Punishing bullies, compensating victims, and rewarding defenders: Third-party behaviors from the perspective of bullying prevention and intervention

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.2069

Abstract

Abstract:

Primary and secondary school students may engage in indirect third-party behaviors to maintain anti-bullying group norms. Using economic game paradigms and hypothetical scenario paradigms, the present study investigated third-party punishment, compensation, and reward with potential bullying-prevention and intervention functions among 1011 primary, junior high, and senior high school students, as well as gender and school-stage differences in these behaviors. The results showed that, in hypothetical bullying contexts, primary and secondary school students were willing to implement third-party punishment toward bullies, third-party compensation toward victims (except for social third-party compensation in dyadic contexts), and third-party reward toward defenders. Compared with bullying contexts without a defender, students in bullying contexts with a defender implemented significantly stronger economic third-party punishment toward bullies. Boys showed significantly higher levels of economic third-party punishment and compensation than girls, and senior high school students showed significantly higher levels of social third-party punishment than junior high school and primary school students. These findings confirm that primary and secondary school students display an intragroup interaction pattern characterized by “punishing bullies, compensating victims, and rewarding defenders” in hypothetical bullying contexts, providing a directional basis for subsequent exploration of non-confrontational anti-bullying behaviors and the development of intervention programs.

Key words: primary and secondary school students, bullying, third-party punishment, third-party compensation, third-party reward

WANG Fan, CHEN Guanghui, CHEN Peikun, ZHI Nuo, CHANG Yuan, XIAN Yemin, ZHANG Wenxin. (2026). Punishing bullies, compensating victims, and rewarding defenders: Third-party behaviors from the perspective of bullying prevention and intervention. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(10), 2069-2081.

Figures/Tables 5

References 52

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