THE INFLUENCE OF CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON BYSTANDER INTERVENTION IN CIVIL COURAGE SITUATIONS

Abstract

ABSTRACT THE INFLUENCE OF CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON BYSTANDER INTERVENTION IN CIVIL COURAGE SITUATIONS bySara Ann Wright The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2025Under the Supervision of Professor Lawson The present study investigated how critical consciousness influences bystander intervention in civil courage situations (i.e., instances of witnessed injustice). It examined the extent to which critical consciousness predicts bystander intervention at the personal, group, and societal levels and across various types of discrimination. The study also explored whether critical consciousness interacts with individuals’ previous experience with discrimination or their social identity alignment with the victim to shape bystander intervention in specific scenarios. Using a cross-sectional design 183 participants aged 18-29 completed the Short Critical Consciousness Scale (Deimer et al., 2022) and rated their likely responses to seven civil courage vignettes using Likert scales measuring bystander intervention at each level. A simple linear regression tested the overall effect of critical consciousness on total bystander intervention. Multivariate general linear models (GLMs) assessed the main effect of critical consciousness on bystander intervention across levels and situations, while univariate GLMs tested interaction effects involving previous experience and social identity alignment. Higher levels of critical consciousness significantly predicted greater bystander intervention, including across all levels and situations. However, significant interaction effects were limited, inconsistent, and lacked clear theoretical interpretation. These findings highlight the importance of fostering critical consciousness as a means to promote bystander intervention and advance societal justice.