“A Person I Cared About Was Involved”: Exploring Bystander Motivation to Help in Incidents of Potential Sexual Assault and Dating Violence

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine what motivates college students to put themselves in harm's way and help their peers in risky situations involving sexual assault and dating violence. College students reported on the frequency of witnessing a wide range of potentially dangerous incidents, whether or not they intervened, why they chose to intervene, what their relationship was to the victim, and reactions to their intervention. A sample of 182 (59.5% female) college students ( M = 19.3 years) participated. We coded and analyzed narrative responses to the question regarding what influenced their decision to get involved. For female students, relationship to the victim, and, for males, the severity of the situation, were key motivational factors for bystander involvement. Some students reported positive feelings while others reported negative feelings directly related to their involvement. Tapping into the motivations underlying college students' helping behavior will be particularly informative for those designing and implementing bystander intervention programs on college campuses. A better understanding of bystander behavior will not only improve bystander intervention programs but it will also put students in the best position to make informed and responsible choices when faced with a difficult situation.

Men’s perspectives on risk identification, taking responsibility, and prosocial intervention: Primary prevention or harm reduction?

“…Reid and Dundes (2017) heard such evidence, for example, "women do respect guys sticking up for them but men risk being ostracized" (p. 6). Indeed, men have been found to be more motivated to intervene on behalf of their female friends (Oesterle et al, 2018) and conceptualize their intervention as protecting their female friends (Casper et al, 2018), which may ultimately be incentivized by receiving respect from women and avoiding social disconnection from male peers, which is consistent with the findings of this study. Although Reid and Dundes (2017), as well as Oesterle and colleagues (2018), remark on the connection between bystander intervention behavior and masculinity, this relationship appears to extend only for intervening on behalf of women or in the presence This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

“…Although the bystander intervention literature is growing, there has been little differentiation between primary prevention and harm reduction strategies in the context of how bystanders intervene in risk situations (McMahon & Farmer, 2011), as often bystander intervention behavioral outcomes are combined across a spectrum of opportunities ranging from intervening before or after an assault occurs or directly with potential perpetrators or distancing of potential victims (the Bystander Behavior Scale; Banyard, Moynihan, Cares, & Warner, 2014). There exists evidence, however, that bystanders’ intervention behavior varies between situations (Casper, Witte, & Stanfield, 2018; Hoxmeier, Flay, & Acock, 2015, 2016; Hoxmeier, McMahon, et al, 2017; McMahon, Palmer, Banyard, Murphy, & Gidycz, 2017; Palmer, 2016). Thus, despite the original articulation of how the bystander model aims to engage a critical mass in the shifting of norms in a primary prevention framework, recent quantification of intervention behavioral outcomes often assess bystanders’ role in both primary prevention and harm reduction.…”

“…Compared with women, men have demonstrated greater likeliness to blame victims and have less empathy or concern for potential victims of sexual violence (Katz, Pazienza, Olin, & Rich, 2015). Although relatively unexplored in the bystander literature, a recent study examined gender differences in students’ motivation to intervene as bystanders to various types of risk situations (Casper et al, 2018). The authors found that men were motivated to intervene by a “sense of responsibility” (p. 11), operationalized as a morale or ethic code, such as men expressing that “it felt like the right thing to do” (p. 11).…”

Concerned friends of intimate partner violence survivors: Results from the myPlan randomized controlled trial on college campuses

“…Similarly, college students commonly report witnessing dating violence, observing the effects upon their friends, and/or being the recipient of disclosures of abuse (Casper et al, 2021).…”

“…The limited research that has been conducted with IPV survivors' friends demonstrates they may feel positively about their actions to try to help their friends, but also may experience discomfort, anger, fear, frustration, and concerns about making the situation worse; they often feel unprepared to help (Anderson & Danis, 2007;Banyard et al, 2010;Casper et al, 2021;Edwards & Dardis, 2020;Latta & Goodman, 2011).…”