Empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents: the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy

INTRODUCTION: Cyberbullying poses a significant challenge among adolescents. If bystanders stand up and help victims, their helping behavior may be able to reduce the frequency and negative impact of cyberbullying. This study investigates the association of empathy, internet moral judgment, and internet self-efficacy with bystander helping behavior among adolescents, building upon the empathy-altruism hypothesis, bystander intervention model, and dual-process model of morality. METHODS: A sample of 919 Chinese adolescents from 3 schools in Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces completed the Basic Empathy Scale, Internet Moral Judgment Questionnaire, Internet Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and Styles of Bystander Intervention Scale. And we constructed a moderated mediation model to examine the relationship between empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying and assessed the mediating role of internet moral judgment and the moderating role of internet self-efficacy. RESULTS: Our findings revealed a significant positive correlation between empathy and bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying. Internet moral judgment mediated the relationship between empathy and helping behavior, whereas internet self-efficacy moderated the latter half of the mediation pathway. Specifically, the association between internet moral judgment and helping behavior was stronger for bystanders with higher levels of internet self-efficacy compared with those that have lower levels. DISCUSSION: These results further deepen our understanding of the mechanisms involved in bystander helping behavior in cyberbullying, thus providing a basis for future interventions to encourage more helping actions from bystanders during cyberbullying incidents.