The cognition of bullying victims’ culpability refers to the cognition that victims are also responsible for the bullying. The judgment of culpability is influenced by whether participants have experienced bullying victimization or perpetration. This cognition is considered one of the critical factors hindering the resolution of bullying. Blaming attitude toward bullying victims underlies the cognition of bullying victims’ culpability (Fukui & Koyama, 2015), and there is a significant strong positive correlation between them (Hori et al., 2022a). Therefore, to examine factors moderating their association is vital to resolve bullying. Hori et al. (2022b) reported the moderating effects of objective empathy in the relationship between them. However, these effects might differ depending on whether it is directed toward the victim or the perpetrator. Therefore, in this study, we explored the moderating effects of experiences of bullying victimization and perpetration and empathy for victims in the effect of blaming attitude toward victims on the cognition of bullying victims’ culpability. An online survey was conducted with adults (N =300) from the general population. The data partly overlapped with a series of our previous studies (e.g., Hori et al., 2022a-c). Results showed that the positive effect of victim blaming attitude on the perceived rate of bullying victim’s responsibility was somewhat stronger for participants with low empathy for victims than for those with high empathy. Moreover, the effect was observed only for perpetrators. These results suggest that those who have experienced bullying perpetration with low empathy for victims tend to overestimate the victim’s responsibility.

Authors:
Takashi Hori, Konan University, Japan
Yoshikazu Fukui, Konan University, Japan
Satoko Koyama, Saku Mental Clinic, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Mr Takashi Hori is a University Postgraduate Student at Konan University in Japan

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