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Bystander Intervention During College Women’s Experiences of Gender Prejudice

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Abstract

Gender prejudice is a common occurrence that takes place throughout one’s life and in many arenas (i.e., school, work, public settings, etc.). Recent research has explored how targets respond to such experiences, but few studies examine bystander reactions to this type of event. The current study examined four factors (social norms, cost-effectiveness, distress, and feminist activism) that might influence how bystanders respond when witnessing gender prejudice. Male and female college students (n = 291) from the Western United States completed online surveys in which they described their experiences witnessing a woman being targeted with gender prejudice. Results indicate gender differences in appraisals of the cost-effectiveness of using particular responses, but no gender differences in the types of responses used. Results indicate that the endorsement of feminist activism predicted female bystanders’ use of confrontational responses, but none of the variables predicted male bystanders’ use of confrontational responses. For female bystanders, those who questioned whether their response would be cost-effective were more likely to report considering, but not using a confrontational response. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Lauren Shirley, Julia Fici, Kristina Mangie, and Heather Jones for their assistance in developing this study and revising the manuscript.

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Conflicts of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest to report.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This study did include research involving human participants. The research methods were approved by the Institutional Review Board at Colorado State University (where the data was collected). Participants were given informed consent via a cover letter at the beginning of the online survey. They were instructed that continuing with the survey would indicate their consent to participate in the study.

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  1. Meredith McGinley

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Counseling Psychology, Chatham University, Woodland Road, Pittsburgh, PA, 15232, USA

    Britney G Brinkman, Angela M. Dean, Christine K. Simpson & Meredith McGinley

  2. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Lee A. Rosén

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Correspondence to Britney G Brinkman.

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Brinkman, B.G., Dean, A.M., Simpson, C.K. et al. Bystander Intervention During College Women’s Experiences of Gender Prejudice. Sex Roles 72, 485–498 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0485-x

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