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The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China. / Cheng, Wanhao; Philpot, Richard; Levine, Mark.
In: Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 35, No. 4, e70139, 31.07.2025.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Cheng, W, Philpot, R & Levine, M 2025, 'The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China', Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, vol. 35, no. 4, e70139. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.70139

APA

Cheng, W., Philpot, R., & Levine, M. (2025). The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 35(4), Article e70139. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.70139

Vancouver

Cheng W, Philpot R, Levine M. The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. 2025 Jul 31;35(4):e70139. Epub 2025 Jun 25. doi: 10.1002/casp.70139

Author

Cheng, Wanhao ; Philpot, Richard ; Levine, Mark. / The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China. In: Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. 2025 ; Vol. 35, No. 4.

Bibtex

@article{935173b236e642b48f4be3368c963d9e,
title = "The Death of {\textquoteleft}Little Yue Yue{\textquoteright}—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China",
abstract = "We know very little about how bystander behaviour is portrayed in the media outside the West. Here, we analyse 379 articles in Chinese media (identified through a systematic search of Chinese databases Baidu, Weibo, CNKI and Zhihu between 2011 and 2021) on the case of {\textquoteleft}Little Yue Yue{\textquoteright}—a Chinese toddler killed in a hit-and-run accident. We coded for the presence of concepts from Western bystander theories (Five-Step model, Arousal: Cost-Reward model, Social Identity), laws, government, trust and technology-use. A multiple correspondence analysis showed how these different bystander concepts clustered together in three overarching factors. Our paper reveals the way Western social psychological concepts can structure the popular understanding of an iconic bystander event in the Chinese context. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.",
author = "Wanhao Cheng and Richard Philpot and Mark Levine",
year = "2025",
month = jul,
day = "31",
doi = "10.1002/casp.70139",
language = "English",
volume = "35",
journal = "Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Death of ‘Little Yue Yue’—An Analysis of Public Commentaries on an Iconic Case of Bystander Apathy in China

AU - Cheng, Wanhao

AU - Philpot, Richard

AU - Levine, Mark

PY - 2025/7/31

Y1 - 2025/7/31

N2 - We know very little about how bystander behaviour is portrayed in the media outside the West. Here, we analyse 379 articles in Chinese media (identified through a systematic search of Chinese databases Baidu, Weibo, CNKI and Zhihu between 2011 and 2021) on the case of ‘Little Yue Yue’—a Chinese toddler killed in a hit-and-run accident. We coded for the presence of concepts from Western bystander theories (Five-Step model, Arousal: Cost-Reward model, Social Identity), laws, government, trust and technology-use. A multiple correspondence analysis showed how these different bystander concepts clustered together in three overarching factors. Our paper reveals the way Western social psychological concepts can structure the popular understanding of an iconic bystander event in the Chinese context. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

AB - We know very little about how bystander behaviour is portrayed in the media outside the West. Here, we analyse 379 articles in Chinese media (identified through a systematic search of Chinese databases Baidu, Weibo, CNKI and Zhihu between 2011 and 2021) on the case of ‘Little Yue Yue’—a Chinese toddler killed in a hit-and-run accident. We coded for the presence of concepts from Western bystander theories (Five-Step model, Arousal: Cost-Reward model, Social Identity), laws, government, trust and technology-use. A multiple correspondence analysis showed how these different bystander concepts clustered together in three overarching factors. Our paper reveals the way Western social psychological concepts can structure the popular understanding of an iconic bystander event in the Chinese context. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

U2 - 10.1002/casp.70139

DO - 10.1002/casp.70139

M3 - Journal article

VL - 35

JO - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

JF - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

IS - 4

M1 - e70139

ER -