Human Ecology Research

The Korean Home Economics Association (대한가정학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Influence of Affective Empathy and Guilt-proneness on Defending Behavior against Bullying among Middle School Students and the Moderating Role of Classroom Climate

중학생의 정서적 공감과 죄책감 경향성이 또래괴롭힘 방어행동에 미치는 영향과 학급분위기의 조절효과

  • Oh, Jiyeon (Department of Child & Family Studies, Yonsei University) ;
  • Park, Ju Hee (Department of Child & Family Studies, Yonsei University)
  • 오지연 (연세대학교 아동.가족학과) ;
  • 박주희 (연세대학교 아동.가족학과)
  • Received : 2019.04.29
  • Accepted : 2019.08.12
  • Published : 2019.08.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

This study examined the influences of middle school students' affective empathy and guilt-proneness on defending behavior against bullying and investigated if class climate (teacher support and student support) had moderating effects. The participants consisted of 163 second to third grade students (77 boys and 86 girls) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical regression. Moderating effects were examined using multiple regression analysis. The results of this study indicated that guilt-proneness, teacher support, and student support had significant effects on the defending behavior of middle school students. The higher the level of guilt-proneness, the higher the level of defending behavior. Defending behavior was also higher when students perceived a belongingness to a classroom where their teacher and students provided support. However, affective empathy had no effect on defending behavior. Second, teacher support moderated the relation between guilt-proneness and defending behavior. The effects of guilt-proneness on defending behavior against bullying were greater when teacher support was high compared to low. The results suggested that guilt-proneness and classroom climate play important roles in increasing defending behavior in middle school students. Some implications for future research were also discussed.

