Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Chivalrous Bystander: The Role Of Gender-Based Beliefs And Empathy On Bystander Behavior And Perceived Barriers To Intervention, Kristen Yule, Jill C. Hoxmeier, Kevin Petranu, John Grych

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Despite substantial evidence demonstrating a relation between gender-based beliefs and violence against women, there has been little research examining whether sexist attitudes are related to prosocial bystander behavior. Understanding psychosocial influences on bystanders’ behavior could inform bystander training programs on college campuses, and so the current study examined the unique and joint effects of three gender-based attitudes (rape myth acceptance, hostile sexism, and benevolent sexism) and empathy in predicting bystander behavior and perceived barriers to intervention in situations that undergraduates (N = 500; 70% female; M_age = 18.86 years) had experienced in the prior year. Benevolent sexism was …