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Publication
Imagined and extended contact experiences and adolescent bystanders' behavioral intentions in homophobic bullying episodes
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
ystanders' helping interventions in bias‐based bullying are rare, although they have thepotential to intervene on behalf of the victim and quickly stop the aggression. Two studiestested, experimentally, the impact of adolescents' imagined (Study 1,N= 113,Mage=16.17) and extended contact experiences (Study 2,N= 174,Mage= 15.79) on assertivebystanders' behavioral intentions in the context of homophobic bullying, an under‐researched but highly detrimental behavior that emerges mainly during early adolescence.Potential mediators (empathic concern, social contagion concerns, and masculinity/femininity threat) were also examined. Results showed that female younger participantsrevealed more behavioral intentions to help victims of homophobic bullying when askedto imagine an interaction with an outgroup member (Study 1). Younger participantsrevealed less masculinity/femininity threat inthe positive extended contact condition, andfemale participants revealed less empathic concern in the negative extended contactcondition (Study 2). Overall, these findings identify specific conditions (e.g., youngerfemales) where indirect contact interventions (i.e., extended and imagined) are likely tohave a stronger impact. Age and sex differences were found to illustrate how adolescentsvary in their behavioral intentions, empathic concern, and threat; and also highlight theneed to further examine age and sex differences regarding responses to homophobic bullying episodes.
Description
Keywords
Bystanders Extended contact Homophobic bullying Imagined contact
Citation
António, R., Guerra, R., Cameron, L., & Moleiro, C. (2023). Imagined and extended contact experiences and adolescent bystanders’ behavioral intentions in homophobic bullying episodes. Aggressive Behavior, 49(2), 110–126. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.22059