University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation
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LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN FEATURES OF TOXIC MASCULINITY AND BYSTANDER WILLINGNESS TO INTERVENE IN BULLYING AMONG MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS By KATHERINE M. INGRAM A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 © 2019 Katherine M. Ingram To the woman who stopped to ask if I was okay when she passed me as I stood in the hallway looking nervous during my defense of this thesis. And everyone else who is, aspires to be, and/or needs a upstander. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Kathleen, Chris, and Caroline, my cohort and Gainesville pack, all of the mentors who have shaped and inspired me including my committee (Drs. Laurie Mintz and Greg Webster), my mentor-collaborators (including Drs. Jordan Davis, Joey Merrin, and Josh Polanin), Dr. Della Mosley, and my advisor, Dr. Dorothy Espelage: Thank you for all that you are, all that you have contributed to the world, and for seeing, hearing, challenging, and supporting me. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................6 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................7 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................10 Scope of Study ........................................................................................................................10 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................12 Bullying: A Consequential Health and Safety Issue .......................................................12 Bystander Intervention as a Mitigation Strategy .............................................................13 Theoretical Framework: Theory of Precarious Manhood ......................................................15 Features of Toxic Masculinity and Associations with Willingness to Intervene ...................18 The Current Study ...................................................................................................................22 Purpose ............................................................................................................................22 Hypotheses ......................................................................................................................22 2. METHODS .............................................................................................................................24 Participants .............................................................................................................................24 Procedures ...............................................................................................................................25 Measures .................................................................................................................................25 Analytic Plan ..........................................................................................................................28 3. RESULTS ...............................................................................................................................31 Hypothesis 1: Heterogeneity in Willingness to Intervene ......................................................31 Hypothesis 2: Predictors of Emergent Willingness to Intervene Classes ...............................31 Hypothesis 3: Mean Differences in Distal Outcomes .............................................................32 4. DISCUSSION .........................................................................................................................36 Limitations ..............................................................................................................................40 Applied Implications ..............................................................................................................41 Future Directions and Conclusions .........................................................................................43 LIST OF REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................45 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................53 5 LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1 Sample Demographics .......................................................................................................24 3-1 Model Fit Indicies for Growth Mixture Model ..................................................................33 3-2 Multinomial Logistic regression model for features of toxic masculinity during early middle school predicting WTI class membership ..............................................................34 3-3 Mean (SE) differences and distal outcomes for features of toxic masculinity ..................34 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 3-1 Growth mixture classes for willingness to intervene during middle school. .....................35 7 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN FEATURES OF TOXIC MASCULINITY AND BYSTANDER WILLINGNESS TO INTERVENE IN BULLYING AMONG MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS By Katherine Ingram August 2019 Chair: Dorothy Espelage Major: Psychology Bystander intervention (i.e., a third party decides to defend the victim when witnessing a conflict) has been identified as an effective strategy to resolve bullying incidents (O’Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999). Researchers suggest that student willingness to intervene (WTI) is a robust predictor of bystander intervention. Toxic masculinity has been defined as, “the constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence,” (Kupers, 2005, p. 71). Though some aspects of toxic masculinity (e.g., low empathy) have received some empirical attention regarding their role in determining prosocial behavior, many have not. Little research has examined how constructs such as attitudes surrounding bullying and sexual harassment, social dominance orientation, and homophobic bullying are related to longitudinal changes in WTI across adolescence. The present study uses growth mixture modeling (GMM) to examine the heterogeneity of WTI among middle school boys in the Midwest (N = 805), and multinomial logistic regression to understand concurrent and distal associations with features of toxic masculinity. Students were classified into three profiles of WTI over time: a “stable high” class (70.9%), a “decreasing” class (22%), and a “stable low” class (7.1%). When compared with the “stable high” class, students with 8 higher levels of dominance and pro-bullying attitudes were associated with an increased odds of been in the “decreasing” class. Youth who reported higher pro-bullying attitudes and homophobic name calling perpetration had increased odds of being in the stable low class compared to the stable high class. Additionally, both homophobic name calling victimization and empathy were associated with a lower odds of being in the stable low class. The findings support the theoretical framework which posits that aspects of masculinity are associated with WTI or bystander intervention (Carlson, 2008; Leone, Parrott, Swartout, & Tharp, 2016). Nuances and implications are discussed. 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Scope of Study Bystander intervention, when employed, has been found to be a highly effective strategy to diffuse bullying conflicts (O’Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999). In this context, bystander intervention will be used to refer to the ways students intervene in bullying conflicts pro-socially (i.e., to help the victim), as opposed to bystanding roles that involve assisting the bully or failing to take any action (Salmivalli, 1999). Forms of prosocial bystanding often include defending the victim, challenging the bully, or telling others (e.g., an adult or other students) about the incident (O’Connell et al., 1999; Salmivalli, 1999). Accordingly, Latané and Darley (1970) identify “failure to take intervention responsibility” as a barrier to executing active bystander intervention. Also conceptualized as “willingness to intervene,” this construct has been studied specifically as it represents a useful point of intervention toward prosocial behavior change (see meta-analysis by Polanin, Espelage, & Pigott, 2012). Arguably, before other barriers can be addressed (e.g., training on risk assessment, intervention efficacy or skills) individuals must be willing to take action (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2014). Willingness to intervene (WTI) is a construct that has been examined in the context of bystander intervention in instances of bullying (i.e., aggression often between youth characterized by intent to harm, repetition, and a power imbalance between perpetrator and victim; Olweus, 1993) and related forms of aggression such as sexual violence