Citation

Walters GD, Espelage DL. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 2018; 46(6): 1229-1239.

Affiliation

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10802-017-0355-9

PMID

29038937

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether pro-bullying attitudes are capable of mediating the low empathy-bullying relationship in the absence of a significant unmediated correlation between low empathy and bullying behavior. Using three waves of self-report data from 1371 (677 boys, 694 girls) pre-adolescent/early adolescent members of the Illinois Study of Bullying and Sexual Violence (ISBSV), the mediating effect of pro-bullying attitudes on the low empathy-bullying connection was examined. A path analysis revealed that pro-bullying attitudes successfully mediated the pathway running from low empathy to bully perpetration even though the unmediated relationship between low empathy and bullying perpetration was non-significant. A control or comparison pathway running from bully perpetration to pro-bullying attitudes to low empathy was also tested and found to be non-significant. It would appear that low empathy contributes to bullying perpetration by stimulating pro-bullying attitudes which, in turn, promote bullying perpetration. The theoretical, research, and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Bullying perpetration; Low empathy; Pro-bullying attitudes