Moral Engagement and Disengagement in Health Care AI Development

BACKGROUND

Machine learning (ML) is utilized increasingly in health care, and can pose harms to patients, clinicians, health systems, and the public. In response, regulators have proposed an approach that would shift more responsibility to ML developers for mitigating potential harms. To be effective, this approach requires ML developers to recognize, accept, and act on responsibility for mitigating harms. However, little is known regarding the perspectives of developers themselves regarding their obligations to mitigate harms.

METHODS

We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with developers of ML predictive analytics applications for health care in the United States.

RESULTS

Participants varied widely in their perspectives on personal responsibility and included examples of both moral engagement and disengagement, albeit in a variety of forms. While most (70%) of participants made a statement indicative of moral engagement, most of these statements reflected an awareness of moral issues, while only a subset of these included additional elements of engagement such as recognizing responsibility, alignment with personal values, addressing conflicts of interests, and opportunities for action. Further, we identified eight distinct categories of moral disengagement reflecting efforts to minimize potential harms or deflect personal responsibility for preventing or mitigating harms.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest possible facilitators and barriers to the development of ethical ML that could act by encouraging moral engagement or discouraging moral disengagement. Regulatory approaches that depend on the ability of ML developers to recognize, accept, and act on responsibility for mitigating harms might have limited success without education and guidance for ML developers about the extent of their responsibilities and how to implement them.

Morality- and Norm-Based Subgroups of Disability-Sport Athletes Differ on Their Anticipated Guilt and Intentions Toward Doping

The purpose of this study was to examine whether subgroups of disability-sport athletes exist on morality- and norm-based doping cognitions and whether these groups differ in anticipated guilt or doping intentions. A survey was completed by 186 athletes (Mage = 37.5 years, 78.0% male, 45.1% wheelchair basketball) assessing norms, doping moral disengagement, anticipated guilt, and intentions to dope. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct subgroups of athletes, including one potentially high-risk subgroup characterized by relatively high scores on doping moral disengagement, subjective norms, and descriptive norms. One-way analysis of variance revealed significantly lower anticipated guilt in two athlete subgroups characterized by relatively higher doping moral disengagement than the other two subgroups. Moreover, the potentially high-risk group had a greater proportion of athletes showing some presence of intention to dope. This study suggests there is a small subgroup of disability-sport athletes at elevated risk of doping who might benefit from targeted antidoping interventions.

Common Mechanisms Underlying the Effect of Angry Rumination on Reactive and Proactive Aggression: A Moderated Mediation Model

The different influencing factors and mechanisms of the two basic kinds of aggression (i.e., reactive and proactive aggression) are salient. However, they also have common influencing factors and mechanisms, which are ignored to some extent. In addition, discovering the common mechanisms is conducive to further revealing the nature and law of aggression. To address these issues, this study tested a relational model incorporating angry rumination, moral disengagement, harm aversion, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression from the perspective of aggressive motivation. A total of 1,186 undergraduate students from eight universities were recruited. The results showed that angry rumination was significantly associated with reactive and proactive aggression. Importantly, moral disengagement acted as a common mediator, and harm aversion acted as a common moderator in the effect of angry rumination on reactive and proactive aggression. Specifically, the enhancement effects of low levels of harm aversion on these relationships are due to that it could promote the effects of angry rumination on the common mediator of moral disengagement. An aggressive motivation perspective was developed to comprehensively explain the common mediating and moderating effects. The present study contributes to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of reactive and proactive aggression and how aggressive motivations shape the model of aggressive behavior. These findings support and extend current aggression theories, especially aggression motivation theories. This study could provide insights for targeted aggression prevention interventions.

Cumulative ecological risk and cyberbullying among college students: a chain mediation model

Introduction

Cyberbullying among college students has been receiving increased research attention. Previous studies have focused primarily on the impact of a single risk factor on cyberbullying among college students. However, individual behavior is influenced by multiple ecosystems simultaneously, including family, school, and peers. To explore the effects of a single risk factor alone is not in line with the reality of everyday life, and the effect of the single risk factor can often be overestimated. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the impact of multiple risk factors, namely cumulative ecological risk, on cyberbullying, while analyzing the mediating roles of belief in a just world and moral disengagement.

Methods

A survey was conducted among 805 college students from two universities in Hebei Province, China, using the cumulative ecological risk questionnaire, the cyberbullying scale, the belief in a just world scale, and the moral disengagement scale.

Results

The results showed that: (a) Cumulative ecological risk was positively correlated with moral disengagement and cyberbullying, and negatively correlated with belief in a just world. Belief in a just world was negatively correlated with moral disengagement and cyberbullying. Moral disengagement was positively correlated with cyberbullying; (b) Belief in a just world partially mediated the relationship between cumulative ecological risk and cyberbullying; (c) Moral disengagement partially mediated the relationship between cumulative ecological risk and cyberbullying; (d) Belief in a just world and moral disengagement played a chain mediating role between cumulative ecological risk and college students' cyberbullying.

Discussion

This study provides valuable insight for the reduction of cyberbullying behavior among college students, and offers suggestions on how to create a more favorable online environment.

A serial cascade effect of cybervictimization and hostile rumination on the within-person change of moral disengagement

OBJECTIVE

There is a lack of clarity regarding the developmental mechanisms underlying moral disengagement (a typical moral personality) at the within-person level. To address this issue, we explore the serial cascade effect of cybervictimization and hostile rumination.

METHOD

The longitudinal relationships between cybervictimization, hostile rumination, and moral disengagement were explored among 1146 undergraduates, assessed four times (T1-T4) across 2 years.

RESULTS

The random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) analysis revealed that the random intercepts of all variables were positively associated with each other. At the within-person level, cybervictimization at T2 indirectly predicted subsequent changes in moral disengagement at T4 through changes in hostile rumination at T3 (the indirect effect was 0.02); furthermore, moral disengagement at T3 predicted changes in hostile rumination at T4 (β = 0.091).

CONCLUSIONS

The within-person dynamics of moral disengagement should be partly due to the serial effect of cybervictimization and hostile rumination, whereas hostile rumination and moral disengagement may form a developmental cascade to some degree. These findings and the proposed serial cascade model of moral disengagement could expand our understanding of the developmental mechanism of moral personality. Additionally, caution must be exercised as this study exhibits seemingly small effect sizes and inconsistent results.

Nonconsensual Sexting: Are the Moral Processes the Same If Boys or Girls Appear in the Forwarded Content?

Sexting is a form of intimate communication available in today's digital society consisting of exchanging erotic-sexual content online. However, doing it without the consent of the person appearing in the content is becoming a normalized form of cyberviolence among adolescents. To advance our understanding of this phenomenon, further research is needed on its facilitating factors, which may include those related to its potential moral dimension and online disinhibition. This study aims to analyze, according to gender and age, the relationship between nonconsensual forwarding of erotic-sexual content, differentiating between the type of content and the gender of the person appearing in it, moral disengagement, and toxic online disinhibition. A total of 1,611 adolescents (47.9 percent girls) aged 12-15 years (M = 13.4; SD = 1.0) participated in the study. Moral disengagement and toxic disinhibition have been shown to facilitate nonconsensual forwarding of erotic-sexual content, but their relevance varies depending on the type of content, and whether girls or boys appear in it. Facilitating factors for nonconsensual forwarding of content featuring boys include age, the diffusion of the consequences, and toxic online disinhibition. For girls, identifying with the male gender and cognitive restructuring were the main facilitators. These findings represent an original advance in the field of study by discriminating between the type of content forwarded and the gender of the person who appears in it. The differences found contribute toward explaining the processes that lead to making immoral decisions when sexting and help lay the foundations for designing psychoeducational programs in the future.

