ABSTRACT
Passive bystanding and active defending are distinct responses to school bullying, yet the role of student recognition in driving these behaviors remains unclear. This study employed a three-wave longitudinal research design with a sample of 314 students to disentangle stable between-person effects from dynamic within-person effects through a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM). The results revealed a significant divergence in how recognition is associated with the two bystander behaviors. At the within-person level, recognition significantly and positively predicted subsequent active defending; however, recognition did not significantly reduce passive bystanding at this level. At the between-person level, students who generally experienced higher levels of recognition across the year reported significantly lower levels of passive bystanding, whereas the link to defending was not significant.