An Experimental Assessment of Third Parties as Potential Guardians: Victim Gender, Conflict, and Individual Perceptions of Social Situations

Abstract

The guardianship component of routine activity theory (RAT) remains underexamined. Recent research has emphasized “guardianship-in-action,” or the processes by which individuals evaluate potentially problematic situations. Research has also begun to identify conditions conducive to bystander intervention in troublesome situations, but has not been incorporated into the emerging literature on guardianship-in-action. The current study integrates these literatures to understand how individuals perceive problematic social situations by examining how victims’ gender influences guardians’ perceptions of social situations and willingness to intervene across conflicts. Using an experimental vignette design, and a sample of 370 American adults, respondents were randomly assigned to vignettes involving verbal and physical conflicts between two men or a man and a woman. A series of t tests, chi-square tests, and McNemar’s tests assessed mean differences in respondent perceptions. Situations in which victims are female were perceived as being more serious and requiring intervention. Situations involving interpersonal physical violence similarly elicit stronger concerns, and a greater willingness to intervene, from potential guardians. Theory and policy implications are discussed.