Effects of relative deprivation on change in displaced aggression and the underlying motivation mechanism: A three-wave cross-lagged analysis

Displaced aggression refers to pernicious acts against innocent people. To date, little is known about mechanisms underlying dynamic changes in displaced aggression. The present study constructed a cross-lagged model to examine the dynamic effects of relative deprivation on displaced aggression and the mediation mechanisms underlying these effects. A total of 1130 undergraduate students participated in this three-wave longitudinal study. The results showed that relative deprivation predicted changes in displaced aggression through concurrent changes in levels of hostile attribution bias and moral disengagement. Hostile attribution bias and moral disengagement could predict each other longitudinally. The relationships between relative deprivation and displaced aggression, and relative deprivation and hostile attribution bias were mutual. This multiple mediation model with two mutually predicting mediators was explained from the aggressive motivation perspective. The findings help inform aggression theories and have implications for the prevention of and interventions against displaced aggression.

Why does a leader's other-oriented perfectionism lead employees to do bad things? Examining the role of moral disengagement and moral identity

Introduction

Moral disengagement is an essential concept in organizational behavioral ethics, as it is strongly related to employee behaviors and attitudes. What is not clear, however, is which leader traits are directly associated with employees' moral disengagement and which are indirectly associated with unethical behavior. This study draws on a social cognitive perspective that links leaders' other-oriented perfectionism (LOOP) with unethical employee behavior. Specifically, we propose that LOOP provides employees with excuses and encouragement to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB).

Methods

We analyzed data collected from 266 full-time employees at two-time points, and used mediated and moderated structural equation models to test the hypotheses, and the findings largely support our claims.

Results

The results suggest that LOOP effectively promotes employees' involvement in UPB. Moderated mediation tests suggest that the positive indirect impact of LOOP on employees' unethical behavior via moral disengagement was attenuated by higher employees' moral identity.

Discussion

In summary, the results indicate that when leaders emphasize only perfection and make unrealistic demands on their employees, the latter perceive that engaging in unethical behavior is demanded by the leader, that the responsibility is not theirs, and thus they are more willing to engage in unethical behavior. This study discusses the implications of these findings from both practical and theoretical perspectives.

Moral Disengagement in Adolescent Offenders: Its Relationship with Antisocial Behavior and Its Presence in Offenders of the Law and School Norms

This study focuses on understanding the relationship between moral disengagement mechanisms in adolescents who engage in law-breaking activities and those who violate school norms. To do so, we administered the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS), which evaluates moral justification, euphemistic labeling, advantageous comparison, deflection of responsibility, diffusion of responsibility, distortion of consequences, dehumanization, and attribution of blame, to 366 adolescents (60.1% males (n = 220) and 39.9% females (n = 146)). Our results confirmed the hypothesis that law-breaking adolescents presented a higher degree of moral disengagement than those adolescents who violate school norms. Additionally, we found that adolescents who violated school norms displayed significantly higher levels of dehumanization than the controls, and law-breaking adolescents obtained the highest score in this domain. Our findings allow us to suggest that the presence of the dehumanization mechanism in adolescents who violate school norms could be used as an early indicator of the emergence of antisocial behaviors, since this was the only component of moral disengagement that significantly differentiated this group from the controls in the study.

How anxiety relates to blood donation intention of non-donors: the roles of moral disengagement and mindfulness

Blood donation anxiety is a major psychological obstacle for blood donation. However, it remains unclear what the mechanism underlying the relationship between anxiety and blood donation intention is and what factor(s) will buffer the negative effects of anxiety. Based on social cognitive theory, we theorized a model delineating the mechanism with which blood donation anxiety was related to blood donation intention. Data were collected in a three-wave online survey including 425 individuals and was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression with SPSS 24.0 software. The results indicated that the negative relationship between blood donation anxiety and blood donation intention was mediated by moral disengagement. Meanwhile, mindfulness was found to play a buffering role in the relationship between blood donation anxiety and moral disengagement as well as the indirect relationship between blood donation anxiety and blood donation intention via moral disengagement. Our findings advanced the understanding of the detrimental consequences of blood donation anxiety and demonstrated that while blood donation anxiety came at a high cost, it can be managed.

Direct and indirect effects of social dominance orientation on hate speech perpetration via empathy and moral disengagement among adolescents: A multilevel mediation model

Although it is known that social dominance orientation directly affects hate speech perpetration, few studies have explored the mechanisms by which this effect takes place during adolescence. Based on the socio-cognitive theory of moral agency, we aimed to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the direct and indirect effects of social dominance orientation on hate speech perpetration in offline and online settings. The sample included seventh, eigth, and ninth graders (N = 3225) (51.2% girls, 37.2% with an immigrant background) from 36 Swiss and German schools who completed a survey about hate speech, social dominance orientation, empathy, and moral disengagement. A multilevel mediation path model revealed that social dominance orientation had a direct effect on offline and online hate speech perpetration. Moreover, social dominance also had indirect effects via low levels of empathy and high levels of moral disengagement. No gender differences were observed. Our findings are discussed regarding the potential contribution to preventing hate speech during adolescence.

Understanding Academic Dishonesty in University Settings: The Interplay of Dark Triad Traits and Moral Disengagement

Understanding the correlates of academic dishonesty is crucial for designing effective preventive interventions, as is the investigation of moderating factors that could affect these interactions. Despite increased interest in the Dark Triad personality traits and their potential link with unethical behavior, there is limited evidence regarding the moderating role of moral disengagement in the relationship. This study aimed to investigate academic dishonesty among Greek university students, its relationship with the Dark Triad, and the moderating role of moral disengagement, using gender as a covariate. Overall, 587 students attending Greek public Universities voluntarily completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire assessing the constructs under investigation. Results showed that male students had higher scores in unauthorized collaboration, plagiarism, Dark Triad, and moral disengagement. Moderation analysis indicated that moral disengagement had an effect in the relationship of psychopathy with unauthorized collaboration, especially among men. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the importance of psychopathy and moral disengagement in the prediction of academic dishonesty and have the potential to make a significant contribution to its prevention, particularly in Greek universities where relative initiatives are lacking.

Agreeableness and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration: A longitudinal moderated mediation model of moral disengagement and empathy

OBJECTIVE

The current study explored whether agreeableness predicted cyberbullying perpetration across 3 years and extended previous studies by exploring the mediating effect of moral disengagement and the moderating effects of empathy and gender.

METHOD

The participants included 2407 adolescents from 7 middle schools in China. They were recruited to complete the Big Five Personality Inventory, Bullying Scale and Empathy Scale at Time 1, Moral Disengagement Scale at Time 1 and Time 2, and Cyberbullying Perpetration Scale at Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3.

