Barriers to Bystander Interventions for Sexual Assault - Department of Psychology Research Session

Bystander intervention programs have consistently demonstrated beneficial effects on community norms and intervention behaviors (Kettrey, Marx, & TannerSmith, 2019). However, much of the research fails to measure opportunities to intervene relative to actual behaviors (McMahon et al., 2015), and how these behaviors relate to a personal history of sexual victimization (Woods et al., 2016). This study aimed to examine the relationship between a bystander’s victimization history, perceived barriers, and bystander intervention. Data from undergraduate students (N = 583; 79.7% female; MAge=18.92) suggested that those with such a history perceive themselves as less able to identify risky situations, but are actually more likely to notice such situations and less likely to intervene. Therefore, it may be necessary to target perceived barriers as well as the disparity between observations and interventions in risky situations