Presentations
Location
Schewel 232
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Entry Number
136
Start Date
4-4-2018 3:45 PM
Department
Psychology
Abstract
In today’s society, it is important for individuals to understand how aspects of a person, such as gender identity, shape the perceptions of other people. The way that others perceive someone can affect their willingness to help a person in need or activate emotions such as empathy. Perceptions and empathetic expression can be activated during various interactions and different kinds of situations. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to examine the role of gender identity on empathetic responses related to intervening or helping a victim of cyberbullying. Participants were college students. Participants were instructed to read a vignette involving a case about cyberbullying. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the target of cyberbullying would be a male, female, or transgender individual. After participants read the vignette, they would complete two sets of questions measuring empathy and helping behavior. We hypothesized that female and transgender victims will receive more empathetic responses and helping behaviors than male cyberbullying victims. While it is important to be aware of the situation, it is equally important to understand the psychological reasons as to why individuals choose or choose not to respond emotionally or engage in altruistic behaviors while witnessing cyberbullying acts.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Marciano
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The Cyber Effect: A Study of the Relationship between the Victim’s Gender Identity and Empathetic Expressions towards Cyberbullying
Schewel 232
In today’s society, it is important for individuals to understand how aspects of a person, such as gender identity, shape the perceptions of other people. The way that others perceive someone can affect their willingness to help a person in need or activate emotions such as empathy. Perceptions and empathetic expression can be activated during various interactions and different kinds of situations. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to examine the role of gender identity on empathetic responses related to intervening or helping a victim of cyberbullying. Participants were college students. Participants were instructed to read a vignette involving a case about cyberbullying. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the target of cyberbullying would be a male, female, or transgender individual. After participants read the vignette, they would complete two sets of questions measuring empathy and helping behavior. We hypothesized that female and transgender victims will receive more empathetic responses and helping behaviors than male cyberbullying victims. While it is important to be aware of the situation, it is equally important to understand the psychological reasons as to why individuals choose or choose not to respond emotionally or engage in altruistic behaviors while witnessing cyberbullying acts.