Third-Party Intervention in Peer Victimization: Self-Evaluative Emotions and Appraisals of a Diverse Adolescent Sample

The role of core self-evaluation between peer victimization and depression: A longitudinal multilevel moderated mediation model and the healthy context paradox in Chinese adolescents

BACKGROUND

According to the healthy context paradox, the negative effects of peer victimization on core self-evaluation and depressive symptoms may vary in different levels of classroom-level victimization. However, previous studies have not investigated this issue using a longitudinal study design.

OBJECTIVE

The present study used a longitudinal design to examine why and under what conditions peer victimization was associated with adolescents' depressive symptoms.

METHOD

A large number of Chinese adolescents (Time 1: N = 4164, 50.3 % girls, Mage = 12.89, SDage = 0.77; Time 2: N = 4001, 50.4 % girls, Mage = 14.39, SDage = 0.75) were followed for one and a half years.

RESULTS

Results showed that adolescents who were victimized in healthy contexts were more depressed and were at an increased risk of reporting more negative core self-evaluation than those victimized in unhealthy contexts. Moreover, core self-evaluation served as a mediator between peer victimization and depressive symptoms.

LIMITATIONS

This study included two waves of data, which limited the exploration of dynamic relationships between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. In addition, the self-reported data weakened the objectivity of the results. Finally, this study neglected the effects of different dimensions of peer victimization on depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The healthy context paradox of peer victimization is identified in China, highlighting that future interventions of peer victimization should pay more attention to specific remaining victimized and self-devaluing individuals in healthy contexts.

Personal Norms Predict Defending in Bullying: Mediating Role of Anticipated Pride and Guilt

Recent studies have shown that bystander intervention involves moral engagement. However, the underlying internal mechanism is still poorly understood. Drawing on the norm activation model (NAM), Study 1 (questionnaire; n = 502) and Study 2 (experiment; n = 144) were conducted to investigate the influence of personal norms on defending through the mediating factors of anticipated pride and anticipated guilt. After controlling for age and gender, Study 1 revealed a significant positive association between personal norms and defending. This relationship was mediated by both anticipated pride and guilt, highlighting their parallel roles in explaining the influence of personal norms on defending. Study 2 investigated using writing tasks to manipulate personal norms from participants. The results revealed that the priming group had significantly higher levels of anticipated pride, guilt, and defending than the control group. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 in testing the mediated path, enhancing the reliability of research findings. This study expands the scope of the application of NAM by examining the interplay between personal norms, anticipated pride, anticipated guilt, and defending, as well as exploring the implications of these findings for interventions against bullying. Moral education should focus not only on the responsibility and obligation of bystanders to intervene in bullying incidents but also on the need to assist students in forming a moral compass within themselves that guides them to defend victims through moral emotions actively.

Honor, face, and dignity norm endorsement among diverse North American adolescents: Development of a Social Norms Survey

This article examined the psychometric properties and validity of a new self-report instrument for assessing the social norms that coordinate social relations and define self-worth within three normative systems. A survey that assesses endorsement of honor, face, and dignity norms was evaluated in ethnically diverse adolescent samples in the U.S. (Study 1a) and Canada (Study 2). The internal structure of the survey was consistent with the conceptual framework, but only the honor and face scales were reliable. Honor endorsement was linked to self-reported retaliation, less conciliatory behavior, and high perceived threat. Face endorsement was related to anger suppression, more conciliatory behavior, and, in the U.S., low perceived threat. Study 1b examined identity-relevant emotions and appraisals experienced after retaliation and after calming a victimized peer. Honor norm endorsement predicted pride following revenge, while face endorsement predicted high shame. Adolescents who endorsed honor norms thought that only avenging their peer had been helpful and consistent with the role of good friend, while those who endorsed face norms thought only calming a victimized peer was helpful and indicative of a good friend. Implications for adolescent welfare are discussed.