Brief report: The bystander effect in cyberbullying incidents

This study examined the bystander effect in cyberbullying. Using self-reported data from 257 Czech respondents who had witnessed a cyberbullying attack, we tested whether provided help decreased with increased number of other bystanders. We controlled for several individual and contextual factors, including empathy, social self-efficacy, empathic response to victimization, and relationship to the victim. Results showed that participants tend to help the victims more in incidents with only one or two other bystanders. We also found that, as in the “offline” realm, bystander effect is not linear: no significant differences were found between incidents with a moderate number (3-10) and a larger number of total bystanders. Our findings, thus, provide support for the presence of the bystander effect in cyberbullying.

"Results showed that participants tend to help the victims more in incidents with only one or two other bystanders. We also found that, as in the “offline” realm, bystander effect is not linear: no significant difference were found between incidents with a moderate number (3-10) and a larger number of total bystanders." (Machackova, Dedkova, & Mezulanikova, 2015, Abstract) "... the bystander effect is present in real cyberbullying incidents. .... When participants were practically the sole witnesses, they were more supportive than when there were more witnesses. However, this effect seems to be non-linear, as we found no difference between the participants reporting 3-10 and those reporting a higher number of bystanders." (Machackova, Dedkova, & Mezulanikova, 2015, p. 97)