Bystander Motivation in Bullying Incidents: To Intervene of Not to Intervene?
Open accessAbstract
INTRODUCTION: This research sought to extend knowledge about bystanders in bullying situations with a focus on the motivations that lead them to different responses. The 2 primary goals of this study were to investigate the reasons for children's decisions to help or not to help a victim when witnessing bullying, and to generate a grounded theory (or conceptual framework) of bystander motivation in bullying situations. METHODS: Thirty students ranging in age from 9 to 15 years (M = 11.9; SD = 1.7) from an elementary and middle school in the southeastern United States participated in this study. Open- ended, semi-structured interviews were used, and sessions ranged from 30 to 45 minutes. We conducted qualitative methodology and analyses to gain an in-depth understanding of children's perspectives and concerns when witnessing bullying. RESULTS: A key finding was a conceptual framework of bystander motivation to intervene in bullying situations suggesting that deciding whether to help or not help the victim in a bullying situation depends on how bystanders define and evaluate the situation, the social context, and their own agency. Qualitative analysis revealed 5 themes related to bystander motives and included: interpretation of harm in the bullying situation, emotional reactions, social evaluating, moral evaluating, and intervention self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Given the themes that emerged surrounding bystanders' motives to intervene or abstain from intervening, respondents reported 3 key elements that need to be confirmed in future research and that may have implications for future work on bullying prevention. These included: first, the potential importance of clear communication to children that adults expect bystanders to intervene when witnessing bullying; second, the potential of direct education about how bystanders can intervene to increase children's self-efficacy as defenders of those who are victims of bullying; and third, the assumption that it may be effective to encourage children's belief that bullying is morally wrong.
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Moral awareness does not necessarily predict behaviour; children often encounter tensions between what they judge to be right and what feels safe or socially acceptable within peer hierarchies.
“Yet moral awareness does not necessarily predict behaviour. Children often encounter tensions between what they judge to be right and what feels safe or socially acceptable within peer hierarchies (Thornberg et al., 2012).”
From Children's perceptions of bullying, exclusion and defending in English primary schools: A qualitative study (2026) · cites this paper as Thornberg et al., 2012
Children's decisions to act depend on their interpretations of group dynamics and potential consequences.
“Qualitative work similarly indicates that children ' s decisions to act depend on their interpretations of group dynamics and potential consequences (Thornberg et al., 2012).”
From Children's perceptions of bullying, exclusion and defending in English primary schools: A qualitative study (2026) · cites this paper as Thornberg et al., 2012
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Olweus, D. (1994) · The Plenum Series in Social/Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9116-7_5 · Cited by 1,890 · see citing works
Bosacki, S. L., Marini, Z. A., & Dane, A. V. (2006) · Journal of Moral Education · doi:10.1080/03057240600681769 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 9
- [3]Kärnä A Voeten M Poskiparta E Vulnerable children in varying classroom contexts: bystanders' behaviors moderate the effects of risk factors on victimization Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 2011 56 261 282
- [7]Nickerson AB Mele D Princiotta D Attachment and empathy as predictors of roles as defenders or outsiders in bullying interactions Journal of School Psychology 2008 46 687 703 19083379
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Digital metamorphosis: Examination of the bystander culture in cyberbullying
Wong-Lo, M., & Bullock, L. M. (2014) · Aggression and Violent Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.06.007 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Pervez, A., Masrani, T., & Pemberton, E. (2026) · School Psychology International · doi:10.1177/01430343261422416
- Authors
- Thornberg, R., Tenenbaum, L., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., Jungert, T., & Vanegas, G.
- Affiliations
- Linköping University (SE)
- Georgia State University (US)
- Venue
- Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
- Publisher
- California Digital Library (CDL)
- Published
- 2012-08-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 247-252
- ISSN
- 1936-900X (ISSN-L)
- 1936-9018
- PMC
- PMC3415829
- OpenAlex
- W2143874638
- Cited by
- 221
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 13.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Western Journal of Emergency Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R49CE001494)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Workplace Violence and Bullying
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Education for Peace and Conflict Resolution
- Keywords
- bullying, bystander intervention, children, moral evaluation, emotional responses, social evaluation, bullying prevention, conceptual framework, primary and secondary school students
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