Adolescent Empathy Influences Bystander Defending in School Bullying: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Xiaoping Deng¹  Junru Yang²  Yuzhen Wu³ 

[1] Research Center of Educational Economics, Gannan Normal University;School of Education Science, Gannan Normal University;Department of Rear-Service Management, Gannan Normal University

关键词: bullying;    empathy;    bystander defending;    three-level meta-analysis;    cognitive empathy;    affective empathy;    adolescents;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.690898

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Even though numerous studies have shown that adolescent empathy is positively related to bystander defending in school bullying, others have failed to detect a significant association between these two variables. To address this discrepancy, a three-level meta-analysis of 27 papers (35 independent studies, N = 25,012 adolescents) was conducted. The results showed that empathy was positively correlated with bystander defending. Furthermore, the strength of the relationship between empathy and bystander defending was moderated by the type of empathy and the evaluators of defending. Specifically, the correlation coefficient between affective empathy and bystander defending ( r = 0.27, 95% CI [0.22, 0.32]) was significantly stronger than that between cognitive empathy and bystander defending ( r = 0.22, 95% CI [0.17, 0.28]). Finally, the strength of the relationship between empathy and bystander defending was moderated by the evaluator of defending behavior. That is, the correlation coefficient of bystander defending measured by self-evaluation was significantly stronger than that measured by peer-evaluation. The results showed that empathy was closely related to bystander defending. Thus, school bullying can be prevented from the perspective of enhancing empathy among adolescents.

【 授权许可】

CC BY