Steinvik Henriette R, Duffy Amanda L, Zimmer-Gembeck Melanie J
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
Griffith Centre for Mental Health, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
J Adolesc. 2025 Aug;97(6):1494-1506. doi: 10.1002/jad.12513. Epub 2025 May 8.
Adolescents who witness bullying often stand by passively rather than supporting their victimized peers with prosocial defending. In this study, we investigated whether compassion, as unique from empathic distress and anger and social costs, related to more prosocial and less aggressive defending and passivity.
Australian adolescents (N = 210; M = 14.66, SD = 1.11, age range = 13-17 years; 56% girls) completed surveys that also included embedded film clips portraying peer social bullying. Adolescents reported their compassion, empathy, perceived costs, and intended defending following each clip, and reported their recent experience with bullying and defending.
A multivariate path model revealed that adolescents higher in compassion, but also in empathic distress and empathic anger, intended more prosocial defending. Yet, only compassion was associated with less aggressive defending and empathic anger was associated with more aggressive defending. Empathic distress and social costs associated with more passivity, but compassion and empathic anger associated with less passivity.
This study provides the first evidence of unique and differential associations of empathic distress, empathic anger, compassion, and perceived social costs with different bystander behavior intentions among adolescents. Importantly, the findings support the distinctive role of compassion in constructive prosocial and lower aggressive defending.
目睹欺凌行为的青少年往往会被动旁观，而不是以亲社会的方式为受欺负的同龄人提供支持。在本研究中，我们调查了与共情痛苦、愤怒及社会代价不同的同情心，是否与更多亲社会和更少攻击性的防御行为以及更少被动旁观行为相关。
澳大利亚青少年（N = 210；M = 14.66，标准差 = 1.11，年龄范围 = 13 - 17岁；56%为女孩）完成了调查问卷，其中还包括描绘同伴社交欺凌的嵌入式电影片段。青少年在观看每个片段后报告他们的同情心、同理心、感知到的代价以及预期的防御行为，并报告他们最近的欺凌和防御经历。
一个多变量路径模型显示，同情心较强、共情痛苦和共情愤怒程度也较高的青少年，预期会有更多亲社会的防御行为。然而，只有同情心与较少攻击性的防御行为相关，而共情愤怒与较多攻击性的防御行为相关。共情痛苦和社会代价与更多的被动旁观行为相关，但同情心和共情愤怒与较少的被动旁观行为相关。
本研究首次证明了共情痛苦、共情愤怒、同情心和感知到的社会代价与青少年不同旁观者行为意图之间存在独特且有差异的关联。重要的是，研究结果支持了同情心在建设性亲社会行为和较低攻击性防御行为中的独特作用。