RESULTS

Agreeableness at Time 1 predicted cyberbullying perpetration at Time 3 and moral disengagement at Time 2 mediated this relationship. The relationship between moral disengagement at Time 2 and cyberbullying perpetration at Time 3 was stronger for low cognitive empathy adolescents than high cognitive empathy adolescents at Time 1. The relationship between agreeableness at Time 1 and cyberbullying perpetration adolescents at Time 3 was stronger for low affective empathy than high affective empathy adolescents at Time 1. The link between moral disengagement at Time 2 and cyberbullying perpetration at Time 3 was weaker for females than males.

CONCLUSIONS

Low agreeableness adolescents are more likely to use moral disengagement, which in turn leads to more cyberbullying perpetration.

Online Moral Disengagement: An Examination of the Relationships Between Electronic Communication, Cognitive Empathy, and Antisocial Behavior on the Internet

A consequence of the proliferation of online communication is the concerning presence of antisocial behavior observed in virtual spaces. Research suggests the cognitive component of empathy is hindered by features of electronic communication which facilitates antisocial behaviors online. Investigations into how features of online communication inhibit cognitive empathy are lacking, and findings on moral disengagement and antisocial behavior have yet to be integrated with studies on cognitive empathy and electronic communication. The current study explores these relationships. One hundred and three undergraduate students completed several measures including the Online Moral Disengagement Scale, Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, and Online Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior Scale. Results showed a positive correlation between compulsive internet use and online moral disengagement, as well as a negative correlation between cognitive empathy and moral disengagement online. It was hypothesized that online moral disengagement would mediate the relation between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior online but this mediation was not supported. However, a moderated relationship was revealed between cognitive empathy and moral justification, by liberalism. This moderation can be explored further and built upon by future research to deepen our understanding of how political ideology relates to virtual behavior. Furthermore, the findings concerning components of empathy and moral disengagement, and their role within the perpetration of antisocial conduct online, can inform future research as well as interventions focused on fostering prosocial behavior online and curbing cyberaggression.

"I Am on Top!": An Interactive Intervention Program to Promote Self-Regulation Processes in the Prevention of the Use of Doping in Sports High Schools

The use of substances to improve sports performance is a widespread phenomenon among adolescents. Several anti-doping programs have been developed, mainly based on knowledge-based evidence. The main aim of the present study was to implement an anti-doping intervention in sports high school students, based on a psychological framework, such as Socio-Cognitive Theory, through the development of a Serious Game (SG), i.e., digital learning based on the game. The experimental design included an intervention group (n = 167; F = 37.7%; Meanage = 17.5 years; SD = 0.58) and a control group (n = 112; F = 42%; Meanage = 17.6; SD = 1). Both of the groups completed the same questionnaire on two different occasions (i.e., time 1 and time 2) for measuring doping intention, self-regulatory efficacy to resist social pressure for the use of substances, moral disengagement, and doping knowledge. Data were analyzed through repeated measures of Group X Time ANOVA, demonstrating some degree of efficacy of the intervention, in particular in terms of the decrease in doping intention and the strengthening of doping knowledge. Moreover, the study demonstrated that the score obtained during the implementation of the SG could partially represent a coherent measure of the participants' beliefs regarding doping. These results could be considered a starting point for future research to better develop technological anti-doping interventions.

Social networks and aggressive attitudes: who is who. Scoping review of the scientific production on their relationships

Introduction

In the current world, an increasing number of people use social networks as a scenario for socialization, which have come to stay as a part of human development. During this socialization process, violent situations occur all too often, despite their virtuality, and seriously compromises the emotional well-being of the other participants. Based on the work conducted on this subject, the following systematic review aims to establish the state of the art regarding the relationship between moral disengagement, disruptive behavior and emotional intelligence of social network users.

Method

A scoping review is carried out, according to the PRISMA-ScR criteria, consulting the WoS, Scopus, Education database, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PLOS one and ScienceDirect databases, from 2021 up to the present day.

Results

A total of 999 articles related to the research topic were collected, although the result of research responding to the specific search criteria was reduced to 10.

Discussion

The research identified shows that there is a relationship between the level of moral development of social network users and their participation in aggressive online behavior. However, more research is needed, as it has not been demonstrated whether it is the networks that develop or favor the emergence of these attitudes, or simply act as facilitators for their amplified expression.

Effects of Workplace Ostracism on Pro-Job Unethical Behavior: The Role of Moral Disengagement, Interpersonal Sensitivity and Self-Serving Political Will

Drawing on social cognition theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of workplace ostracism on pro-job unethical behavior by studying the mediating function of moral disengagement and the moderating function of interpersonal sensitivity and self-serving political will. Data were congregated from 527 Chinese employees. A positive effect of workplace ostracism on pro-job unethical behavior was found, which was partially mediated by moral disengagement. In addition, interpersonal sensitivity strengthened the connection between workplace ostracism and moral disengagement, and self-serving political will strengthened the connection between moral disengagement and pro-job unethical behavior. Both theoretical and practical value are discussed in the study.

Parenting Styles and Moral Disengagement in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Attachment Experiences

Research on parenting styles and attachment experiences has paid little attention to the dimensions of moral development. It is, therefore, interesting to explore the relationship between parenting styles, internal working models of attachment, and the development of moral skills, in terms of moral disengagement. The study involved 307 young people (aged 19-25 years), and the dimensions examined were: parental styles (measured by the PSDQ: Tagliabue et al., 2014); attachment styles (ECR: Picardi et al., 2002); moral disengagement (MDS: Caprara et al., 2006). Results showed that the authoritative parenting style is negatively correlated with the two measures of attachment styles (anxiety and avoidance) and moral disengagement. The authoritarian and permissive styles are positively correlated with the two measures of attachment styles (anxiety and avoidance) and moral disengagement. Results also revealed a significant indirect effect of the authoritative style (b = -0.433, 95% BCa, CI [-0.882, -0.090]) and authoritarian style (b = -0.661, 95% BCa, CI [.230, 1.21]) on moral disengagement through anxiety. A serial mediation of anxiety and avoidance on the relationship between permissive style and moral disengagement (b = .077, 95% BCa, CI [.0006, .206]) is significant.

Dispositional mindfulness plays a major role in adolescents' active and passive responding to bully-victim dynamics

Past research on school bullying focused on the role of the bully, suggesting that this active perpetrator is characterized by low empathy, low self-regulation, and high moral disengagement (MD). Studies recently demonstrated a relationship between dispositional mindfulness and bullying as well. However, in the last 2 decades, research has broadened this perspective, suggesting that active and passive bystanders may play a major role in school bullying by either supporting or opposing bullying. In this research, we examined whether empathy, MD, self-regulation, and mindfulness are significantly associated with probullying, defending, and bystanding behaviors. A total of 429 middle and high school adolescents from Israel (mean age = 16.81 years, SD = 1.62) completed online questionnaires. Through structural equation modeling, we found that empathy was associated with both, self-regulation and defending behaviors. MD was associated with defending and probullying behaviors. Dispositional mindfulness was associated with all three roles we examined. All these relationships were significant and in the expected direction. As mindfulness is a disposition that can be cultivated, this finding may have further implications in programs that aim at reducing school bullying.

