Abstract
Defending behavior represents any prosocial behavior taken to assist an individual being bullied, which has received increased attention in developmental science and is an important component of anti-bullying interventions. This study aims to explore the relationship between belief in a just world (BJW) and bullying defending behavior among adolescents in the Chinese cultural context, the role of self-efficacy, responsibility, and gender. This study recruited 837 students (50.29% boys, Mage = 13.6 years, SD = 0.79 years) from three junior middle schools in Zhejiang, China, using a convenience sampling method. The results show that: (1) BJW, self-efficacy, responsibility, and defending behavior are all significantly correlated; (2) BJW indirectly predicts defending behavior through the mediation of self-efficacy and responsibility, and serial mediation of self-efficacy and responsibility. (3) There are gender differences in the relationship between self-efficacy and responsibility. Compared with girls, boys’ self-efficacy has a stronger predictive effect on responsibility, and they display more defending behavior. The research reveals that defending behavior can be effectively promoted by enhancing students’ BJW, self-efficacy, and responsibility, providing theoretical reference and practical advice for intervention in bystander behavior in school bullying.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank students in the lab for assistance with the experiments. This research was supported by the National Education Science Planning project “Mechanism and Intervention Countermeasures of bullying behaviour in primary and secondary schools” (BHA190150).
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Lin Zhang and Lan Jiao conceived and designed the study. The two authors contributed equally to this work and should be considered as co-corresponding author.Yanling Chen and Siyao Wang performed the study and wrote the paper. The two authors contributed equally to this work and should be considered as co-first authors. Shen Liu, Xinwei Hong, and Junmeng Zheng reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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The study uses data from teenagers who participated in the research voluntarily. The whole data collection was done anonymously. All respondents had been informed that they could skip any question that made them feel uncomfortable or abandon the study at any time. Written informed consent was obtained from their parents.
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Chen, Y., Wang, S., Liu, S. et al. Belief in a just world and bullying defending behavior among adolescents: Roles of self-efficacy and responsibility. Curr Psychol 42, 21532–21540 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03198-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03198-5