Keywords

References

  1. Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. CA: Sage Publication.
  2. Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_3
  3. Batson, C. D. (1990). How social an animal? The human capacity for caring. American Psychologist, 45 (3), 336-346. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.45.3.336
  4. Batson, C. D., Fultz, J., & Schoenrade, P. A. (1987). Distress and empathy: Two qualitatively distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences. Journal of Personality , 55(1), 19-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00426.x
  5. Caravita, S. C., Di Blasio, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2009). Unique and interactive effects of empathy and social status on involvement in bullying. Social Development, 18(1), 140-163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00465.x
  6. Choi, K. W. (2012). The relation between moral emotions, defending and outsider behaviors in adolescents: Moderation effect of perceived class norms (Unpublished master's thesis). Ewha University, Seoul, Korea.
  7. Choi, M. K., & Lee, S. Y. (2015). A study on empathy ability, awareness & attitude change through empathy centered-school violence prevention education for non-adapted student. Journal of Youth Welfare, 17(1), 75-96.
  8. Cialdini, R. B., & Kenrick, D. T. (1976). Altruism as hedonism: A social development perspective on the relationship of negative mood state and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(5), 907-914. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.34.5.907
  9. Davis, M. H. (1980). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidences for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
  10. Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Gaertner, S., Schroeder, D. A., & Clark, R. D., III. (1991). The arousal: Cost-reward model and the process of intervention: A review of the evidence. In M. Clark (Ed.), Prosocial behavior. Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 12, pp. 86-118). CA: Sage Publication.
  11. Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51(1), 665-697. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.665
  12. Gini, G., Albiero, P., Benelli, B., & Altoe, G. (2007). Does empathy predict adolescents' bullying and defending behavior? Aggressive Behavior, 33(5), 467-476. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20204
  13. Gong, M. J., & Lee, D. H. (2017). Relationship of social withdrawal subtypes and perceived class climates with peer victimization among middle school boys and girls. The Korean Journal of School Psychology, 14(2), 209-234. https://doi.org/10.16983/kjsp.2017.14.2.209
  14. Ha, I. J. (2014). The effects of classroom cohesion and perceived classroom norm on participation behavior in peer bullying, satisfaction with school life, empathy and pro-social behavior (Unpublished master's thesis). Chosun University, Gwangju, Korea.
  15. Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2006). Development and validation of the Basic Empathy Scale. Journal of Adolescence, 29(4), 589-611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.08.010
  16. Juvonen, J., Schacter, H. L., Sainio, M., & Salmivalli, C. (2016). Can a school-wide bullying prevention program improve the plight of victims? Evidence for risk$\times$intervention effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84 (4), 334. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000078
  17. Kang, J. H. (2018). The relationship between moral emotions and defending behaviors of middle school students: Moderation effect of outcome expectation (Unpublished master's thesis). Catholic University, Seoul, Korea.
  18. Kennedy, J. H., & Kennedy, C. E. (2004). Attachment theory: Implications for school psychology. Psychology in the Schools, 41(2), 247-259. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.10153
  19. Kim, C. G. (1994). Theology of educational administration: Educational administration and education management. Seoul: Hyungseul.
  20. Lagerspetz, K. M., Bjorkqvist, K., Berts, M., & King, E. (1982). Group aggression among school children in three schools. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 23(1), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.1982.tb00412.x
  21. Lee, J. H. (2016). Relationship among modules of the national level school violence prevention program: focused on the Eoullim program. The Journal of Educational Research, 14(2), 187-212.
  22. Mazzone, A., Camodeca, M., & Salmivalli, C. (2016). Interactive effects of guilt and moral disengagement on bullying, defending and outsider behavior. Journal of Moral Education, 45(4), 419-432. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2016.1216399
  23. Ministry of Education. (2018). The first student survey on school violence in 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://www.moe.go.kr.
  24. Oh, I. S. (2010). Psychological factors influencing bystanders' behavioral reactions to bullying: A focus on empathy and aggression. The Journal of Elementary Education, 23(1), 45-63.
  25. Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
  26. Park, H. J., Han, M. Y., & Kim, H. J. (2016). A study on effects of applications for the Aulim school violence prevention program. Korean Journal of Educational Research, 54(3), 121-150.
  27. Park, J. C. (2013). Classroom peace project. Seoul: Yangchulbook.
  28. Ploeg, R., Kretschmer, T., Salmivalli, C., & Veenstra, R. (2017). Defending victims: What does it take to intervene in bullying and how is it rewarded by peers? Journal of School Psychology, 65, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2017.06.002
  29. Pozzoli, T., Ang, R. P., & Gini, G. (2012). Bystanders' reactions to bullying: A cross cultural analysis of personal correlates among Italian and Singaporean students. Social Development, 21(4), 686-703. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2011.00651.x
  30. Ryu, S. Y. (1999). The study of relation of guilt and shame in interpersonal relationships to psychological symptom: Focusing on the comparison of high school adolescents and juvenile delingents (Unpublished master's thesis). Ewha University, Seoul, Korea.
  31. Salmivalli, C., Lagerspetz, K., Bjorkqvist, K., Osterman, K., & Kaukiainen, A. (1996). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group. Aggressive Behavior, 22(1), 1-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1996)22:1<1::AID-AB1>3.0.CO;2-T
  32. Sandstrom, M. J., & Bartini, M. (2010). Do perceptions of discrepancy between self and group norms contribute to peer harassment at school? Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 32(3), 217-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2010.495645
  33. School Violence Prevention Research Support Center. (2014). Eoullim program. Retrieved May 12, 2019, from https://stopbullying.kedi.re.kr
  34. Seo, M. J. (2008). Participation in bullying: Bystanders'characteristics and role behaviors. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 29(5), 79-96.
  35. Shin, S. R. (2014). The relationship among empathic concern, personal distress, moral disengagement, and defending behavior of middle school students (Unpublished master's thesis). Ewha University, Seoul, Korea.
  36. Shon, K. S., & Lee, K. M. (2015). A qualitative study of defenders experiences in peer victimization. The Korean Journal of School Psychology, 12(3), 317-348. https://doi.org/10.16983/kjsp.2015.12.3.317
  37. Song, G. H. (2010). The relationship among Theory of Mind, proactive bullying and defending behaviors in adolescents: Mediation effect of moral disengagement and moral emotions (Unpublished master's thesis). Ewha University, Seoul, Korea.
  38. Song, G. H. (2017). Children's and adolescents' moral reasoning and defending behavior in school bullying: The moderation effects of individual and classroom level characteristics (Unpublished doctor's dissertation). Ewha University, Seoul, Korea.
  39. Tangney, J. P., & Dearing, R. L. (2002). Shame and guilt. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  40. Tangney, J. P., Wagner, P., & Gramzow, R. (1992). Proneness to shame, proneness to guilt, and psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101(3), 469-478. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.101.3.469
  41. Taylor, D. G. (1982). Pluralistic ignorance and the spiral of silence: A formal analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 46(3), 311-335. https://doi.org/10.1086/268729
  42. Thornberg, R., & Jungert, T. (2013). Bystander behavior in bullying situations: Basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy. Journal of Adolescence, 36(3), 476-483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.02.003
  43. Thornberg, R., Wanstrom, L., & Jungert, T. (2018). Authoritative classroom climate and its relations to bullying victimization and bystander behaviors. School Psychology International, 39(6), 663-680. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034318809762
  44. Veenstra, R., Verlinden, M., Huitsing, G., Verhulst, F. C., & Tiemeier, H. (2013). Behind bullying and defending: Same sex and other sex relations and their associations with acceptance and rejection. Aggressive Behavior, 39(6), 462-471. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21495
  45. Yang, K. S., & Chung, G. H. (2015). The influence of parental empathy on adolescents' defending behaviors in bullying situations: Testing the mediation effect of adolescent empathy. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 22(6), 233-261.
  46. Young, S. (1998). The support group approach to bullying in schools. Educational Psychology in Practice, 14 (1), 32-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/0266736980140106

Cited by

  1. Influence of Bullying Victimization on Defending Behavior Against Bullying Among Upper Elementary Students and the Multiple Additive Moderating Effect of Affective Empathy and Perceived Social Support vol.41, pp.6, 2019, https://doi.org/10.5723/kjcs.2020.41.6.81
  2. Adolescent Empathy Influences Bystander Defending in School Bullying: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis vol.12, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.690898