Generating a Moderated Mediation Model of Positive Outcome Expectancy and Aggression

According to previous theories of aggression, positive outcome expectancy for aggression can predict aggression, while moral disengagement and negative outcome expectancy for aggression may, respectively, serve as mediators and moderators in this prediction process. To test the hypothesis, Study 1 first developed the Aggression Outcome Expectancy Questionnaire and examined its two-factor structure, which consists of positive and negative outcome expectancy for aggression. Next, 677 college students were recruited to participate in Study 2 and were asked to complete the Aggression Outcome Expectancy Questionnaire, Civic Moral Disengagement Questionnaire, and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. The findings indicated the following: (1) The Aggression Outcome Expectancy Questionnaire for college students demonstrated acceptable reliability and construct validity, confirming the two-factor structure of aggression outcome expectancy. (2) After controlling for sex and age, moral disengagement partially mediated the relationship between positive outcome expectancy and aggression. (3) Negative outcome expectancy for aggression moderated the effect of positive outcome expectancy on aggression, as well as moral disengagement. Specifically, negative outcome expectancy for aggression attenuated the positive predictive effect of positive outcome expectancy on aggression and moral disengagement. In conclusion, the present study extends our understanding of the motivational mechanism of aggression, offering a theoretical reference for preventing and intervening in aggressive behavior among college students.

From Citizenship Pressure to Pro-Group Unethical Behavior: The Dual-Stage Moderating Role of Self-Serving Political Will

Drawing upon social cognitive theory, our study proposes a dual-stage moderated mediation model that utilizes moral disengagement as the mediator and self-serving political will as the moderator to investigate whether, how, and when team-oriented citizenship pressure leads to pro-group unethical behavior. Data were collected through questionnaires from 527 Chinese employees in various industries. Amos and Process macro were used to test the model's fit and hypotheses, respectively. The results showed that citizenship pressure has a positive effect on pro-group unethical behavior through moral disengagement. Moreover, self-serving political will is a positive moderator in both the first and second stages, as well as in the mediation effect. This study extends the related research field by linking citizenship pressure and political will with moral disengagement and pro-social unethical behavior, responding to some academic calls. When faced with team-oriented citizenship pressure, team members with high self-serving political will may become a sharp edge that stabs at other competing teams. Managers at the team and organizational levels can intervene in different ways depending on their constructive or destructive management goals.

Victimization Perceived and Experienced by Teens in an Abusive Dating Relationship: The Need to Tear down Social Myths

The phenomenon of adolescent dating violence is a social health problem that affects thousands of people in different contexts and parts of the world. To date, much of the work that has focused on analysing this phenomenon has tended to study it from the perspective of victimized adolescent girls, considering that gender violence predominates in violent pair relationships. Nonetheless, there is a growing body of evidence that the victimization of adolescent boys is a reality. Thus, mutual violence between boys and girls is increasingly prevalent. Given this context, the present study's objective was to analyse and compare the victimization profile of a sample of female and male adolescents, taking into account the variables most commonly associated with victimization in these abusive relationships (perceived violence suffered, perceived severity, sexism, and moral disengagement). With this objective, different instruments were administered (CUVINO, Scale of Detection of Sexism Adolescents (DSA), and Mechanism of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS)). Data analysis based on the construction of a multiple linear regression model confirmed that the boys and girls in the sample revealed having suffered violence from their partners to a different degree. It is evident that the victimization profile of the two sexes is different. Thus, boys show less perception of severity, more sexism, and greater use of certain moral disengagement mechanisms than girls. These results reveal the need to tear down social myths and construct prevention programs that take into account different victimization profiles.

Perceived coach-created empowering and disempowering motivational climate and moral behaviour in sport: mediating role of moral disengagement

Based on Duda's (2013) hierarchical and multidimensional conceptualization, this research integrates motivational climate dimensions from Achievement Goal Theory and Self-Determination Theory to investigate the constructs of empowering/disempowering motivational climates. We aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived coach-created motivational climate and prosocial-antisocial behaviours and determine whether moral disengagement mediated this relationship. 423 athletes completed self-reported questionnaires. The results showed that empowering motivational climate had a positive direct association with prosocial behaviour towards opponents/teammates. Disempowering motivational climate had a positive direct relationship with antisocial behaviour towards opponents/teammates. Also, disempowering motivational climate was indirectly related to antisocial behaviour towards teammates, antisocial behaviour towards opponents and prosocial behaviour towards opponents via moral disengagement. These findings suggest that athletes' perception of coach-created empowering motivational climate is likely to enhance athletes' prosocial behaviours, whereas athletes' perception of coach-created disempowering motivational climate may result in their higher antisocial behaviours which is mediated by moral disengagement. The findings emphasize the role of perceived coach-created motivational climates in athletes' moral behaviours, provide useful information on the mediating role of moral disengagement in this relationship and suggest practical implications for sports coaches, sports psychologists and sport executives who aim to create a positive sports environment for athletes.

The Effect of Everyday Moral Sensitivity on Bullying Bystander Behavior: Parallel Mediating Roles of Empathy and Moral Disengagement

The higher moral sensitivity to bullying a student has, the more likely they are to help the victim or inhibit bullying rather than ignore it. Research has mainly focused on particular sensitivity to bullying, and it remains unknown whether sensitivity to everyday moral issues functions similarly. The present study aimed to examine the effect of everyday moral sensitivity (EMS) on bullying bystander behaviors. We included a range of school children (n = 1,655, Grades 3-12, 27.6% girls) in Southwest China. The results show 6.10% have been a victim-only, 0.48% have been a bully-only, 0.85% have been the bullying victim, 92.57% have been neither a bully nor a bullying victim, and 45.86% have observed bullying. Students in lower grades are more likely to be bullied. After controlling for covariates (i.e., gender, grade, and social desirability), EMS is positively associated with positive bystander behaviors. Moreover, empathy and moral disengagement (MD) play a mediating role in the relationship between EMS and positive bystander behaviors. The results reveal two parallel processes of EMS influenced bystander behaviors (i.e., empathy and MD). The findings indicate the possibility of cultivating EMS and highlight the role of morality development in preventing school bullying.

Violent Video Game Exposure and Cyberbullying in Early Adolescents: A Latent Moderated Mediation Model

Violent video game exposure (VVGE) is a significant predictor of adolescent cyberbullying perpetration. However, little is known about the mediating and moderated mechanisms between them. This study examined the mediating role of moral disengagement between VVGE and cyberbullying perpetration as well as the moderating role of callous-unemotional (CU) traits on those associations. A total of 2,523 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 13.22, SD = 1.60, 48.4 percent girls) participated this study. Structural equation modeling showed that VVGE was significantly related to cyberbullying perpetration and moral disengagement play a mediating role between them. Latent moderated structural equation modeling showed that CU traits strengthened the effect of VVGE on moral disengagement and of VVGE on cyberbullying perpetration. Results further showed that the mediating effect of moral disengagement was more prominent for youths who have higher levels of CU traits. Interventions to reduce moral disengagement and CU traits among adolescents may interrupt the effect of VVGE to cyberbullying perpetration.

