The development of bystander intentions and social-moral reasoning about intergroup verbal aggression

A developmental intergroup approach was taken to examine the development of prosocial bystander intentions among children and adolescents. Participants as bystanders (N = 260) aged 8–10 and 13–15 years were presented with scenarios of direct aggression between individuals from different social group...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of developmental psychology 2015-11, Vol.33 (4), p.419-433
Main Authors: Palmer, Sally B., Rutland, Adam, Cameron, Lindsey
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
aggression
Aggression - physiology
bystander
Child
Child Development - physiology
childhood and adolescence
Female
Group Processes
Humans
Intention
intergroup relations
Male
Morals
Social Behavior
social development
Social Perception
social-moral reasoning
Thinking - physiology
Verbal Behavior - physiology
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Summary:A developmental intergroup approach was taken to examine the development of prosocial bystander intentions among children and adolescents. Participants as bystanders (N = 260) aged 8–10 and 13–15 years were presented with scenarios of direct aggression between individuals from different social groups (i.e., intergroup verbal aggression). These situations involved either an ingroup aggressor and an outgroup victim or an outgroup aggressor and an ingroup victim. This study focussed on the role of intergroup factors (group membership, ingroup identification, group norms, and social–moral reasoning) in the development of prosocial bystander intentions. Findings showed that prosocial bystander intentions declined with age. This effect was partially mediated by the ingroup norm to intervene and perceived severity of the verbal aggression. However, a moderated mediation analysis showed that only when the victim was an ingroup member and the aggressor an outgroup member did participants become more likely with age to report prosocial bystander intentions due to increased ingroup identification. Results also showed that younger children focussed on moral concerns and adolescents focussed more on psychological concerns when reasoning about their bystander intention. These novel findings help explain the developmental decline in prosocial bystander intentions from middle childhood into early adolescence when observing direct intergroup aggression.
ISSN:0261-510X
2044-835X
DOI:10.1111/bjdp.12092