In Some Way, it Will Make a Difference:

Bystander Interventions in Instances of Race-Based Bullying

Kimberly
1College

1
Charlton , Ashley

of Social

Background
Bullying is a growing epidemic
(Buhs & Ladd, 2001).
Really OK
Bullying is often motivated by dierences in
group membership, such as bias or prejudice
towards other ethnic groups
(Killen, Mulvey, & HiKi, 2012).
Research has documented the powerful
inuence bystanders can have in stopping
Really Not
OK
bullying (Salmivalli et al., 2011).
However, no research has examined the role of
bystanders in subtle bullying, such as telling
race-based jokes.

2
Nunnally ,

2
Work, Department

Dr. Kelly Lynn

of Mathematics,

3College

Acceptability of the Race-Based Joke

By Age-Group

Acceptability

Measures

2.35
1.61

2.06

Acceptability of the Acceptability of the

Joke
Joke
Victim Absent

Victim Present

Likelihood of Interven0on By Age-Group

Likelihood of Interven0on

Really Not
Likely

**

5
3.81

4.25 4.18
3.39

3
2
1
Likelihood of
IntervenFon

Likelihood of
IntervenFon

VicFm Absent

VicFm Present

Likelihood of Types of Responses By Age-Group

Really Likely

Likelihood of Interven0on

8th and 10th graders

(N = 256)
2 versions:
* African-American target
* Latino target
Individually administer electronic survey

8th

The current study explores adolescents

Really Likely
evaluations of race-based joke-telling and
consequent bystander behavior.
The survey examines participants' evaluations
of the joke-telling act and expectations regarding
bystander responses.

4th
3.12

3
1

Research Aim

Method

**

***

**

Acceptability of a race-based joke: How okay or

3
not okay is X for making this joke? How much?
(1 = Really Not Okay to 6 = Really Okay)
2
Likelihood of Peer Intervention : X doesnt
Really 1
think you should tell race-based jokes. How
Not Likely
likely or not like do you think X is to do
something about what she thinks? (1 = Really Not
Likely to 6 = Really Likely)
Types of Intervention: How likely is X to
laugh, walk away, get adult help, etc? (1=Really
Not Likely to 6 = Really Likely)

2.95
2.86

Laugh

3.43
2.94

4.09
3.79

4.27

3.36

***
3.77
3.06

**
2.44
1.96

Generally, 8th graders were less likely to accept

race-based jokes and more likely to expect their
peers would intervene if they heard someone
telling such a joke than were 10th graders.
Moreover, participants rated race-based jokes as
less acceptable when the outgroup target was
present than when the target was not present.
Additionally, they were more likely to expect
their peers to intervene if a victim was present.
Finally, participants varied by age group in what
responses they expected their peers to have to
the race-based joke.

Discussion

High-school adolescents are more likely to

condone race-based joke telling than are middle
school adolescents, which suggests more focus
8th
should be placed on high school when
developing bullying preventions.
10th
Both groups of adolescents did recognize that
telling jokes when the target of the joke is
present is particularly harmful, however.
They also noted the importance of intervening in
these instances when a victim is present.
It may be especially important to talk with
adolescents about how to intervene when they
hear race-based jokes, though: they were much
more likely to engage with the bully than seek
8th
help from an adult, which could redirect the
10th
**
aggression towards them.
3.27

2.75

Walk Stay with Tell group Talk to Get adult Get

away
group not to
joker
help
friend
joke
help

Note: * p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .

001

of Education

Results

3
Mulvey

References

Buhs, E. S., & Ladd, G. W. (2001). Peer rejection as antecedent of

young children's school adjustment: An examination of mediating
processes. Developmental Psychology, 37, 550-560.
Killen, M., Mulvey, K. L., & HiKi, A. (2012). Social exclusion: A
developmental intergroup perspective. Child Development. doi:
10.1111/cdev.12012
Salmivalli, C., Voeten, M., & Poskiparta, E. (2011). Bystanders maKer:
Associations between reinforcing, defending, and the frequency of
bullying behavior in classrooms. Journal of Clinical Child and
Adolescent Psychology, 40, 668-676. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2011.597090