A Envisage-Based Investigation of the Influence of Bullying Severity and Type on Social Media Sharing Willingness Toward Left-Behind Children

This study examines how social news containing information regarding bullying severity and bullying type involving left-behind children influence bystander willingness to share such news on social media. We designed a manipulation online experiment (severity: mild vs. severe;type: physical, relational, cyber, status bullying). The results showed that severity had a significant positive impact on sharing willingness: across all bullying types, participants were more willing to share when the event was described as severe than when it was described as mild. Small overall differences in sharing willingness also existed between different bullying types, with status bullying and cyberbullying being more likely to elicit sharing willingness than relational bullying. The interaction between severity and type was not significant. These findings suggest that sensed severity is an important cue influencing sharing willingness, while type-related cues have a smaller and more stable impact on differences independent of severity. This study provides experimental evidence in bullying news contexts involving vulnerable groups, enriching previous research on social media news sharing. It offers practical implications for risk-sensitive platform management and early reporting guidance.