Bystanders' roles in workplace bullying: Impacts and interventions

Interpersonal harm remains a pervasive challenge in both higher education and corporate life. Across contexts, individuals must interpret ambiguous social cues, regulate emotional reactions, and decide whether, how, and when to intervene as bystanders of these adversities. Institutions, in turn, structure the opportunities and constraints that shape these judgments. This editorial introduces a Research Topic that collectively enriches contemporary scholarship by illustrating how psychological processes and institutional systems jointly influence responses to interpersonal harm, and by demonstrating that these responses cannot be understood through individual psychology alone. Rather than treating the studies as isolated empirical contributions, we synthesize overarching themes that emerge across them: observers do not evaluate harmful acts neutrally, judgments are filtered through personal resources, value systems, and gendered ideologies; empathy, often understood as the foundation of moral responding, is contextually fragile and can be down-regulated to avoid distress or social cost; and institutional design, leadership, and culture shape whether bystanders feel able to act. We close by considering how AI-enabled systems—including automated detection algorithms, behavioral risk assessment tools, and immersive simulation-based training—can complement human discretion, mitigate documented psychological barriers, and establish clearer intervention protocols. Together, the contributions map the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural forces that govern human behavior in the presence of harm, and point toward AI-augmented frameworks for safer, healthier workplaces.