Bystanders’ responses to offline bullying and cyberbullying: The role of empathy and normative beliefs about aggression

Cyberbullying often takes place with the virtual presence or knowledge of bystanders. While we have some evidence about the determinants of bystanders’ responses to offline bullying, we lack empirical studies concerning the variables that influence bystanders’ responses to cyberbullying. The current study examines bystanders’ responses to offline bullying and cyberbullying incidents. Two types of responses were captured: support toward the victims and the reinforcement of bullies’ actions. Using data from 321 German adolescents (ages 12–18; M = 14.99; 44% girls), the association between bystanders’ responses and normative beliefs about verbal aggression and cyberaggression, and affective and cognitive empathy, were tested in a path model. Both types of normative beliefs positively predicted the reinforcement of bullies, and normative belief about verbal aggression also predicted support for the victims of offline bullying. Both types of empathy predicted support in offline bullying, but only affective empathy predicted support in cyberbullying. There was no link between affective or cognitive empathy to the reinforcement of bullies. Moreover, bystanders’ tendencies to respond supportively to the victim or to reinforce the bully were rather consistent in both cyber‐ and offline bullying, but there was no link between support and reinforcement. The findings are discussed with regard to implications for prevention and intervention efforts.     

Political accountability,public constitution of recent past and the collective memory of socio‐political events: A discursive analysis

This paper presents a discursive analysis of a political news interview as a site for the interactional organization of the public constitution of recent past. In a context of commemoration and finding out the truth about the past, the focus is on how the collective memory of socio‐political events and political accountability is managed and what discursive practices representatives of nation‐states draw upon to understand and construct ideological representations of socio‐political events, namely the Romanian ‘revolution’ of 1989. The analysis shows how the possibility versus the actuality of knowing the truth about the events, (political) accountability and stake for actions are discussed, framed and given significance by constituting the ‘events’ of 1989 as ‘revolution’. The analysis further reveals how this ascribed categorial meaning is used by the interviewee as background for delegitimizing critical voices and sidestepping responsibility for past actions and knowing the truth. Social and community psychologists can learn more about how individuals and communities construct ideological versions of socio‐political events by considering the interplay between questions of political accountability and arguments over the meaning of political categories, and engaging with the accounting practices in which the meaning of socio‐political events is being negotiated by members of society Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overlap and correlates of different types of aggression among adults: Results from a cross‐sectional survey in Bogotá, Colombia

Our objective is to establish the prevalence and overlap among different forms of violence and the importance of known correlates of aggression in Bogotá, Colombia. Our method is a cross‐sectional household survey of violence amongst a random sample (n=3007) of the general population between the ages of 15 and 60. In this population the more severe forms of aggression tend to appear concurrently with the less severe forms. Multivariate analyses of the data show that a family history of crime, physical aggression among family members, lack of clarity of parental norms, beliefs justifying the use of violence, and alcohol consumption are the main correlates of verbal and physical aggression independent of age, gender and social class. Although the findings are limited by the cross‐sectional design, exclusion of the institutionalized population, and reliance on retrospective self‐reports, they provide population‐based estimates of different forms of aggression and support for known correlates of aggression in a Latin American context. Aggr. Behav. 29:191–201, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Animalizing the disadvantaged,mechanizing the wealthy: The convergence of socio‐economic status and attribution of humanity

Differences between groups in socio‐economic status (SES) are becoming more salient nowadays. In this context, we examined the animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization that both low and high‐SES groups may experience respectively by conducting three studies. In study 1, we manipulated the SES of two fictitious groups (low vs. high‐SES) and measured the humanity ascribed to them. Results showed that the low‐SES group was animalized in comparison with the high‐SES group, which was mechanized. In study 2, we manipulated the humanity of two fictitious groups by describing them as animals or machines and measured the perceived SES of the groups. Participants tended to attribute lower SES to the group described as animals and higher SES to the group described as machines. Finally, in study 3, we used an Implicit Association Test to replicate the results of studies 1 and 2. Taken together, these studies show that low‐SES groups are considered as animal‐like whereas high‐SES groups are seen as robot‐like. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to the justification of income inequality within our society.     

Collaborative competence,social capital,and mental health: A cross‐sectional analysis of a community‐based intervention for older adults

Social capital interventions for the mental health of older adults have been inconclusive to date, and have rarely investigated the psychological resources that are important to having social capital. This study focused on the “Neighborhoods in Solidarity” (NS), which are a series of Swiss community‐based interventions that aim to empower older adults to participate in their communities. Our goal was to understand whether the NS were associated with collaborative competence, social capital, and subsequently, symptoms of depression. Cross‐sectional data were collected from 947 individuals aged 55 and over (M_age = 68.66, SD = 9.04) in 10 Swiss neighbourhoods (five with the NS [n = 479] and five control neighbourhoods [n = 468]). Structural equation modelling was used to model the relationship between the NS intervention, collaborative competence, cognitive and structural dimensions of social capital, and symptoms of depression (measured by the CESD‐R‐10). Individual participation in the NS had total and indirect effects on symptoms of depression via collaborative competence and both social capitals. These findings suggest that existing community‐based interventions can be indirectly associated with better mental health outcomes in the ageing population.