# Examining the Relationship Between State Anxiety, Anxiety Sensitivity, and Peer Defending Using Virtual Reality

## TL;DR

This study explores how anxiety and sensitivity to anxiety affect whether people defend peers from bullying in a virtual reality setting.

## Contribution

The study reveals how anxiety sensitivity moderates the relationship between state anxiety and peer defending behaviors in bullying scenarios.

## Key findings

- Bullying victimization was not directly linked to state anxiety.
- High anxiety sensitivity led to lower defending rates when state anxiety increased.
- Low anxiety sensitivity was associated with higher defending rates when state anxiety increased.

## Abstract

Bullying—a form of deliberate aggressive behaviour where one peer causes harm to another in the context of a power imbalance—is among the top threats facing youth. Witnessing bullying can evoke many feelings, including anxiety, especially for individuals who have been victimized of bullying in the past. Anxiety can shape how individuals navigate social situations, including if and how bystanders intervene in bullying situations. The current study examined how previous bullying victimization, state anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity interact to influence defending behaviours while witnessing social exclusion in a virtual reality (VR) environment. Data were collected from 40 undergraduate participants who completed self-report measures and an in-lab VR task where they had the opportunity to defend against social exclusion. Although bullying victimization was unrelated to state anxiety, results of a moderated mediation model indicated that trait anxiety sensitivity moderated the link between state anxiety and peer defending. For those with low anxiety sensitivity, increased state anxiety after witnessing social exclusion predicted higher rates of defending. However, for individuals with high anxiety sensitivity, the opposite pattern was found, such that state anxiety predicted lower rates of defending. Given these findings, bullying prevention programmes should consider incorporating strategies to address anxiety sensitivity to promote peer defending.