When Is It Helpful to Get Involved? Adolescents’ Perceptions of Constructive and Aggressive Bystander Support from Friends, Acquaintances, and Public Figures in Cyberbullying

Abstract

The present study examines adolescents’ perceptions of both constructive and aggressive forms of bystander support and how these perceptions differ according to whether an acquaintance of the target, a friend of the target or a public figure is providing it. Ninety-nine adolescents between 13 and 17 years old (Mage = 14.42; SD = 1.35) participated in this study. Adolescents viewed a total of nine videos, each depicting a public cyberbullying situation on Instagram and a form of constructive or aggressive bystander support from an acquaintance, a friend, or a public figure in relation to the target of cyberbullying. After each video, adolescents were asked how helpful or hurtful the bystander’s form of support was on a Likert-type scale. A significant relationship was found between the bystander’s relationship to the target, the form of support and the helpfulness of bystander support. Overall, support from friends was perceived as helpful regardless of whether it was constructive or aggressive. Moreover, it was seen as harmful for acquaintances to engage in aggressive behaviours in support of targets of cyberbullying, but generally helpful for public figures to engage in those same behaviours.