["Psychology in the Schools, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nPassive 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."]