Exposure to Violence during Childhood and Child-to-Parent Violence: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement

This study examines the influence of exposure to family violence during childhood on child-to-parent violence (CPV) through moral disengagement. The sample included 1868 Spanish adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years (57.9% female, M_age = 14.94, SD = 1.37). Participants completed the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire, the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale, and the Exposure to Violence Scale during childhood. Results showed that exposure to family violence during childhood (vicarious and direct violence) contribute independently and positively to CPV. Moreover, the relationship between vicarious and direct exposure to family violence and CPV is mediated by moral disengagement. The structural model was replicated for both CPV towards the father and CPV towards the mother. The results highlight the importance of early exposure to family violence and moral disengagement in violent behavior towards parents. It is necessary to stage an early intervention with children who have been exposed to family violence in order to prevent an intergenerational transmission of violent behaviors.

Bystanders' Victim Blaming and Minimizing Consequences of Weight-Based Cyberhate Attacks: The Roles of anti-Fat Attitudes, Body-Positive Online Content, and Gender

Physical appearance and, specifically, weight are common reasons for cyberhate attacks among adolescents. Using a between-subject experimental design, this study focuses on the bystanders of such attacks on Instagram. We investigate bystanders' assessments in the form of two moral disengagement (MD) mechanisms-victim blaming and minimizing consequences-and we compare the assessments of attacks that are diversified by the victim's weight (i.e., a victim who is plus-size and a victim who is thinner). We also examine the moderating roles of bystanders' prejudice against people who are plus-size in the form of the so-called anti-fat attitudes, their frequency of viewing body-positive online content, and gender. The study's data come from an online survey conducted in 2020 with a representative sample of 658 Czech adolescents, aged 13-18. We tested our hypotheses with structural equation modeling. The results show that the two MD mechanisms work differently. The victim's displayed weight affected the bystanders' tendency to victim blame: adolescents blamed the victim who is plus-size more than the victim who is thinner, but the victim's weight made no difference in minimizing the consequences of the incident. A moderating effect for anti-fat attitudes and gender was found for victim blaming. Bystanders with higher anti-fat attitudes and boys blamed the victim who is plus-size more than the victim who is thinner. On the other hand, there was no effect for the frequency of viewing body-positive online content for either of the MD mechanisms. The results are discussed with regard to the differences between the two mechanisms and the practical implications for educational and prevention programs for youth.

Moral Disengagement in Social Work

In recent years, social workers have paid increased attention to ethical issues. The profession's literature has burgeoned on topics such as ethical dilemmas in social work practice, ethical decision making, boundary issues and dual relationships, ethics-related risk management, and moral injury. This noteworthy trend builds on social work's rich and long-standing commitment to the development of core values and ethical standards evident throughout its history. Unlike allied human service and behavioral health professions, social work's ethics-related literature has not focused on the critically important issue of moral disengagement. Moral disengagement is typically defined as the process whereby individuals convince themselves that ethical standards do not apply to them. In social work, moral disengagement can lead to ethics violations and practitioner liability, particularly when social workers believe that they are not beholden to widely embraced ethical standards in the profession. The purpose of this article is to explore the nature of moral disengagement in social work, identify possible causes and consequences, and present meaningful strategies designed to prevent and respond to moral disengagement in the profession.

Psychometric Properties of the Moral Disengagement through Technologies Questionnaire (MDTech-Q) in a Sample of Chilean University Students

In the virtual environment, hostile and aggressive comments that could negatively affect university students who often use different digital platforms are frequently observed, more than other age groups who have little or no supervision. In this sense, moral disengagement (MD) has been linked to different negative behaviors that manifest in physical interactions and which currently take place on the Internet, creating the need for instruments that specifically address MD online. The aim of this study is to adapt and validate the Moral Disengagement through Technologies Questionnaire (MDTech-Q) with Chilean university students. The sample comprised 527 university students (43.14% men, 56.86% women), with an average age of 22.09 years (SD (Standard Deviation) = 3.59) enrolled in 12 universities. First, a linguistic adaptation of the scale took place, and the surveys were applied considering ethical principles. Then, two confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed, which considered four correlated factors, and provided satisfactory indices, agreeing with the original theoretical proposal, and demonstrating suitable reliability by internal consistency. In relation to the analyses of invariance according to sex and social media use, the MDTech-Q is stable up to scalar invariance. This study provides evidence of the psychometric quality of the MDTech-Q for its use on Chilean university students.

Internet impropriety: Moral identity, moral disengagement, and antisocial online behavior within an early adolescent to young adult sample

INTRODUCTION

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are the most popular medium for social communication amongst adolescents and young adults. However, there is growing concern surrounding heightened ICT use and the activation of influential social constructs such as moral identity and moral disengagement. The importance of moral ideals to oneself (i.e., moral identity) and the distancing of oneself from these moral ideals (i.e., moral disengagement) are often contextual and were tested for differences in online domains compared to face-to-face interactions.

METHODS

Three hundred and ninety-two early adolescent to young adult participants (M_age  = 19.54 years, SD = 4.48) completed self-report questionnaires that assessed online and face-to-face behavior in this cross-sectional study.

RESULTS

Moral identity in an online context was significantly lower when compared to family and friend contexts. Further, moral disengagement was significantly higher in an online context when compared to face-to-face contexts and online moral disengagement significantly mediated the relationship between online moral identity and antisocial online behaviors (i.e., pirating, trolling, and hacking, etc.,). Both of these contextual differences remained stable across early adolescence to young adulthood.

CONCLUSION

Moral identity and moral disengagement exhibit sociocognitive effects within online contexts across ages of early developmental importance. These results may account for high prevalence rates of antisocial online behavior such as trolling, pirating, and hacking within this sample. As social interaction for younger demographics continues to gravitate online, these results highlight that online contexts can influence important personality constructs.

Self-control and cooperation in childhood as antecedents of less moral disengagement in adolescence

Moral disengagement is a social cognition people use to engage in wrongdoings even when they know it is wrong. However, little is known about the antecedents that predict moral disengagement. The current study focuses on the development of self-control and cooperation during middle childhood as two antecedents of moral disengagement among 1,103 children (50% female; 77% White, 12% Black, 6% Hispanic, and 5% other). Children's self-control at age 8 and growth in self-control from age 8 to 11 were positively linked to adolescents seeing themselves as having self-control at age 15, which then predicted less moral disengagement at age 18. Children's cooperation at age 8 also was positively linked to adolescents' self-views of cooperation at age 15, which in turn, was associated with less moral disengagement at age 18. These findings demonstrate the potential of self-control and cooperation as intrapersonal and interpersonal strengths during middle childhood for mitigating moral disengagement 10 years later.

Protective Role of Self-Regulatory Efficacy: A Moderated Mediation Model on the Influence of Impulsivity on Cyberbullying through Moral Disengagement

During online interactions, adolescents are often exposed to deviant opportunities. In this context, the capacity to regulate one's behavior is essential to prevent cyberbullying. Among adolescents, this online aggressive behavior is a growing phenomenon, and its deleterious effects on teenagers' mental health are well known. The present work argues the importance of self-regulatory capabilities under deviant peer pressure in preventing cyberbullying. In particular, focusing on two relevant risk factors, i.e., impulsivity and moral disengagement, we examine (1) the mediation role of moral disengagement in the process leading to cyberbullying from impulsivity; (2) the buffering effect of the perceived self-regulatory capability to resist deviant peer pressure in mitigating the effect of these impulsive and social-cognitive dimensions on cyberbullying. Moderated mediation analysis was performed on a sample of 856 adolescents; the results confirm that the perceived self-regulatory capability to resist peer pressure effectively mitigates the indirect effect of impulsivity through moral disengagement on cyberbullying. The practical implications of designing interventions to make adolescents more aware and self-regulated in their online social lives to counter cyberbullying are discussed.

