Faculty Bystanders: Capturing University Faculty’s Willingness to Engage in Prosocial Behavior

ABSTRACT

This study explores faculty members’ rape-supportive beliefs and bystander attitudes and behaviors. An online survey was administered to a non-probability, convenience sample of 167 faculty from a university in the US. The results indicate that faculty gender influences bystander behaviors and their age influences rape myth acceptance. Study results found younger faculty and faculty from specific colleges were more likely to engage in bystander intervention programming. Younger bystander intervention program participants were also less likely to endorse rape myths. The findings offer insight regarding specific content to include in faculty-focused bystander intervention programming and suggestions for messaging to ensure that bystander intervention initiatives are impactful to faculty.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual violence
• violence prevention
• faculty
• rape myths
• bystander intervention
• higher education
• prosocial behavior

Acknowledgments

Study funded by the Texas Christian University Research and Creative Activities Fund

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the FundingTCU Research and Creative Activities Fund