]  W. V. D. van den Heuvel,et al.  Adolescents’ psychological well-being and self-esteem in the context of relationships at school , 2014 .

[33]  C. Salmivalli.  Bullying and the peer group: A review , 2010 .

[34]  K. Bussey,et al.  The Role of Individual and Collective Moral Disengagement in Peer Aggression and Bystanding: A Multilevel Analysis , 2015, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[35]  R. Pianta,et al.  The first two years of school: Teacher-child relationships and deflections in children's classroom adjustment , 1995, Development and Psychopathology.

[36]  Peter M. Bentler,et al.  EQS : structural equations program manual , 1989 .

[37]  D. Pepler,et al.  Observations of Bullying in the Playground and in the Classroom , 2000 .

[38]  K. Verschueren,et al.  Teacher-child relationships and behavioral adjustment: transactional links for preschool boys at risk. , 2014, Journal of school psychology.

[39]  Cary J. Roseth,et al.  Bullying and social status during school transitions. , 2010 .

[40]  R. Pianta,et al.  Validating the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale: testing factor structure and measurement invariance across child gender and age in a Dutch sample. , 2012, Journal of school psychology.

[41]  R. Ryan,et al.  Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. , 1982 .

[42]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[43]  E. Deci,et al.  The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior , 2000 .

[44]  F. Guay,et al.  Achievement : Mediating and Additive Effects , 2017 .

[45]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  Recent trends in research on teacher–child relationships , 2012, Attachment & human development.

[46]  D. Olweus.  Bullying at School , 1994 .

[47]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models , 2004, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[48]  Martin S. Hagger,et al.  Perceived autonomy support and autonomous motivation toward mathematics activities in educational and out-of-school contexts is related to mathematics homework behavior and attainment , 2015 .

[49]  Victor L. Willson,et al.  Further Support for the Developmental Significance of the Quality of the Teacher–Student Relationship , 2001 .

[50]  Teacher–Child Relationship, Parenting, and Growth in Likelihood and Severity of Physical Aggression in the Early School Years , 2014 .

[51]  R. Ryan,et al.  Exercise, physical activity, and self-determination theory: A systematic review , 2012, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

[52]  A. Panter,et al.  Writing about structural equation models. , 1995 .

[53]  Laura S. Tenenbaum,et al.  Bystander Motivation in Bullying Incidents: To Intervene or Not to Intervene? , 2012, The western journal of emergency medicine.

[54]  R. Ryan,et al.  Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. , 1995, Journal of personality.

[55]  S. West,et al.  Model fit and model selection in structural equation modeling. , 2012 .

[56]  Massimo Santinello,et al.  Different forms of bullying and their association to smoking and drinking behavior in Italian adolescents. , 2011, The Journal of school health.

[57]  Ersilia Menesini,et al.  Bullies and victims in schools in central and southern Italy , 1996 .

[58]  P. Mantzicopoulos,et al.  Young children's perceptions of teacher‐child relationships: an evaluation of two instruments and the role of child gender in kindergarten , 2010 .

[59]  Dewey G. Cornell,et al.  Authoritative school discipline: High school practices associated with lower bullying and victimization. , 2010 .

[60]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-Determination Theory Applied to Health Contexts , 2012, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[61]  J. Reeve.  Teachers as Facilitators: What Autonomy‐Supportive Teachers Do and Why Their Students Benefit , 2006, The Elementary School Journal.

[62]  L. Ahnert,et al.  The Student–Teacher Relationship Scale revisited: Testing factorial structure, measurement invariance and validity criteria in German-speaking samples , 2014 .

[63]  Robert Thornberg,et al.  School bullying and the mechanisms of moral disengagement. , 2014, Aggressive behavior.

[64]  A. Bandura.  Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities , 1999, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[65]  A. Satorra,et al.  A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis , 1999 .

[66]  P. Mantzicopoulos,et al.  Development and validation of a measure to assess head start children's appraisals of teacher support , 2003 .

