@article{FischerWachsBilz2021, author = {Fischer, Saskia M. and Wachs, Sebastian and Bilz, Ludwig}, title = {Teachers' empathy and likelihood of intervention in hypothetical relational and retrospectively reported bullying situations}, series = {European journal of developmental psychology}, volume = {18}, journal = {European journal of developmental psychology}, number = {6}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {London [u.a.]}, issn = {1740-5629}, doi = {10.1080/17405629.2020.1869538}, pages = {896 -- 911}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Prior research suggests that teachers with higher levels of empathy are more willing to intervene in bullying among students. However, these findings are based on hypothetical bullying situations and teachers' self-reports. In this study with 2,071 German students and their 556 teachers, we analysed reactions to hypothetical relational bullying situations as well as retrospectively reported bullying situations both from the teachers' as well as the students' perspectives. Results showed that teachers with higher levels of empathy reported stronger intentions to intervene in hypothetical relational bullying situations but were not more likely to intervene in retrospectively reported bullying situations. From the students' perspective, teachers' empathy was neither connected to the teachers' intention to intervene nor to the likelihood of intervention in the retrospectively reported situations. These different results could be taken as an opportunity to investigate whether existing findings could be influenced by methodological aspects such as teachers' self-reports. Implications for future research are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{WachsCastellanosWettsteinetal.2023, author = {Wachs, Sebastian and Castellanos, Melisa and Wettstein, Alexander and Bilz, Ludwig and Gamez-Guadix, Manuel}, title = {Associations between classroom climate, empathy, self-efficacy, and countering hate speech among adolescents}, series = {Journal of interpersonal violence : concerned with the study and treatment of victims and perpetrators of physical and sexual violence}, volume = {38}, journal = {Journal of interpersonal violence : concerned with the study and treatment of victims and perpetrators of physical and sexual violence}, number = {5-6}, publisher = {Sage Publ.}, address = {Thousand Oaks}, issn = {1552-6518}, doi = {10.1177/08862605221120905}, pages = {5067 -- 5091}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Although hate speech is widely recognized as an online phenomenon, very few studies have investigated hate speech among adolescents in offline settings (e.g., schools). At the same time, not much is known about countering hate speech (counterspeech) among adolescents and which factors are associated with it. To this end, the present study used the socio-ecological framework to investigate the direct and indirect links among one contextual factor (i.e., classroom climate) and two intrapersonal factors (i.e., empathy for victims of hate speech, self-efficacy regarding intervention in hate speech) to understand counterspeech among adolescents. The sample is based on self-reports of 3,225 students in Grades 7 to 9 (51.7\% self-identified as female) from 36 schools in Germany and Switzerland. Self-report questionnaires were administered to measure classroom climate, empathy, self-efficacy, and counterspeech. After controlling for adolescents' grade, gender, immigrant background, and socioeconomic status (SES), the 2-(1-1)-1 multilevel mediation analysis showed that classroom climate (L2), empathy for victims of hate speech (L1), and self-efficacy toward intervention in hate speech (L1) had a positive effect on countering hate speech (L1). Classroom climate (L2) was also positively linked to empathy for victims of hate speech (L1), and self-efficacy toward intervention in hate speech (L1). Furthermore, classroom climate (L2) was indirectly associated with countering hate speech (L1) via greater empathy (L1) and self-efficacy (L1). The findings highlight the need to focus on contextual and intrapersonal factors when trying to facilitate adolescents' willingness to face hate speech with civic courage and proactively engage against it.}, language = {en} } @article{WrightWachsHarper2018, author = {Wright, Michelle F. and Wachs, Sebastian and Harper, Bridgette D.}, title = {The moderation of empathy in the longitudinal association between witnessing cyberbullying, depression, and anxiety}, series = {Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace}, volume = {12}, journal = {Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace}, number = {4}, publisher = {Masrykova Univ.}, address = {Brno}, issn = {1802-7962}, doi = {10.5817/CP2018-4-6}, pages = {14}, year = {2018}, abstract = {While the role of and consequences of being a bystander to face-to-face bullying has received some attention in the literature, to date, little is known about the effects of being a bystander to cyberbullying. It is also unknown how empathy might impact the negative consequences associated with being a bystander of cyberbullying. The present study focused on examining the longitudinal association between bystander of cyberbullying depression, and anxiety, and the moderating role of empathy in the relationship between bystander of cyberbullying and subsequent depression and anxiety. There were 1,090 adolescents (M-age = 12.19; 50\% female) from the United States included at Time 1, and they completed questionnaires on empathy, cyberbullying roles (bystander, perpetrator, victim), depression, and anxiety. One year later, at Time 2, 1,067 adolescents (M-age = 13.76; 51\% female) completed questionnaires on depression and anxiety. Results revealed a positive association between bystander of cyberbullying and depression and anxiety. Further, empathy moderated the positive relationship between bystander of cyberbullying and depression, but not for anxiety. Implications for intervention and prevention programs are discussed.}, language = {en} } @misc{WrightWachsHarper2018, author = {Wright, Michelle F. and Wachs, Sebastian and Harper, Bridgette D.}, title = {The moderation of empathy in the longitudinal association between witnessing cyberbullying, depression, and anxiety}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {689}, issn = {1866-8364}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-47050}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-470505}, pages = {16}, year = {2018}, abstract = {While the role of and consequences of being a bystander to face-to-face bullying has received some attention in the literature, to date, little is known about the effects of being a bystander to cyberbullying. It is also unknown how empathy might impact the negative consequences associated with being a bystander of cyberbullying. The present study focused on examining the longitudinal association between bystander of cyberbullying depression, and anxiety, and the moderating role of empathy in the relationship between bystander of cyberbullying and subsequent depression and anxiety. There were 1,090 adolescents (M-age = 12.19; 50\% female) from the United States included at Time 1, and they completed questionnaires on empathy, cyberbullying roles (bystander, perpetrator, victim), depression, and anxiety. One year later, at Time 2, 1,067 adolescents (M-age = 13.76; 51\% female) completed questionnaires on depression and anxiety. Results revealed a positive association between bystander of cyberbullying and depression and anxiety. Further, empathy moderated the positive relationship between bystander of cyberbullying and depression, but not for anxiety. Implications for intervention and prevention programs are discussed.}, language = {en} }