Aggression, bullying, life online and the bystander effect

Transcript

SoheeA fifteen-year-old wakes up, picks up her phone, and finds a rumor about her spreading through a group chat. Forty classmates are in that chat. Some reacted with a laughing emoji. Most said nothing at all.

RyanAnd every one of those silent forty probably assumed someone else would say something.

SoheeWelcome to EPPP Prep, the podcast. I'm Sohee.

RyanI'm Ryan. Today, the darker side of social interaction. Aggression, bullying, how being online changes behavior, and why people so often stand by. Then we'll end with how that changes.

SoheeStart with a definition. The OpenStax psychology textbook says humans engage in aggression when they seek to cause harm or pain to another person. And it comes in two forms, depending on the motive.

RyanHostile aggression is motivated by feelings of anger, with intent to cause pain. A fight in a bar with a stranger is the textbook's example.

SoheeInstrumental aggression is motivated by achieving a goal, and doesn't necessarily involve intent to cause pain. The textbook's example is a contract killer who murders for hire.

RyanSo the question is always, what's the aggression for? If hurting is the point, it's hostile. If hurting is a means to some other end, it's instrumental.

SoheePause and think. A hockey player trips an opponent who's about to score. A minute later, a different player, furious at an insult, punches someone. Which is which?

RyanThe trip is instrumental. The goal is stopping the goal, so to speak. The punch is hostile. It's driven by anger, and causing pain is the point.

SoheeWhy does aggression exist at all? The textbook offers a few theories. One is evolutionary. Men are more likely than women to show aggression, and from an evolutionary view, male aggression may serve to display dominance over other males, to protect a mate and pass on genes.

RyanBut women engage in aggression too. They typically show more indirect forms, such as covert communication that damages another person's social standing.

SoheeAnother explanation is frustration-aggression theory, from Dollard and colleagues in 1939. When people are prevented from achieving an important goal, they become frustrated and aggressive.

RyanNow bullying. The textbook, drawing on Olweus, defines bullying as repeated negative treatment of another person, often an adolescent, over time.

SoheeAnd the word repeated is doing a lot of work. A single incident where one child hits another on the playground isn't bullying. Bullying is repeated behavior.

RyanIt can be physical, verbal or psychological. And it involves an imbalance of power, with the bully holding more power, physically, emotionally or socially.

SoheeThere are three parties: the bully, the victim, and the witnesses or bystanders. And the textbook describes gender patterns. Boys tend toward direct, physical aggression. Girls tend toward indirect, social forms: spreading rumors, ignoring, or socially isolating others.

RyanAnd here's an uncomfortable detail the textbook includes. The experience can be positive for the bully, who may enjoy a boost to self-esteem. But there are negative consequences for the victim, and for the bystanders too.

SoheeUncomfortable to hear. So what does bullying do to the people on the receiving end?

RyanThe consequences for victims are serious. Decreased mental health, including anxiety and depression. Underperforming in schoolwork. And bullying can result in a victim dying by suicide.

SoheeWho's at greater risk? The textbook notes there's no single personality profile. But children who are emotionally reactive are at greater risk, as are children who are different from their peers, such as being overweight, cognitively impaired, or racially or ethnically different.

RyanAnd gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens are at very high risk of being bullied and hurt.

SoheeNow take it online. Cyberbullying, like bullying, is repeated behavior intended to cause psychological or emotional harm. What makes it unique is that it's typically covert, done in private, and the bully can remain anonymous.

RyanThat anonymity gives the bully power. And the victim may feel helpless, unable to escape the harassment, and unable to retaliate.

SoheeAbout one in three middle and high school students report having experienced cyberbullying. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth, often shortened to LGBTQ, are targeted at a higher rate than heterosexual and cisgender youth, and members of minority populations overall are more likely to be victims.

RyanAnd notice the line the textbook draws. Some studies find nearly three in five teens have experienced some type of online abusive behavior, like a single round of name-calling or unsolicited images. Cyberbullying, by definition, is repeated.

SoheeAnd because it isn't tied to a physical place, it can feel inescapable. Many victims report being harassed across multiple platforms at the same time.

RyanIn cyberbullying, it's more common for girls to be both the bullies and the victims. And girls who become cyberbullies have often been victims themselves at one time.

SoheeThe effects are as harmful as traditional bullying: frustration, anger, sadness, helplessness, fear and lower self-esteem. And recent research suggests both victims and perpetrators are more likely to experience suicidal ideation.

RyanThe textbook also notes that, depending on the messages and methods, cyberbullying can count as harassment, stalking or assault, all subject to prosecution. And adults, especially college students, are frequent victims and perpetrators too.

SoheeSo why does being online change how people act? An open-access study by Wachs and colleagues on online hate among adolescents describes it well.

RyanThey write that the online environment involves anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, textuality, and a lack of face-to-face contact. And punishment and repercussions are considered less likely than offline.

SoheeThose circumstances can promote rude language, hatred and threats, which is called toxic online disinhibition. The tendency to feel less inhibited.

RyanAnd they add that toxic online disinhibition can decrease empathy, self-control, and the ability to recognize social cues.

SoheeWhich connects to the group chat. No face to see, no voice to hear, and a feeling of being far from consequences.

RyanNow the bystanders. Latané and Darley described the bystander effect in 1968. It's when a witness doesn't volunteer to help a victim or a person in distress. They just watch.

SoheeAnd here's a point the exam likes. Social psychologists hold that people make these decisions based on the social situation, not on their own personality variables.

RyanThe impetus was the 1964 murder of a young woman named Kitty Genovese. The story that spread was that none of her neighbors helped or called the police.

SoheeBut parts of that story were reported inaccurately. The textbook, citing Kassin in 2017, says bystanders did intervene. One man shouted at the killer, a woman said she called the police, and a friend comforted her in her last moments. And neighbors' calls later helped capture the killer.

RyanStill, the case helped psychologists identify diffusion of responsibility. The tendency for no one in a group to help, because the responsibility to help is spread throughout the group.

SoheeAnd the general rule: the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely any one person will help.

RyanPause and think. Twenty drivers pass a car that's slid off the highway into a ditch. Each assumes someone has already called for help. What's the specific process?

SoheeDiffusion of responsibility. With twenty potential helpers, each person's share of the responsibility feels small. And it's driven by the situation, not because those drivers are uncaring people.

RyanAnd the textbook connects this back to bullying. Witnesses not intervening is part of the problem.

SoheeSo how does the exam test this? Hostile versus instrumental, through the motive. Bullying, through the requirement that it's repeated and involves a power imbalance. And the bystander effect, with the twist that more witnesses means less help, not more.

RyanAnother trap is a choice saying people didn't help because they lacked empathy, or had antisocial personalities. Social psychology's answer is situational.

SoheeQuick recap. Hostile aggression is anger-driven, with pain as the goal. Instrumental aggression uses harm to reach some other goal.

RyanEvolutionary views link male aggression to dominance and mating; women more often use indirect aggression. Frustration-aggression theory: a blocked goal leads to aggression.

SoheeBullying is repeated, with a power imbalance and three parties. Cyberbullying adds anonymity and no escape. Online settings can produce toxic disinhibition.

RyanAnd the bystander effect comes from the situation, especially diffusion of responsibility. More bystanders, less individual help.

SoheeHere's the good news hidden in all this. Once you know diffusion of responsibility exists, you can choose to be the one who acts. In that group chat, one message saying this isn't okay could change everything.

RyanAnd the same goes for your studying. You don't have to wait for someone else to start. Try a few practice questions on aggression and helping today. Thanks for listening to EPPP Prep.

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