Open Access

ARTICLE

Do Victims Defend Victims? The Mediating Role of Empathy between Victimization Experience and Public-Defending Tendency in School Bullying Situations

Han Xie¹, Yizhe Jiang¹, Kunjie Cui^2,*
1 School of Law, Department of Social Work, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, 310018, China
2 Research Institute of Social Development, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 611130, China
* Corresponding Author: Kunjie Cui. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2024.056533

Received 24 July 2024; Accepted 15 November 2024; Published online 04 December 2024

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigates the association between victimization experience and the tendency to defend on behalf of victims during school bullying incidents in public settings, with a focus on the mediating effect of empathy and the moderating role of school level among Chinese children and adolescents. Methods: Data were collected by a cross-sectional survey. A total of 1491 students in Grades 4–11 participated (Boys = 52.8%; Mean_age = 13.00 years, Standard Deviation_age = 2.31). Structural equation modeling is employed to test the hypotheses. Results: The results indicate that empathy measures partially mediate the relationship between victimization experience and defending tendency in public in-school bullying situations. In particular, individuals with a history of victimization typically demonstrate lower levels of empathy. They are less likely to protect victims in school bullying situations in the presence of others, which suggests that empathy plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. Group differences were found between primary and secondary school students, which indicates that the hypothesized model should be considered through a developmental perspective. Conclusions: The findings of this study emphasize the importance of children’s benign peer relationships, and practitioners are encouraged to prevent victimization in schools and care for students who have been victimized; specific measures include cultivating empathy, teaching defending skills that have been found to help reduce the adverse effects of victimization, and encouraging prosocial behavior during children's socialization development.

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Keywords

Victimization; empathy; defending tendency; prosocial behavior; school bullying; left-behind children

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