Bystander behavior in bullying situations: Basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement and defender self‐efficacy

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to investigate how basic moral sensitivity in bullying, moral disengagement in bullying and defender self‐efficacy were related to different bystander behaviors in bullying. Therefore, we examined pathways that linked students' basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement, and defender self‐efficacy to different bystander behaviors in bullying situations. Three hundred and forty‐seven teenagers completed a bullying survey. Findings indicated that compared with boys, girls expressed higher basic moral sensitivity in bullying, lower defender self‐efficacy and moral disengagement in bullying. Results from the SEM showed that basic moral sensitivity in bullying was negatively related to pro‐bully behavior and positively related to outsider and defender behavior, mediated by moral disengagement in bullying, which in turn was positively related to pro‐bully behavior and negatively related to outsider and defender behavior. What differed in the relations between outsider and defender behaviors was the degree of defender self‐efficacy.