Preventing School Shootings: The Relationship between Bystanders’ Attitudes and Their Willingness to Report Threats

Abstract

This study sought to assess the role of moral obligation in bystanders’ willingness to report threats of school shooting violence. Participants completed a survey depicting several school shooter threat scenarios and threat statements and rated their willingness to report the threat to a peer and to an authority figure on the bases of moral obligation, social norms and moral foundations. Ultimately, the results showed support for the claim that feelings of moral obligation can predict whether someone will report a threat to an authority figure, whereas social norms predict whether someone will report to a peer. Additionally, how much participants valued the ingroup and loyalty was correlated with reporting to an authority figure, whereas value of fairness and reciprocity was correlated with reporting to a peer.