Objective: The open expression of hatred, hostility, and violence against minorities has become a common online phenomenon. Adolescents are at particular risk of being involved in different hate speech roles (e.g., witness, perpetrator). However, the correlates of their involvement as perpetrators and the mechanisms that might explain their involvement in hate speech across different roles have not yet been thoroughly investigated. To this end, this study investigates moral disengagement and empathy as correlates of online hate speech perpetration and the moderation effects of empathy and moral disengagement in the relationship between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech. Method: The sample consists of 3,560 7th to 9th graders from 40 schools in Germany and Switzerland. Self-report questionnaires were utilized to assess online hate speech involvement, moral disengagement, and empathy. Results: Multilevel regression analyses revealed that moral disengagement and witnessing online hate speech were positively associated with online hate speech perpetration, while empathy was negatively associated with it. The findings also showed that the positive relationship between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech was stronger at higher levels of moral disengagement and weaker when moral disengagement was low. The association between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech was weaker when adolescents had higher rather than lower levels of empathy. Conclusions: The findings underscore the need for prevention efforts to accelerate moral engagement and empathy as critical future directions in hate speech prevention. This study also contributes to our understanding of underlying mechanisms that explain adolescents’ involvement across different roles in hate speech.

Little is known about the current state of research on the involvement of young people in hate speech. Thus, this systematic review presents findings on a) the prevalence of hate speech among children and adolescents and on hate speech definitions that guide prevalence assessments for this population; and b) the theoretical and empirical overlap of hate speech with related concepts. This review was guided by the Cochrane approach. To be included, publications were required to deal with real-life experiences of hate speech, to provide empirical data on prevalence for samples aged 5 to 21 years and they had to be published in academic formats. Included publications were full-text coded using two raters (κ = .80) and their quality was assessed. The string-guided electronic search (ERIC, SocInfo, Psycinfo, Psyndex) yielded 1,850 publications. Eighteen publications based on 10 studies met the inclusion criteria and their findings were systematized. Twelve publications were of medium quality due to minor deficiencies in their theoretical or methodological foundations. All studies used samples of adolescents and none of younger children. Nine out of 10 studies applied quantitative methodologies. Eighteen publications based on 10 studies were included. Results showed that frequencies for hate speech exposure were higher than those related to victimization and perpetration. Definitions of hate speech and assessment instruments were heterogeneous. Empirical evidence for an often theorized overlap between hate speech and bullying was found. The paper concludes by presenting a definition of hate speech, including implications for practice, policy, and research.

ZusammenfassungVon Hass und Hetze geprägte Kommunikationsformen im Internet stehen seit einigen Jahren im Fokus der öffentlichen Aufmerksamkeit. Kaum beachtet wurden bisher jedoch die Fragen, ob sich solche als Hatespeech bezeichneten Ausdrucksweisen auch in der Schule zeigen und wie Schüler/innen derartige Vorfälle bewerten und bewältigen. Um Antworten auf diese Fragen zu finden, wurden 21 leitfadengestützte, episodische Interviews (nach Flick) mit Jugendlichen aus Berlin und Brandenburg zu ihren Erfahrungen und Bewältigungsstrategien in Bezug auf Hatespeech im schulischen Kontext ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse machen deutlich, dass Hatespeech-Erfahrungen von Schüler/innen als belastend wahrgenommen und die eigenen Potenziale zur Bewältigung individuell und situativ unterschiedlich bewertet werden. Insbesondere die subjektive Beeinflussbarkeit bzw. Kontrollierbarkeit des stressauslösenden Hatespeech-Vorfalls sowie die soziale Unterstützung im Setting der Schulklasse scheinen sich auf die Bewältigung auszuwirken. Die berichteten Bewältigungsstrategien lassen sich, dem Transaktionalen Stressmodell entsprechend, in emotionsfokussiert (Einbezug sozialer Unterstützung, Verdrängung und Vermeidung) und problemfokussiert (aktives Ignorieren und Counterspeech) kategorisieren. Die Ergebnisse stützen Forderungen nach Präventionsarbeit in Schulen. Schüler/innen sollten dabei als Expert/innen der Lebenswelt Schule einbezogen werden. Außerdem scheinen Maßnahmen zur Stärkung sozialer und personaler Ressourcen sinnvoll zu sein, um konstruktive Bewältigungsstrategien zu ermöglichen. Zur Konkretisierung und Quantifizierung der Forschungsergebnisse ist weitere Forschung notwendig.

Das Thema Hatespeech rückt immer mehr in den Fokus der Öffentlichkeit und der Forschung. Im Gegensatz zu Hatespeech im Internet wird jedoch Hatespeech unter Jugendlichen, die von Angesicht zu Angesicht im Schulkontext ausgeübt wird, kaum beachtet. Hier setzt die vorliegende Studie an, in der Schüler*innen (n = 55), Lehrkräfte (n = 18) und Sozialpädagog*innen (n =16) auf der Basis leitfadengestützter Interviews dazu befragt wurden, was mögliche Beweggründe und Motive dafür sind, dass Schüler*innen Hatespeech in der Lebenswelt Schule und online ausüben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass mögliche Beweggründe für Hatespeech Angst vor Statusverlust, Gruppendruck, Provokation, Spaß, politisch-ideologische Überzeugung und Kompensation von Frust- und Minderwertigkeitsgefühlen sind. Darüber hinaus wird verdeutlicht, dass sich hinter diesen Gründen für Hatespeech oftmals Grundmotive nach Macht und Zugehörigkeit abzeichnen. Die Ergebnisse werden in Bezug auf anschließende Forschung und praktische Implikationen diskutiert.

Hate speech is often discussed and investigated as an online phenomenon, while hate speech among adolescents in the real world (e.g., in schools) has rarely been researched. Consequently, not much is known about potential interpersonal correlates and theoretical frameworks that might help us better understand why adolescents engage in hate speech in offline environments. To add to the literature, this study investigates hate speech perpetration among young people by utilizing the Social Cognitive Theory; more specifically, the association between witnessing and perpetrating hate speech in schools, and whether this relation is weakened or strengthened by anti-hate speech injunctive norms and deviant peer pressure. The sample consists of 1719 young people (45.1% boys, 53.6% girls, 1.3% gender diverse) between 11 and 18 years old ( Mage = 13.96; SD = .98) from 22 schools in Switzerland. Self-report questionnaires were administered to measure hate speech involvement and adolescents’ perception of social norms (i.e., anti-hate speech injunctive norms and deviant peer pressure). Multilevel regression analyses revealed that witnessing and perpetrating hate speech were positively associated. Moreover, injunctive anti-hate speech norms were negatively related and deviant peer pressure positively related to hate speech perpetration. Finally, increasing levels of injunctive anti-hate speech norms weakened the relation between witnessing and perpetrating hate speech, whereas higher levels of deviant peer pressure strengthened this association. The findings demonstrate that the Social Cognitive Theory is a useful framework for understanding hate speech perpetration in schools. The results also highlight the importance of taking into account social norms and interpersonal relationships (e.g., within the class) when designing anti-hate speech prevention programs and not focusing solely on intrapersonal factors.