The Impact of Witnessing Anti-LGB Bullying on Heterosexual Students

• In Event: 66.020 - Peer Contexts and Early Adolescent Identity and Adjustment: Peers, Friends, and Bullying

Abstract

Heterosexual adolescents may also experience negative outcomes in schools where anti-LGB attitudes are pervasive. However, little is known about how heterosexual adolescents might be affected. The current study examined the effects of witnessing the social exclusion or inclusion of a same-ethnicity-LGB youth on the well-being of the heterosexual observer. Urban, ethnically diverse heterosexual 7th grade students (N= 107), observed a preprogrammed computer game called Cyberball (Williams et al., 2000) in which a same-ethnicity LGB student was either rejected or accepted by two other heterosexual students. Observers then reported on their mood and psychological well-being. Results showed that witnessing the bullying of a same-ethnic LGB negatively affected the heterosexual observer to the extent that she/he perceived the target as an ingroup.

Author

• Negin Ghavami, University of California - Los Angeles