Adolescents’ evaluations of discriminatory race‐based humor and their expectations about peer responses to discrimination were investigated in 8th‐ (M age = 13.80) and 10th‐grade (M age = 16.11) primarily European‐American participants (N = 256). Older adolescents judged race‐based humor as more acceptable than did younger adolescents and were less likely to expect peer intervention. Participants who rejected discrimination were more likely to reference welfare/rights and prejudice and to anticipate that peers would intervene. Showing awareness of group processes, adolescents who rejected race‐based humor believed that peers who intervened would be more likely to be excluded. They also disapproved of exclusion more than did participants who supported race‐based humor. Results expose the complexity of situations involving subtle discrimination. Implications for bullying interventions are discussed.

A developmental intergroup approach was taken to examine the development of prosocial bystander intentions among children and adolescents. Participants as bystanders (N =260) aged 8-10 and 13-15 years were presented with scenarios of direct aggression between individuals from different social groups (i.e., intergroup verbal aggression). These situations involved either an ingroup aggressor and an outgroup victim or an outgroup aggressor and an ingroup victim. The present study focussed on the role of intergroup factors (group membership, ingroup identification, group norms and social-moral reasoning) in the development of prosocial bystander intentions. Findings showed that prosocial bystander intentions declined with age. This effect was partially mediated by the ingroup norm to intervene and perceived severity of the verbal aggression. However, a moderated mediation analysis showed that, only when the victim was an ingroup member and the aggressor an outgroup member, did participants become more likely with age to report prosocial bystander intentions due to increased ingroup identification. Results also showed that younger children focussed on moral concerns and adolescents focussed more on psychological concerns when reasoning about their bystander intention. These novel findings help explain the developmental decline in prosocial bystander intentions from middle childhood into adolescence when observing direct intergroup aggression.

Research on bystanders' responses to bullying shows the valuable contribution that prosocial or defender behaviors can have in reducing bullying in schools. In this article, we propose that a developmental intergroup approach (i.e., a developing understanding of social identities and related intergroup processes) is required to understand fully when and why children and adolescents help bullied peers in diverse contexts. First, we review theory and evidence on intergroup social exclusion to demonstrate the strength of a developmental intergroup approach when understanding responses to complex social scenarios in childhood and adolescence. Then, we review recent evidence that demonstrates the importance of examining group membership, group identity, and group norms to understand children's and adolescents' responses as bystanders in the context of bias‐based bullying. Finally, we consider implications for school‐based interventions and next steps for research.

Research with adults has demonstrated a “black sheep effect” (BSE) whereby, relative to evaluations of normative group members, ingroup deviants are derogated more than outgroup deviants. The developmental subjective group dynamics (DSGD) model holds that the BSE should develop during middle childhood when children apply wider social norms. Three hundred and thirty-eight children who were between 5 and 12 years old judged a normative (socially desirable) and a deviant (socially undesirable) member from an ingroup or an outgroup school. Results confirmed a developmental increase in the BSE, the first time this has been demonstrated. Children’s own evaluations of group members were mediated by their expectations about ingroup peers’ evaluations. In line with DSGD and social domain theories, with age, children’s explanations of peer evaluations for ingroup deviance focused relatively more on loyalty. Practical and theoretical implications for peer inclusion and exclusion are discussed.

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The period following UK's European Union referendum in 2016 foreshadows significant social and political change in the UK. The current research draws on social psychological theories to empirically examine the drivers of voting decisions during the referendum. We report the results of a prospective study using structural equation modelling with data (N = 244) collected just before, and self‐reported voting behaviour immediately following (N = 197), the European Union referendum. We employ a person and social approach to examine the additive roles of worldview, conservatism, social identity, and intergroup threat as predictors of voting intentions and behaviour. Results showed that person factors (worldview and conservatism) predicted voting intentions through social factors (European identity and realistic threat) and that intentions predicted behaviour. The results highlight the importance of addressing threat‐based intergroup rhetoric and the potential of common in‐group identity to mitigate psychological threat.

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Twelve to 15-year-olds (N = 1,100) from majority and minority ethnic backgrounds, living in an ethnically diverse area in the UK, read a hypothetical scenario about verbal racism in school and indicated their bystander responses (prosocial, aggressive, and passive).Findings showed that age, ethnicity, cross-group friendships, and ethnic socialisation predicted their bystander responses. KEYWORDS adolescence, bias-based bullying, bystander, cross-group friendship, development, ethnic socialisation, minority and majority status, racism