The Relationship between Paranoid Tendencies and Cyberbullying among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement

BACKGROUND

Cyberbullying has become an essential public health psychological issue affecting people's lives in the online ecology. However, previous studies have rarely examined adolescent paranoia, moral cognition, and cyberbullying in association. Therefore, this study was based on cognitive-behavioral theory to investigate the relationship between child-like paranoid tendencies, cyberbullying, and moral disengagement.

METHODS

This study used the Paranoia Scale, Cyberbullying Scale, and Moral Disengagement Scale to conduct an anonymous online survey of 1519 adolescents in China.

RESULTS

(1) Paranoid tendencies, moral disengagement, and cyberbullying were all significantly and positively correlated. Boys showed higher rates of moral disengagement, while girls showed higher rates of paranoid tendencies. (2) The direct effect of paranoid tendency on cyberbullying was significant (β = 0.31, p < 0.01). (3) There was a mediating effect of moral disengagement in the influence of paranoid tendencies on cyberbullying, with an effect proportion of 20.5%.

CONCLUSION

Adolescent cyberbullying should be regulated at the family and social levels to enhance juvenile mental health issues and help them establish proper moral standards.

The effect of justified video game violence on aggressive behavior and moderated immersion: An experimental approach

The effect of violent video games on aggressive behavior is an important topic in the field of game research. Recently, growing evidence suggests that justified game violence decreases feelings of guilt caused by in-game immoral behavior. However, little is known about the impact on aggressive behavior, and whether other factors moderate this effect. In a two-factor experiment, we tested the impact of justification of video game violence on aggressive behavior, and whether this effect would be enhanced by game immersion. Pilot experiment 1 (N = 60) and pilot experiment 2 (N = 40) demonstrated that the justification of violence and game immersion was successfully controlled by avatar and graphics quality. In the Main experiment, 123 participants played one of four conditions of a video game (2 [justification: justified vs. unjustified violence] × 2 [immersion: high vs. low immersion]) and it was found that participants who played in the justified violence condition reported greater aggressive behavior than those in the unjustified violence condition. In addition, participants who played in high immersion reported greater aggressive behavior than those in low immersion. However, game immersion did not moderate the effects of justified violence. This unexpected effect is likely due to participants' distancing themselves from and identifying less with their violent avatars.

Not in my AI: Moral engagement and disengagement in health care AI development

Machine learning predictive analytics (MLPA) are utilized increasingly in health care, but can pose harms to patients, clinicians, health systems, and the public. The dynamic nature of this technology creates unique challenges to evaluating safety and efficacy and minimizing harms. In response, regulators have proposed an approach that would shift more responsibility to MLPA developers for mitigating potential harms. To be effective, this approach requires MLPA developers to recognize, accept, and act on responsibility for mitigating harms. In interviews of 40 MLPA developers of health care applications in the United States, we found that a subset of ML developers made statements reflecting moral disengagement, representing several different potential rationales that could create distance between personal accountability and harms. However, we also found a different subset of ML developers who expressed recognition of their role in creating potential hazards, the moral weight of their design decisions, and a sense of responsibility for mitigating harms. We also found evidence of moral conflict and uncertainty about responsibility for averting harms as an individual developer working in a company. These findings suggest possible facilitators and barriers to the development of ethical ML that could act through encouragement of moral engagement or discouragement of moral disengagement. Regulatory approaches that depend on the ability of ML developers to recognize, accept, and act on responsibility for mitigating harms might have limited success without education and guidance for ML developers about the extent of their responsibilities and how to implement them.

Aggressive humor style and cyberbullying perpetration: Normative tolerance and moral disengagement perspective

The literature has acknowledged the correlation between aggressive humor style and cyberbullying perpetration; however, little is known about how this occurs. In this study, we sought to gain an understanding of how and when someone with an aggressive humor style may develop into a perpetrator of cyberbullying. We propose that whether an individual's aggressive humor style results in cyberbullying perpetration depends on online social norms of tolerance for aggressive humor. When online normative tolerance for aggressive humor is high, individuals' aggressive humor style is positively correlated with their moral disengagement, which, in turn, increases their intention to commit cyberbullying. When online normative tolerance for aggressive humor is low, the effect of individuals' aggressive humor style on their moral disengagement is attenuated, which, in turn, weakens the relationship between aggressive humor style and cyberbullying perpetration. A total of 305 Chinese university students were recruited to participate in the experiment, and we found support for this hypothesis across the experiment. Several theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Did They Deserve It? Adolescents' Perception of Online Harassment in a Real-Case Scenario

Online harassment, particularly cyberbullying and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, is a widespread phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Descriptive research was carried out to investigate any differences among Italian school classes in the perception of cybercrime through a real-case scenario. Following the Italian school system, the final sample of 1777 adolescents (Mage = 15.37, SD = 1.65; Male = 52%) was divided into three groups based on the school class attended: middle school (N = 562; Mage = 13.37, SD = 0.48); high school biennium (N = 728; Mage = 15.55, SD = 0.50), and triennium (N = 487, Mage = 17.40, SD = 0.71). Participants completed a self-report questionnaire investigating the use of the Internet and the perception of a real case scenario involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and cyberbullying received by the National Centre for Combating Child Pornography Online (NCPO). Results showed differences among the three groups' perceptions of the event's features, motivations underlying the offense, victim-blaming and harassment justification (e.g., cyberbullying, in particular non-consensual sharing of intimate images, is recognized as a crime as age increases). The findings provide significant insights for future research and age-specific factors to consider when developing prevention programs for online risks.

Perceived overall injustice and organizational deviance-Mediating effect of anger and moderating effect of moral disengagement

Introduction

This study is dedicated to exploring the influence of perceived overall injustice on employee anger and deviant behavior. Based on fairness heuristic theory and cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, a model was developed to investigate the relationship between perceived overall injustice, anger and organizational deviance. Based on social cognitive theory, the moderating role of moral disengagement was proposed.

Methods

The data were collected from three Chinese manufacturing corporations with a total effective sample size of 264. SPSS 26 and Mplus 8.3 were adopted to analyze data. Confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics analysis and correlation results were illustrated. Hierarchical regression was used to test the model.

Results

Statistical results showed that there is a significant positive relationship among perceived overall injustice, anger and organizational deviance. The moderating effect of moral disengagement on the relationship between perceived overall injustice and organizational deviance is significant, while that on the relationship between anger and organizational deviance is insignificant.

