Source avec lien : International Journal of Bullying Prevention, (En ligne). 10.1007/s42380-022-00128-8
La présente recherche a utilisé un nouveau paradigme de réalité virtuelle, le Cyberball-VR, pour examiner les processus émotionnels qui sous-tendent la manière dont la défense se produit en temps réel. Le Cyberball-VR est une adaptation du paradigme du Cyberball dans lequel les participants ont la possibilité de s’engager dans un comportement de défense après avoir été témoins d’une exclusion sociale dans le laboratoire.
Witnessing peer victimization is an emotionally salient event, particularly for youth. Given that emotions influence how youth respond to social situations, the emotional experiences of bystanders may influence how they respond to peer victimization. In particular, different defending behaviors may be motivated by different emotional processes among bystanders. The current research used a novel virtual-reality paradigm, Cyberball-VR, to examine the emotional processes underlying how defending occurs in real-time. Cyberball-VR is an adaptation of the Cyberball paradigm in which participants have the opportunity to engage in defending behavior after witnessing social exclusion in the lab. Participants (N = 120) consisted of youth ages 11–14 (49% female). Self-reported data (empathic concern, personal distress, vicarious emotions) and qualitative data (noticing the exclusion and defending during Cyberball-VR) were collected. Witnessing social exclusion in Cyberball-VR elicited changes in vicarious emotions. Noticing the exclusion significantly predicted enacted defending behaviors (comforting and solution-focused), as well as increased vicarious anger. Additionally, empathy (empathic concern and personal distress) and anger interacted to predict different defending behaviors. Results indicated that how youth feel in the moment, as well as their individual tendency to respond to these emotions, influences their subsequent defending behaviors. Potential applications for Cyberball-VR and how it can be used for studying peer defending behaviors are discussed.