Future teachers' beliefs about peer violence: the role of the gender of the perpetrator and the victim and empathy

Nastavnici svojim uvjerenjima o vršnjačkom nasilju mogu doprinijeti smanjenju ili povećanju vršnjačkog nasilja u školi. Pored toga i empatija nastavnika može imati važnu ulogu u reakcijama na vršnjačko nasilje. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati ulogu roda počinitelja i žrtve vršnjačkog nasilja i roda budućih nastavnika u procjenama agresivnosti ponašanja i u procjenama vjerojatnosti intervencije u slučaju vršnjačkog nasilja. Uz to, cilj je bio ispitati ulogu stupnja empatije budućih nastavnika te ulogu procjene stupnja agresivnosti nasilnog ponašanja u predviđanju vjerojatnosti intervencije u slučaju vršnjačkog nasilja. Korištena je kombinacija simulacijskog eksperimentalnog i asocijacijskog nacrta za čije su potrebe konstruirane vinjete s hipotetskim situacijama svjedočenja vršnjačkom nasilju u školi. U istraživanju koje je provedeno online sudjelovalo je 256 studenata (od čega 201 žena) nastavničkih usmjerenja studija. Rezultati složenih analiza varijanci pokazuju da budući nastavnici neovisno o rodu procjenjuju ponašanja u kojima su žrtva i počinitelj ženskog roda agresivnijima u odnosu na ponašanja u kojima su žrtva i počinitelj muškog roda te da studentice procjenjuju vršnjačko nasilje agresivnijim od studenata. Studentice su također procijenile i veću vjerojatnost da bi intervenirale u slučaju vršnjačkog nasilja u odnosu na studente. Rezultati hijerarhijske regresijske analize pokazali su da značajni samostalni doprinos u objašnjenju vjerojatnosti intervencije ima procjena agresivnosti nasilnog ponašanja.Teachers can contribute to the reduction or increase of peer violence in school with their beliefs about peer violence. In addition to teachers’ beliefs, their empathy can play an important role in their reaction to peer violence. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the gender of both perpetrators and victims of peer violence, as well and the gender of future teachers in assessing the aggressiveness of behavior, and in assessing the likelihood of intervention in the case of peer violence. In addition, the aim was to examine the role of the degree of future teachers’ empathy and the role of assessing the degree of aggressiveness of violent behavior in predicting the likelihood of intervention in the case of peer violence. A combination of a simulation experiment and association design was used, for which vignettes were constructed with hypothetical situations of witnessing peer violence at school. The participants in the study, which was conducted online, were 256 students (201 female) of different faculties, specializing in teaching. The results show that future teachers assess behaviors in which the victim and perpetrator are female as being more aggressive than behaviors in which the victim and perpetrator are male, and that female students assess peer violence more aggressively than male students. Female students also estimated a higher probability of intervening in a case of peer violence than male students. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that the assessment of the aggressiveness of violent behavior have a significant role in explaining the probability of intervention