By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album
Reviewed by Suzanna Smith, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida
Can you remember a time in your childhood when you saw someone being bullied? Most of us probably can. If you take a minute to think back to that scene, you’ll likely recall that there were three roles being played: the bully, the bullied…and the bystanders. In most cases, bullying incidents do have an audience.
What’s more, research suggests that the audience’s reaction—or lack of reaction—can be really important. When a bystander speaks up against bullying, it may change the whole situation. But when bystanders laugh, do nothing (often due to fear of social disapproval), or even join in the bullying themselves, the situation can get much worse.
Experiments have demonstrated this effect in real life. But what about in the shadowy, often-anonymous world of the Internet? As we know, cyberbullying is a real problem for teens and young people, and can sometimes lead to tragic consequences.
With this in mind, researchers writing in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking recently conducted a cyberbullying experiment using a sham Facebook account. In the experiment, 181 college students viewed “Jessica’s” Facebook page, which showed a photo of a young, moderately overweight woman eating junk food, with a rueful comment about her roommates having taken the photo without her knowledge.
Some of the students saw no “friend” comments on this Facebook picture at all– just the photo. Others saw comments on the photo that all bullied or shamed Jessica about her weight and eating habits. Others saw a few shaming comments and a few that defended her (such as, “You guys are SO MEAN! Leave her alone about her weight!”) The participants in the experiment were then asked to comment on the photo themselves.
When researchers compared the groups, they found that students who viewed only negative remarks were pretty likely to make their own negative or bullying comments. But the students who saw at least some kind comments towards Jessica (along with the mean ones) were significantly more likely to make positive or anti-bullying remarks themselves. (Interestingly, students who did not post comments, even though they were instructed to, were more likely to show greater empathy for Jessica, and to view her as healthy and attractive.)
This small study seems to demonstrate the “bystander effect” in action, with students who’d seen others speaking up for a bullied stranger becoming more likely to do the same. At the same time, it also shows how powerful a negative social example can be.
As we help our own children navigate the tricky world of childhood and adolescence, it’s key to inform them about the power of bystanders. Talk with your children about how to be a voice for others when they see bullying, whether in person or online. The following resources can help:
(Photo credit: Typical teen by Tyler-Adams. CC BY 2.0.)
References:
Anderson, J., Bresnahan, B., & Musatics, C. (2014). Combatting weight-based cyberbullying on Facebook with the dissenter effect. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2013.0370
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