Roles of fatalism and parental support in the relationship between bullying victimization and bystander behaviors

This article examines how past bullied victims engage two types of bystander behaviors (defender and outsider) when they witness bullying situations.We also investigate if fatalism mediates the relationship between past victimization and two bystander behaviors. Finally, we test if parental support moderates the relationship between fatalism and two bystander behaviors. Based on 3,441 students from 20 middle schools in Taiwan, results support the mediation hypotheses that the relationships of past victimization with defender and outsider behaviors are mediated through fatalism. Furthermore, the results support the moderation hypotheses that parental support is positively associated with defender behavior even when the level of fatalism is high. Future school bullying prevention research and practice may benefit from understanding how to reduce fatalistic belief and strengthen parental support.