We analyzed developmental changes in outsider behavior, testing whether the likelihood that it turns into bullying or defending over time depends on the individual proneness to feel shame or guilt. Participants were 155 preadolescents (72 boys and 83 girls; age at T1 = 10.74 years). Bullying, defending, and outsider behaviors were assessed twice by peer nominations. Shame- and guilt-proneness were assessed at T1 by a self-report questionnaire. All behaviors appeared quite stable; however, regression analyses revealed that shame and guilt were associated with outsider developmental pathway. In particular, students steadily presented outsider behavior after a 9-month period if they showed low guilt or high shame at T1. Results are discussed in terms of future directions for research and interventions.
BanduraA. (1990). Selective activation and disengagement of moral control. Journal of Social Issues, 46, 27-46. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1990.tb00270.x
2.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
3.
BybeeJ. (1998). Guilt and children. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
4.
CamodecaM.MenesiniE. (2007). Approccio contestuale al senso di colpa e alla vergogna: Ruolo degli antecedenti e comportamenti correlati [Contextual approach to guilt and shame: Role of antecedents and behavioural correlates]. Età Evolutiva, 87, 70-77.
5.
CaravitaS. C. S.SijtsemaJ. J.RambaranJ. A.GiniG. (2014). Peer influences on moral disengagement in late childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 193-207. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9953-1
6.
ForsbergC.ThornbergR.SamuelssonM. (2014). Bystanders to bullying: Fourth- to seventh-grade students’ perspectives on their reactions. Research Papers in Education, 29, 557-576. doi:10.1080/02671522.2013.878375
7.
KärnäA.VoetenM.LittleT. D.PoskipartaE.KaljonenA.SalmivalliC. (2011). A large-scale evaluation of the KiVa antibullying program: Grades 4-6. Child Development, 82, 311-330. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01557.x
8.
LagattutaK. H.ThompsonR. A. (2007). The development of self-conscious emotions: Cognitive processes and social influences. In TracyJ. L.RobinsR. W.TangneyJ. P. (Eds.), The self-conscious emotions: Theory and research (pp. 91-113). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
9.
LewisM. (1992). Shame: The exposed self. New York, NY: The Free Press.
10.
McKnownC.GumbinerL. M.JohnsonJ. (2011). Diagnostic efficiency of several methods of identifying socially rejected children and effect of participation rate on classification accuracy. Journal of School Psychology, 49, 573-595. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2011.06.002
11.
MenesiniE.CamodecaM. (2008). Shame and guilt as behavior regulators: Relationships with bullying, victimization and prosocial behavior. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26, 183-196. doi:10.1348/026151007X205281
12.
MenesiniE.SanchezV.FonziA.OrtegaR.RosarioO.CostabileA.Lo FeudoG. (2003). Moral emotions and bullying: A cross-national comparison of differences between bullies, victims and outsiders. Aggressive Behavior, 29, 515-530. doi:10.1002/ab.10060
13.
ObermannM. L. (2011). Moral disengagement among bystanders to school bullying. Journal of School Violence, 10, 239-257. doi:10.1080/15388220.2011.578276
14.
OlthofT. (2012). Anticipated feelings of guilt and shame as predictors of early adolescents’ antisocial and prosocial interpersonal behaviour. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 371-388. doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.680300
15.
OlthofT.SchoutenA.KuiperH.SteggeH.Jennekens-SchinkelA. (2000). Shame and guilt in children: Differential situational antecedents and experiential correlates. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 51-64. doi:10.1348/026151000165562
16.
OlweusD. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
17.
PöyhönenV.JuvonenJ.SalmivalliC. (2012). Standing up for the victim, siding with the bully or standing by? Bystander responses in bullying situations. Social Development, 21, 722-741. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2012.00662.x
18.
PozzoliT.GiniG. (2013). Why do bystanders of bullying help or not? A multidimensional model. Journal of Early Adolescence, 33, 315-340. doi:10.1177/0272431612440172
19.
PozzoliT.GiniG.VienoA. (2012). The role of individual correlates and class norms in defending and passive bystanding behavior in bullying: A multilevel analysis. Child Development, 83, 1917-1931. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01831.x
20.
PrinsteinM. (2007). Assessment of adolescents’ preference- and reputation-based peer status using sociometric experts. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53, 243-261. doi:10.1353/mpq.2007.0013
21.
PronkJ.OlthofT.GoossensF. A. (2014a). Differential personality correlates of early adolescents’ bullying-related outsider and defender behavior. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 1-23. doi:10.1177/0272431614549628
22.
PronkJ.OlthofT.GoossensF. A. (2014b). Factors influencing interventions on behalf of victims of bullying: A counterfactual approach to the social cognitions of outsiders and defenders. Journal of Early Adolescence, 36, 267-291. doi:10.1177/0272431614562836
23.
RieffeC.CamodecaM.PouwL. B. C.LangeA. M. C.StockmannL. (2012). Don’t anger me! Bullying, victimization, and emotion dysregulation in young adolescents with ASD. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 1-20. doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.680302
24.
RigbyK.JohnsonB. (2006). Expressed readiness of Australian schoolchildren to act as bystanders in support of children who are being bullied. Educational Psychology, 26, 425-440. doi:10.1080/01443410500342047
25.
RoosS.HodgesE. V.SalmivalliC. (2014). Do guilt- and shame-proneness differentially predict prosocial, aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors during early adolescence?Developmental Psychology, 50, 941-946. doi:10.1037/a0033904.supp
26.
SalmivalliC.LagerspetzK.BjörkqvistK.ÖstermanK.KaukiainenA. (1996). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 1-15. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1996)22:1<1::AID-AB1>3.0.CO;2-T
27.
SalmivalliC.LappalainenM.LagerspetzK. M. J. (1998). Stability and change of behavior in connection with bullying in schools: A two-year follow-up. Aggressive Behavior, 24, 205-218. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1998)24:3<205::AID-AB5>3.0.CO;2-J
28.
SalmivalliC.VoetenM. (2004). Connections between attitudes, group norms, and behaviour in bullying situations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 246-258. doi:10.1080/01650250344000488
29.
TangneyJ. P.StuewigJ.MashekD. J. (2007). Moral emotions and moral behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 345-372. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103070145
30.
ThornbergR. (2010). A student in distress: Moral frames and bystander behavior in school. The Elementary School Journal, 110, 585-608. doi:10.1086/651197
31.
ThornbergR.PozzoliT.GiniG.JungertT. (2015). Unique and interactive effects of moral emotions and moral disengagement on bullying and defending among school children. The Elementary School Journal, 116, 322-337. doi:10.1086/683985
32.
TracyJ. L.RobinsR. W. (2006). Appraisal antecedents of shame and guilt: Support for a theoretical model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 1339-1351. doi:10.1177/0146167206290212
33.
WalterJ. L.BurnafordS. M. (2006). Developmental changes in adolescents’ guilt and shame: The role of family climate and gender. North American Journal of Psychology, 8, 321-338. doi:10.1037/a0033904
34.
ZakriskiA. L.SeiferR. S.SheldrickC.PrinsteinM. J.DicksteinS.SameroffA. J. (1999). Child-focused versus school-focused sociometrics: A challenge for the applied researcher. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 20, 481-499. doi: 10.1016/S0193-3973(99)00021-0.
