Behavioral modeling: inspiring college students to intervene in instances of sexual assault

ABSTRACT

Sexual assault is a troubling issue across universities in the United States. Bystanders who witness sexual assault can play a powerful role in preventing or reducing sexual assault; however, they often do not intervene when they still have the chance. The current study uses an experimental design to study the effect of prosocial bystander modeling on college students’ intention to intervene in future witnessed instances of sexual assault. Results indicate that perceived behavioral control is more influential on intention to intervene when participants are exposed to the prosocial bystander message. This result suggests that vicarious learning may increase individuals’ perceived ability to intervene. Our findings have practical implications for improving sexual assault prevention training on college campuses.

KEYWORDS:

• Prosocial bystander intervention
• vicarious learning
• perceived behavioral control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These relationships were consistent with or without the covariates.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emily A. Andrews

Emily Andrews is a graduate student at the University at Buffalo with an educational background in psychology and communication. Her research focuses on topics such as health communication, message effects, and promotion of prosocial behavior. 

Janet Z. Yang

Dr. Janet Z. Yang's research examines cognitive and effective determinants of risk perception and its impact on information seeking, information sharing, and information processing. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, among others.