Discussion

This study built a model to discuss the emotional and behavioral influences of perceived overall injustice. The findings suggest that individuals feel more anger as the level of perceived overall injustice increases, which thus lead to higher level of organizational deviance. Morally disengaged employees are more likely to engage in organizational deviance after being treated unfairly. However, the moderating effect of moral disengagement on the relationship of anger and organizational deviance was insignificant. The reason might be because anger is an aggressive emotion and individual experiencing anger may lead to impulsive behavior regardless of moral rules. Implications and limitations have been discussed.

Mediating role of moral disengagement in the perpetration of cyberbullying by victims and bystanders

INTRODUCTION

Proliferation of internet use in adolescence has resulted in an increase in cyberbullying. Previous experiences of cyber victimization and cyber bystanding are commonly linked with cyberbullying perpetration, allowing the bullying cycle to persist. Moral disengagement is one factor that may facilitate victims and bystanders to later perpetrate cyberbullying. The process occurs through enlistment of justificatory strategies to enable individuals to perpetrate without feeling remorse. The present study investigates the potential role of moral disengagement in the perpetration of cyberbullying by victims and bystanders.

METHODS

Young people (N = 563, M_age  = 13.52, SD = 1.04) recruited from Australian schools completed a cross-sectional self-report survey comprising of validated measures of moral disengagement, and involvement in cyberbullying across different roles (perpetration, victimization, and bystanding).

RESULTS

Findings indicated that moral disengagement significantly mediated the link between victimization and perpetration, and between bystanding and perpetration. Specifically, victims and bystanders engage in cyber perpetration through enlisting moral disengagement strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Moral disengagement may, therefore, be one factor that mediates the association between cyber victimization and cyber bystanding, and cyber perpetration. Understanding mechanisms by which victims and bystanders engage in perpetration have implications for supporting victims and bystanders in antibullying strategies to minimize the occurrence of cyber perpetration.

How do compulsory citizenship behaviors affect moral disengagement in organizations? Significance of anger toward the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

With the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals, especially nurses, are confronted with an intensified workload. The literature on compulsory citizenship behaviors and their consequences is still far from explaining the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that underlie this relationship.

Methods

Drawing on the resource depletion theory, we unpack the mechanism by which compulsory citizenship behaviors influence moral disengagement with the mediation effects of anger toward the organization. We are reporting a cross-sectional survey of nurses (n = 294) in private and public hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey. The data analysis involved structural equation modeling and Bayesian mediation.

Results

The study revealed that compulsory citizenship behaviors positively influenced anger toward the organization and moral disengagement. Further, anger toward the organization mediates the link between compulsory citizenship behaviors and moral disengagement. Likewise, the Bayesian mediation analysis indicated that the proportion mediated (PM), which ensures a prediction of the extent to which the pathway explains the total effect through the mediation effect, was 33.74%.

Conclusion

The findings show that exposure to compulsory citizenship behaviors lead to negative emotional (anger toward to organization) and cognitive (moral disengagement) consequences in nurses.

Practical implications

Hospital managers should not force nurses to display discretionary work tasks outside their job descriptions. Providing an organizational milieu where voluntarily extra-role behaviors are encouraged may help reduce nurses' moral disengagement and, in turn, ease their anger toward the organization.

Dark triad and cyber aggression among Chinese adolescents during COVID-19: A moderated mediation model

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of online learning has become a necessary choice for students, and would increase the probability of cyber aggression (CA). Despite the relationship between Dark Triad and CA previous was explored in previous research, the underlying psychological mechanism of CA in adolescents is still unclear. The current study aimed to examine the mediating role of moral disengagement (MD) and the moderating of gender in the relationship between Dark Triad and CA. A sample consists of 501 Chinese adolescents (246 females; 255 males) between the ages of 11 ~ 20. Participants completed the Dirty Dozen Scale, Moral Disengagement Scale, and Cyber Aggressive Behavior Scale. Results show that higher levels of dark personality were associated with higher levels of MD and CA. Moral disengagement partially mediated this positive effects of dark personality on CA. Moreover, gender moderated the mediation model. Specially, the positive relationship between dark triad personality and CA was stronger among females adolescents. These findings advance the understanding of how dark triad personality induces Chinese adolescents' cyber aggressive behavior.

Longitudinal effect of self-control on reactive-proactive aggression: Mediating roles of hostile rumination and moral disengagement

Self-control is a well-known inhibitor of aggression, but the effect of self-control on different kinds of aggression (such as reactive-proactive aggression) and the underlying mediating mechanisms of these effects are unclear. We developed a mediation model to address these issues. A three-wave study was conducted with a sample of 1203 qualifying Chinese undergraduates to test the model. The results showed that self-control at Wave 1 negatively predicted reactive aggression at Wave 3 through mediating effects of hostile rumination and moral disengagement at Wave 2 at the same time, while self-control at Wave 1 negatively predicted proactive aggression at Wave 3 only through moral disengagement at Wave 2. Furthermore, the longitudinal relationship between hostile rumination and moral disengagement is mutual. The current findings support our hypotheses regarding the mediation model of self-control inhibiting reactive-proactive aggression and suggest that moral disengagement should be a common and basic variable to predict most kinds of aggression; further, hostile rumination only has a particular effect on reactive aggression. The present study used motivation theory to explain its mediation model, which develops aggressive theory regarding varied common influencing factors and underlying mediating mechanisms of reactive and proactive aggression.

Is This WhatsApp Conversation Aggressive? Adolescents' Perception of Cyber Dating Aggression

This study investigated adolescents' understanding of cyber dating aggression in terms of frequency and aggressiveness: how prevalent they perceived cyber dating aggression among adolescents and how aggressive they perceived such behaviors to be. To do so, different WhatsApp scenarios were presented to adolescents, controlling for the typology of cyber dating aggression (verbal/emotional, controlling, or sexual) and its publicity (public or private cyber dating aggression). The moderating effect of gender and moral disengagement (MD) was also analyzed. A total of 262 adolescents (56.5% girls; mean age of 14.46 years) participated in the study and answered a computer-based questionnaire. General linear models revealed that adolescents consider cyber dating aggression to be present in most adolescent romantic relationships. Controlling online behavior was perceived as the most frequent and the least aggressive behavior. Adolescents rated private cyber aggression as more frequent and less aggressive than public cyber aggressions. Controlling for gender, girls reported that cyber dating aggression was more common and more severe than boys. Moreover, participants with high levels of MD perceived cyber dating aggressions to be less aggressive than participants with medium-low MD. This study reveals the significance of the type of cyber dating aggression, the public/private dimension, gender, and MD as variables that influence adolescent understanding of cyber dating aggression. These results have implications not only for the design of cyber dating aggression prevention programs but also for future research on cyber dating aggression.

Defending or Remaining Passive as a Bystander of School Bullying in Sweden: The Role of Moral Disengagement and Antibullying Class Norms

The overall aim of the present study was to examine whether moral disengagement and perceptions of antibullying class norms at individual level and at class level were associated with defending and passive bystanding in school bullying among school-age children. More specifically, we investigated the extent to which moral disengagement would contribute to explain defending and passive bystanding, after controlling for sex and perceptions of antibullying class norms at individual level and at class level. A total of 789 Swedish students (aged 10-14) from 40 middle school classes filled out a self-report survey. The findings revealed that girls and students who were less prone to morally disengage, and who perceived that their classmates endorsed more antibullying norms, were more likely to defend victimized peers. Students who were more inclined to morally disengage and perceive that classmates do not condemn bullying were more likely to act as passive bystanders. In addition, classes with higher levels of antibullying class norms were more likely to show higher rates of defending and lower rates of passive bystanding compared to the other classes. The findings suggest that schools and teachers need to develop educational strategies, methods, and efforts designed to make students aware of moral disengagement and to reduce their likelihood of morally disengaging in bullying situations. The present findings also point to the importance of teachers establishing class rules against bullying together with the students.

