Peer Victimization and Empathy for Victims of Bullying: A Test of Bidirectional Associations in Childhood and Adolescence

Abstract

<p>Anti-bullying interventions often assume that knowing how it feels to be bullied increases empathy for victims. However, longitudinal research on <em>actual</em> experiences of bullying and empathy is lacking. This study investigated whether within-person changes in victimization predicted changes in empathy over one year using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs). Self- and peer-reported victimization, and cognitive and affective empathy for victims were measured in a sample of 15,713 Finnish youth (<em>M</em>_age= 13.23, SD_age= 2.01, 51.6% female; 92.5% had Finnish-speaking parents; data was collected in 2007-2009 when information about participants’ race/ethnicity was not available due to ethical guidelines for the protection of personal information). Results indicated small, positive longitudinal associations from victimization to cognitive empathy. Implications for empathy-raising interventions are discussed.</p>