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Attentional Factors Involved in the Effects of Bystander Intoxication in Bystander Intervention

Bystander intervention is an extremely important avenue for sexual violence prevention, but barriers such as alcohol intoxication may prevent a bystander from being able to effectively intervene. As of now, there is minimal research touching on the impact of alcohol on the bystander and even among the studies that do exist, the effect of salient distractions on the attention of intoxicated bystanders has not been studied effectively. This paper serves as a proposal for a future study that will utilize a bystander intervention paradigm that more accurately represents the highly salient environmental cues that exist in party and bar settings. The results of this study may help us better understand how much alcohol's effects on attention and distraction play a role as a barrier to intervention which can help develop more effective bystander intervention programs that incorporate education on alcohol. The proposed paradigm also presents an avenue to study alcohol and bystander intervention more effectively.

Author: 
Laurie Avila
School: 
Carleton College
Department: 
Psychology
Research Advisor: 
Dr. Catharine Fairbairn
Department of Research Advisor: 
Psychology
Year of Publication: 
2022