[67]  Netta Weinstein,et al.  When helping helps: autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. , 2010, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[68]  Robert Thornberg,et al.  Unique and Interactive Effects of Moral Emotions and Moral Disengagement on Bullying and Defending among School Children , 2015, The Elementary School Journal.

[69]  F. Korthagen,et al.  Teacher–student contact: Exploring a basic but complicated concept , 2014 .

[70]  D. Espelage,et al.  Handbook of bullying in schools ; an international perspective , 2010 .

[71]  R. Ryan,et al.  Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. , 1989 .

[72]  S. Tsang,et al.  Bystander Position Taking in School Bullying: The Role of Positive Identity, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Determination , 2011, TheScientificWorldJournal.

[73]  Andrew J. Mashburn,et al.  Social Relationships and School Readiness , 2006 .

[74]  Erin O'Connor,et al.  Teacher-Child Relationship and Behavior Problem Trajectories in Elementary School , 2011 .

[75]  R. Pianta.  Classroom Management and Relationships Between Children and Teachers: Implications for Research and Practice , 2013 .

[76]  Margaret Burchinal,et al.  The quality of teacher-student interactions: associations with first graders' academic and behavioral outcomes. , 2010, Journal of school psychology.

[77]  Ken Rigby,et al.  Expressed Readiness of Australian Schoolchildren to Act as Bystanders in Support of Children who are Being Bullied , 2006 .

[78]  R. Pianta,et al.  Mother-child relationships, teacher-child relationships, and school outcomes in preschool and kindergarten , 1997 .

[79]  Robert Thornberg.  A Student in Distress: Moral Frames and Bystander Behavior in School , 2010, The Elementary School Journal.

[80]  Clayton R. Cook,et al.  Predictors of Bullying and Victimization in Childhood and Adolescence: A Meta-analytic Investigation , 2010 .

[81]  Evelyne F. Vallières,et al.  The Academic Motivation Scale: A Measure of Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Amotivation in Education , 1992 .

[82]  Gianluca Gini,et al.  Why Do Bystanders of Bullying Help or Not? A Multidimensional Model , 2013 .

[83]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models , 2008, Behavior research methods.

[84]  B. Hamre,et al.  Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade. , 2001, Child development.

[85]  J. DeCoster.  Overview of Factor Analysis , 1998 .

[86]  I. D. Hooge.  Moral emotions and prosocial behaviour: It may be time to change our view of shame and guilt , 2013 .

[87]  T. Little,et al.  Going to scale: a nonrandomized nationwide trial of the KiVa antibullying program for grades 1-9. , 2011, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[88]  S. Hardy,et al.  Adolescent Motivations to Engage in Pro-Social Behaviors and Abstain From Health-Risk Behaviors: A Self-Determination Theory Approach. , 2015, Journal of personality.

[89]  R. Vallerand,et al.  Social context, student's motivation, and academic achievement: Toward a process model , 1996 .

[90]  J. Diefendorff,et al.  A Profile Approach to Self-Determination Theory Motivations at Work. , 2012 .

[91]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[92]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  Beyond the parent : the role of other adults in children's lives , 1992 .

[93]  A. Pérez-Albéniz,et al.  EFFECTS OF TEACHER–STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS ON PEER HARASSMENT: A MULTILEVEL STUDY , 2015 .

[94]  Wendy L G Hoglund,et al.  Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children's adjustment in high needs elementary schools. , 2015, Journal of school psychology.

[95]  J. Richard,et al.  Revisiting the whole-school approach to bullying: Really looking at the whole school , 2012 .

[96]  Robert Thornberg.  Shes Weird! - The Social Construction of Bullying in School: A Review of Qualitative Research , 2011 .

[97]  den Pj Perry Brok,et al.  Teacher–Student Relationships and Classroom Management , 2014 .

[98]  Elisa Poskiparta,et al.  Bystanders Matter: Associations Between Reinforcing, Defending, and the Frequency of Bullying Behavior in Classrooms , 2011, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.