Students’ Willingness to Intervene in Bullying: Direct and Indirect Associations with Classroom Cohesion and Self-Efficacy

Sebastian Wachs, Ludwig Bilz, Saskia M. Fischer, Wilfried Schubarth and Michelle F. Wright
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Sebastian Wachs: Department of Educational Studies, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Ludwig Bilz: Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Institute of Health Sciences, 01968 Senftenberg, Germany
Saskia M. Fischer: Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Institute of Health Sciences, 01968 Senftenberg, Germany
Wilfried Schubarth: Department of Educational Studies, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Michelle F. Wright: Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, PA 16802, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: Although school climate and self-efficacy have received some attention in the literature, as correlates of students’ willingness to intervene in bullying, to date, very little is known about the potential mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between classroom climate and students’ willingness to intervene in bullying. To this end, the present study analyzes whether the relationship between classroom cohesion (as one facet of classroom climate) and students’ willingness to intervene in bullying situations is mediated by self-efficacy in social conflicts. This study is based on a representative stratified random sample of two thousand and seventy-one students (51.3% male), between the ages of twelve and seventeen, from twenty-four schools in Germany. Results showed that between 43% and 48% of students reported that they would not intervene in bullying. A mediation test using the structural equation modeling framework revealed that classroom cohesion and self-efficacy in social conflicts were directly associated with students’ willingness to intervene in bullying situations. Furthermore, classroom cohesion was indirectly associated with higher levels of students’ willingness to intervene in bullying situations, due to self-efficacy in social conflicts. We thus conclude that: (1) It is crucial to increase students’ willingness to intervene in bullying; (2) efforts to increase students’ willingness to intervene in bullying should promote students’ confidence in dealing with social conflicts and interpersonal relationships; and (3) self-efficacy plays an important role in understanding the relationship between classroom cohesion and students’ willingness to intervene in bullying. Recommendations are provided to help increase adolescents’ willingness to intervene in bullying and for future research.

Keywords: bullying; intervention; willingness to intervene; verbal bullying; relational bullying; aggression; school; classroom climate; classroom cohesion; self-efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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