Brief report: The bystander effect in cyberbullying incidents.

This study examined the bystander effect in cyberbullying. Using self-reported data from 257 Czech respondents who had witnessed a cyberbullying attack, we tested whether provided help decreased with increased number of other bystanders. We controlled for several individual and contextual factors, including empathy, social self-efficacy, empathic response to victimization, and relationship to the victim. Results showed that participants tend to help the victims more in incidents with only one or two other bystanders. We also found that, as in the "offline" realm, bystander effect is not linear: no significant differences were found between incidents with a moderate number (3-10) and a larger number of total bystanders. Our findings, thus, provide support for the presence of the bystander effect in cyberbullying.

[1]  B. Latané,et al.  Ten years of research on group size and helping Psychological Bulletin Vol 89 , 1981 .

[2]  G. Altoé,et al.  Determinants of adolescents' active defending and passive bystanding behavior in bullying. , 2008, Journal of adolescence.

[3]  A Bandura,et al.  Self-efficacy pathways to childhood depression. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[4]  M. Heene,et al.  The bystander-effect: a meta-analytic review on bystander intervention in dangerous and non-dangerous emergencies. , 2011, Psychological bulletin.

[5]  B. Latané,et al.  The Unresponsive Bystander: Why Doesn't He Help? , 1972 .

[6]  Karolien Poels,et al.  Determinants of Self-Reported Bystander Behavior in Cyberbullying Incidents Amongst Adolescents , 2014, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[7]  K. Hart,et al.  Cyber-bullying: An exploration of bystander behavior and motivation , 2014 .

[8]  Magdalena Obermaier,et al.  Bystanding or standing by? How the number of bystanders affects the intention to intervene in cyberbullying , 2016, New Media Soc..

[9]  Mikolaj Winiewski,et al.  Cyberbullying among adolescent bystanders: role of the communication medium, form of violence, and empathy , 2013 .

[10]  H. Machácková,et al.  Bystanders' Support of Cyberbullied Schoolmates , 2013 .

[11]  E. Frydenberg,et al.  The Role of Peer Bystanders in School Bullying: Positive Steps Toward Promoting Peaceful Schools , 2005 .

[12]  C. Salmivalli,et al.  What Does It Take to Stand Up for the Victim of Bullying?: The Interplay Between Personal and Social Factors , 2010 .

[13]  Robin M. Kowalski,et al.  Bullying in the digital age: a critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. , 2014, Psychological bulletin.

[14]  Mark H. Davis.  Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. , 1983 .

[15]  Christina Salmivalli,et al.  Unique and Interactive Effects of Empathy and Social Status on Involvement in Bullying , 2009 .

[16]  D. Cross,et al.  Cyberbullying Versus Face-to-Face Bullying A Theoretical and Conceptual Review , 2009 .

[17]  Richard J. Hazler,et al.  Contributions of Personal and Situational Factors to Bystanders' Reactions to School Bullying , 2009 .

[18]  Robert A. Eckhoff,et al.  David against Goliath? Group size and bystander effects in virtual knowledge sharing , 2008 .