Defender self-efficacy and defender behaviour in school bullying of primary school pupils: The role of perceived responsibility and sex

This study examined the relationship between bullying defender self-efficacy and bullying defender behaviour in primary school pupils and the role perceived responsibility and sex played in this relationship. Participants included 1 310 pupils from Chinese primary schools attending Grades 4 to 6 (boys = 47.7%, girls = 52.3%; mean age = 10.97 years, SD = 0.98 years, age range = 8 to 14 years). Participants completed the Defender Self-Efficacy Scale, the Perceived Responsibility Scale, and the Participant Role Behaviour Scale, respectively. Following structural equation modelling, the results indicated that bullying defender self-efficacy directly predicted bullying defender behaviour in the school pupils. Perceived responsibility strengthened the association between bullying defender self-efficacy and bullying defender behaviour partly in boys, while the association between bullying defender self-efficacy and bullying defender behaviour was higher in girls rather than boys. These findings show that prosocial behaviour of primary school children from a collectivist culture is influenced by gender, so that gender is an important factor to consider when designing anti-bullying interventions for improved school citizenship.