Influence of Past Bullying and Sexual Violence Victimization on Bystander Behaviors at College

• In Event: Stand Up: Factors Influencing Bystander Behaviors Among Youth

Abstract

In 2014 the White House issued a report on addressing sexual assault on college campuses that highlighted the key role of bystanders. Given that increasing bystander behaviors would reduce assaults, researchers have examined factors (e.g., gender, Banyard, 2008; engagement in prosocial behaviors, Bennett et al., 2014) associated with increased likelihood of intervening. One factor that has received little attention to date, however, is the extent to which individuals’ past victimization histories might affect their bystander behaviors. The limited extant literature suggests that having experienced victimization might increase the propensity to intervene, both in sexual assault instances (e.g., Murphy, 2014) and those involving other forms of aggression (e.g., child abuse, Christy & Voigt, 1994; bullying, Li et al., 2015). Scholars have posited that experiencing victimization might increase empathy toward other victims, which in turn might increase bystander behaviors (Barnett, 1992; Cao & Lin, 2015).
Research Questions

This study extends past research by examining whether past bullying victimization, sexual harassment, and attempted sexual assault are associated with bystander behaviors among first year college students.

Methods

First year college students (n = 437) completed surveys in the fall and spring. Past bullying victimization and sexual harassment were assessed in the fall using the California Bully Victimization Scale (Felix et al., 2013), and past sexual assault was measured using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (Finkelhor et al., 2005). Participants completed two bystander behavior subscales in the spring - Party Safety (with items about behaviors designed to protect friends from potential assault) and Proactive Behaviors (Banyard et al., 2014).

Results

Preliminary analyses indicate that, consistent with past research (Banyard, 2008; Brown et al., 2014), females reported more bystander behaviors than males (on the party safety scale; t = -3.5, p < .01). In addition, students who reported being bullied prior to college were less likely to engage in party safety behaviors than students who did not report bullying victimization histories (t = 2.29, p < .05). However, there were no differences between students with and without bullying victimization histories on proactive bystander behaviors. Further, participants who endorsed having experienced sexual harassment prior to college were more likely to engage in party safety behaviors than those who did not report sexual harassment prior to college (t = -2.29, p < .05); these groups did not differ on proactive bystander behaviors. Finally, bystander behaviors did not vary between first year students who reported attempted sexual assault prior to college and those who did not. Additional multivariate analyses will also be conducted, with an emphasis on moderator variables (e.g., self-efficacy).

Significance

This study adds to the limited body of research examining how past victimization histories influence bystander behaviors. Specifically, it highlights that first year college students with past bullying and sexual harassment histories might be particularly attuned to situations at parties that could increase risk for sexual assault for friends. With the addition of multivariate analyses, this study will further inform potential prevention strategies for sexual assault on college campuses.

Authors

• Melissa K. Holt, Boston University

• Jennifer Greif Green, Boston University

• Rachel Oblath, Boston University