Perceived effectiveness of bystander behavior as a function of the context of bullying, grade level, and gender

This study explored the perceived effectiveness of bystander strategies as a function of the context of bullying and of bystanders’ grade level and gender. The first aim of this study was to identify the strategies that bystanders perceived as most effective in four different contexts of bullying: name calling, relational aggression, physical aggression, and harassment. The second aim was to identify the strategies that bystanders perceived as least effective. The third and primary aim was to investigate bystanders’ perceived strategy effectiveness as a function of bullying context, grade level, and gender. Respondents included 8,624 students (51% female) from 31 schools across four geographic areas of the United States. Overall, results indicated that social support strategies were perceived as the most effective bystander strategies. However, findings also demonstrated that perceived strategy effectiveness varied by context, grade level, and gender. In general, bystanders perceived higher strategy effectiveness in response to name calling and lower effectiveness in response to physical aggression and harassment. Gender and grade level effects also emerged with females and elementary aged students reporting more effective use of bystander strategies. Study results suggest that bullying prevention efforts could benefit from teaching students how to better support their peers who are targeted, especially within the contexts of harassment and physical aggression. Results also indicate that males and high school students may need additional training to support their peers when bullied. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.