Adolescents' willingness to help with peer victimisation in Taiwan: The role of individual and situation-specific characteristics

The purpose of this study is to evaluate adolescent bystanders' willingness to help and specific help responses as predicted by both individual characteristics (e.g., gender, empathy, victimisation experiences) and situation-specific characteristics (i.e., bystander's relationship with the victim and the presence of another bystander). The study used an experimental vignette method with a sample of Taiwanese adolescents. Participants included 730 seventh graders (49% girls, mean age 12.8 years) attending one middle school in a southern city in Taiwan. Results show that both individual characteristics (e.g., gender, empathy) and a situation-specific characteristic (i.e., the relationship a participant had with the victim) predicted adolescents' willingness to help. However, only individual characteristics predicted adolescents' specific help responses including telling the teacher, telling the bully to stop, and comforting the victims. Directions for future research and implications for interventions and prevention programs are discussed.