The Role of Gender, Values, and Culture in Adolescent Bystanders’ Strategies

We examined the relationship between adolescent bystanders’ strategies for intervening in the bullying-like situation and their gender, values, and cultural origin. The sample consisted of 682 Estonian and Russian-Estonian adolescents (Mage = 13.02 years). They were shown a video of a bullying-like situation with a non-intervening adult bystander and asked to describe what they would do if they, instead of the adult, witnessed that situation. Only 10% said that they would not intervene. Girls were more likely than boys to suggest multiple actions. Adolescents who valued conformity were less likely to propose using physical aggression. Doing nothing was less likely suggested by those who placed more importance on conformity and less on power. Estonian adolescents were more likely than their Russian-Estonian peers to suggest finding out what is going on, and less likely to say that they would do nothing. The findings suggest that although most adolescents express willingness to help the victim, they might not actually know how to intervene.