A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Why Do Student Perceptions of Teachers’ Condemning of the Bullying and Empathy-Raising Lead to Intention to Stop Bullying? The Role of Emotions
Authors: Johander, Eerika; Turunen, Tiina; Garandeau, Claire F.; Salmivalli, Christina
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Prevention Science
ISSN: 1389-4986
eISSN: 1573-6695
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-025-01839-2
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-025-01839-2
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499972993
Two strategies used by teachers in targeted antibullying interventions, condemning of the bullying behavior and empathy-raising, have been shown to positively predict bullies' intention to stop bullying. However, the mechanism through which they work remains unknown. We tested whether moral emotions (guilt and shame), and empathic emotion (sadness) mediated the effects of students' perceptions of teachers' condemning and empathy-raising messages on their intention to stop bullying. A normative sample of 277 seventh-grade students (Mage = 12.93, SD = 0.49; 47% female) was asked to imagine having bullied a peer and being invited to a discussion with a teacher. They saw a video vignette with one of three messages: condemning, empathy-raising or a combination of both. Analyses revealed that the effects of perceived condemning of the bullying behavior on intention to stop were primarily mediated by feelings of guilt, while the effects of perceived empathy-raising were mediated by both sadness and guilt. Shame was not associated with intention to stop bullying and did not mediate the effects of the perceptions. These findings suggest that targeted anti-bullying interventions should aim to evoke guilt and sadness (or empathic concern) rather than shame.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |  |
Funding information in the publication:
Open Access funding provided by University of Turku (including Turku University Central Hospital). Writing this article was supported by the INVEST Flagship Research Center, funded under the flagship scheme of the Academy of Finland (decision number: 320162) and ERC Advanced Grant for the last author (ERC-AdG 2019 Challenge, 884434).
European Research Council,884434,Christina Salmivalli