The Effect of Coaching Types on Moral Disengagement in Taekwondo Athletes: The Mediating Role of Pride

The purpose of this study was to examine how coaching styles affect athletes' moral disengagement. To achieve our objectives, we examined the relationships among perceived coaching types, pride, and moral disengagement in the context of elite taekwondo athletes (N = 322). Direct and indirect effects among coaching types, pride, and moral disengagement were assessed through path analysis. The results indicated that the autonomy-support coaching type reduced moral disengagement by decreasing hubristic pride, while the controlled coaching type increased moral disengagement through hubristic pride. Our study found a chain of effects according to the controlled coaching type perceived by taekwondo athletes, hubristic pride, and moral disengagement; therefore, the controlled coaching type and hubristic pride should be closely managed in sport society, as they elicit greater moral disengagement. Managerial strategies to diminish hubristic pride through the autonomy-support coaching type are recommended.

Moral Disengagement as a Self-Regulatory Cognitive Process of Transgressions: Psychometric Evidence of the Bandura Scale in Chilean Adolescents

Moral disengagement is a process of cognitive restructuring that allows individuals to disassociate from their internal moral standards and behave unethically without feeling distressed. It has been described as a key predictor of maladaptive behaviors (e.g., delinquency, aggression, and cyberbullying) and as a mediator between individual variables and unethical outcomes (e.g., empathy and aggression). We aimed to provide evidence of validity based on the internal structure, reliability, and correlations with other constructs of the most used instrument to measure disengagement from moral self-sanctions: Bandura's Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS). A non-probabilistic national sample of 528 Chilean adolescents from 14 to 18 years participated in the study. The results showed that the 10-item version of the MMDS had a unidimensional structure and good internal consistency. As expected, the MMDS-10 showed positive and medium correlations with abusive, violent antisocial, and delinquent behaviors and negative and medium associations with prosocial behavior and empathy. Additionally, moral disengagement fully mediated the relationship between empathy and violent antisocial behavior, supporting the hypothesis on moral disengagement as a self-regulatory cognitive process. The results confirm previous research, and the findings are discussed in terms of their implications for reducing the use of moral disengagement strategies in adolescence.

School structure, bullying by teachers, moral disengagement, and students' aggression: A mediation model

Aim

Understanding interrelations between the factors predicting students' aggressive behavior is a priority for bullying-prevention programs. Our study explores two possible mechanisms linking school disciplinary structure and students' aggression. We test students' moral disengagement and bullying by teachers as mediational pathways from school authoritative discipline to students' aggressive behavior.

Methods

We used a regionally representative sample of 213 schools that participated in a school climate survey in Kaluga Oblast (a federal subject of Russia) in 2019. The analytical sample contained the anonymous responses of 16,809 students from grades 6-9 (12-15 years old); 51% of the respondents were girls. The analytical procedure consisted of structural equation modeling (SEM), which was implemented in Mplus 8.7.

Results

The mediation model fit the data well, suggesting that the clarity and fairness of school rules negatively predicted peer aggression, while student moral disengagement and bullying by teachers independently and partially mediated this association.

Conclusion

We confirm that authoritative school climate, characterized by a clear and fair disciplinary structure, is associated with a decrease in bullying. Novel result is the evidence for mediating mechanisms and the influence of teachers' aggression on students' behavior. Prevention programs designed to increase the fairness and consistency of school rules, eliminate bullying and humiliation from teachers, and decrease students' moral disengagement may reduce violence and victimization at school.

How Does Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Deviant Peer Affiliation Affect Cyberbullying: Examining the Roles of Moral Disengagement and Gender

Purpose

With the widespread use of the Internet and mobile phone, cyberbullying has become a new type of bullying among adolescents. It is of great practical significance to explore the relevant factors affecting cyberbullying for prevention and intervention of adolescents’ cyberbullying. However, few studies have considered the effect of both the family and social factors on cyberbullying. Therefore, the current study examines whether the parent-adolescent conflict as a family factor and deviant peer affiliation as a social factor have an effect on adolescents’ cyberbullying, as well as the role of moral disengagement and gender.

Methods

A total of 777 middle school students (females = 336; mean age = 13.57; SD = 0.98) were surveyed by using the Parent-child Relationship Questionnaire, Deviant Peer Affiliation Questionnaire, Moral Disengagement Questionnaire and Cyber Bullying Behavior Questionnaire. SPSS21.0 was used to conduct descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and T-test, PROCESS were used to conduct significance test of moderated mediation effect on the data.

Results

Parent-adolescent conflict does not directly predict cyberbullying. Moral disengagement played a complete mediating role between parent-adolescent conflict and cyberbullying, and gender played a moderating role between moral disengagement and cyberbullying. Deviant peer affiliation directly predict cyberbullying. Moral disengagement played a partially mediating role between parent-adolescent conflict and cyberbullying, and gender played a moderating role between moral disengagement and cyberbullying.

Conclusion

Attention should be paid to the effect of moral disengagement on cyberbullying in family and social factors, as well as the role of gender.

How and When Daily Abusive Supervision Affects Daily Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment

Organizational environmental sustainability depends primarily on employees' organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE), and leadership plays an important role in improving and inhibiting employees' OCBE. The purpose of the present study is to examine the mediation process by which abusive supervision affects employees' OCBE through a daily diary study and to explore the boundary conditions of the relationship between daily moral disengagement and daily OCBE. We collected data from 112 Chinese employees for 10 consecutive days. The results show that daily abusive supervision has a significant negative effect on daily OCBE and that daily moral disengagement plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. In addition, the negative effect of daily moral disengagement on daily OCBE could be attenuated by a psychological green climate. Our findings support our hypotheses and offer useful theoretical and practical implications for promoting OCBE.

Attitudes of Sport Fans Toward the Electronic Sign-Stealing Scandal in Major League Baseball: Differing Associations With Perfectionism and Excellencism

The winners of the 2017 World Series were found guilty of illegally using electronic devices to steal the signs of their opponents. Many but not all sport fans negatively reacted to this cheating incident. We relied on the model of excellencism and perfectionism to determine if perfection strivers are less unfavorable toward electronic sign stealing (cheating) compared with excellence strivers. Sport fans (N = 321) completed a measure of excellencism and perfectionism. We used three different approaches to measure attitudes toward electronic sign stealing in baseball. Results of a multivariate multiple regression showed that sport fans who are perfection strivers held more favorable attitudes toward electronic sign stealing compared with excellence strivers. Perfection strivers also reported higher moral disengagement and winning-at-all-cost mentality. These findings are insightful because they indicate that perfectionistic standards significantly relate to sport cheating-related attitudes once we separate excellencism from perfectionism.