The Role of Moral Disengagement and Self-Efficacy in Cyberbullying

Tackling psychosocial risk factors for adolescent cyberbullying: Evidence from a school‐based intervention

“…Moral disengagement is an important self-regulatory process that has been consistently associated with the display of aggressive behavior in children and adolescents, and also with higher levels of both traditional bullying (Gini et al, 2014) cyberbullying (Bussey et al, 2015;Kowalski et al, 2014;Pornari & Wood, 2010), and bystander apathy among witnesses of bullying incidents (Van Cleemput et al, 2014). Furthermore, a recent study showed that moral disengagement was positively associated with social cognitive variables relevant to cyberbullying, such as favorable actor prototype evaluations, attitudes, social norms, selfefficacy, and expectations toward to cyberbullying (Lazuras et al, 2013).…”

“…The present study assessed the effects of a schoolbased intervention on different psychosocial risk factors that have been associated with cyberbullying in previous studies, namely empathy, moral disengagement, and social cognitive variables, such as attitudes toward cyberbullying, actor prototype favorability, social norms, self-efficacy beliefs, and behavioral expectations (e.g., Bussey et al, 2015;Lazuras et al, 2013;Schultze-Krumbholz & Scheithauer, 2009). The results indicated that students in the intervention group displayed significantly lower scores in moral disengagement, and less favorable evaluations of actor prototypes, than students in the control group.…”

“…Research has consistently shown that higher levels of moral disengagement are associated with the display of aggressive behavior in children and adolescents (for a meta-analysis see Gini, Pozzoli, & Hymel, 2014). Similarly, there is evidence supporting a positive relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying behavior (e.g., Bussey, Fitzpatrick, & Raman, 2015;Pornari & Wood, 2010). In fact, in a recent metaanalysis, moral disengagement was strongly associated with cyberbullying perpetration (Kowalski et al, 2014).…”

“…Different processes can be manifested in the course of moral disengagement, including denigration of the victim, justification of the immoral act, and diffusion of responsibility (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastoretti, 1996;McAlister, Bandura, & Owen, 2006). Similarly, there is evidence supporting a positive relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying behavior (e.g., Bussey, Fitzpatrick, & Raman, 2015;Pornari & Wood, 2010). Similarly, there is evidence supporting a positive relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying behavior (e.g., Bussey, Fitzpatrick, & Raman, 2015;Pornari & Wood, 2010).…”

Cyberbullying

“…Several studies (Baldasare et al, 2012;Bussey, Sally, & Amrutha, 2015;Gini et al, 2014;Hymel & Bonanno, 2014;Wright & Li, 2013) pointed out the correlation between moral disengagement and cyberbullying. Online aggression, according to Pornari and Wood (2010), may not demand the same level of rationalization and justification as traditional bullying because young people consider it as less serious due to anonymity and lack of face-to-face contact.…”