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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.

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This study explores whether gender differences influence the components of the Dark Triad of personality and moral disengagement on the manifestations of dishonest academic behavior in Peruvian university students. Moreover, it evaluates how moral disengagement mediates the effect that the Dark Triad components have on academic dishonesty. The participants were 591 university students, aged between 18 and 40 years (women = 71.7 %; Mage = 21.5; SDage = 3.60), to whom the Dirty Dozen Dark Triad, the Propensity to Morally Disengage Scale, and the Scale of Academic Dishonesty, which has 3 dimensions (cheating on exams, plagiarism, and falsification) were applied. The results reveal that only Machiavellianism has a significant and consistent influence on all dimensions of academic dishonesty, in both men and women, while psychopathy influences the dimension of plagiarism in both men and women and falsification only in men. In addition, moral disengagement affects falsification in both groups, cheating on exams only in the men's group, and plagiarism in the women's group. Finally, the mediating role of moral disengagement between the effect of the Dark Triad and the manifestations of academic dishonesty was not demonstrated.

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This study examines the influence of social support on bystander behaviors, the mediating and moderating effects of moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy at the individual and class levels, and their cross-level interaction. A total of 1310 children in grades 4-6 completed our questionnaire survey at four-time points between October and December in 2021. The questionnaires include the Scale of Perceived Social Support (T1), Moral Disengagement Scale (T2), Defender Self-Efficacy Scale (T3), and Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire (T4). The multilevel moderated mediating model results show that (1) social support negatively predicts reinforcer and outsider behavior and positively predicts defender behavior; (2) defender self-efficacy plays a mediating role between social support and defender behavior, moral disengagement plays a mediating role between social support and bystander behaviors, and defender self-efficacy and moral disengagement play a chain mediation role between social support and bystander behavior; (3a) class-level defender self-efficacy has a direct impact on defender behavior and moderates the relationship between individual defender self-efficacy and reinforcer behavior; and (3b) class-level moral disengagement has a direct impact on defender and outsider behavior and a cross-level moderated role between individual moral disengagement and reinforcer behavior. These results show that the individual and class level defender self-efficacy and moral disengagement can influence the bystander behavior of primary school students, which is of great significance for schools to develop anti-bullying moral education courses and design measures to improve students' anti-bullying self-efficacy.

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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.

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Abstract This study examines the influence of social support on bystander behaviors, the mediating and moderating effects of moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy at the individual and class levels, and their cross-level interaction. A total of 1310 children in grades 4-6 completed our questionnaire survey at four-time points between October and December in 2021. The questionnaires include the Scale of Perceived Social Support (T1), Moral Disengagement Scale (T2), Defender Self-Efficacy Scale (T3), and Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire (T4). The multilevel moderated mediating model results show that (1) social support negatively predicts reinforcer and outsider behavior and positively predicts defender behavior; (2) defender self-efficacy plays a mediating role between social support and defender behavior, moral disengagement plays a mediating role between social support and bystander behaviors, and defender self-efficacy and moral disengagement play a chain mediation role between social support and bystander behavior; (3a) class-level defender self-efficacy has a direct impact on defender behavior and moderates the relationship between individual defender self-efficacy and reinforcer behavior; and (3b) class-level moral disengagement has a direct impact on defender and outsider behavior and a cross-level moderated role between individual moral disengagement and reinforcer behavior. These results show that the individual and class level defender self-efficacy and moral disengagement can influence the bystander behavior of primary school students, which is of great significance for schools to develop anti-bullying moral education courses and design measures to improve students' anti-bullying self-efficacy.

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Resumen Introducción: Un creciente número de estudios han demostrado vínculos consistentes entre la teoría de la desvinculación moral de Bandura y los comportamientos disruptivos e inhumanos. Recientemente se han explorado las relaciones directas e indirectas de la desvinculación moral con el acoso escolar, el ciberacoso y otros comportamientos agresivos en niños(as) y adolescentes, lo cual amerita una revisión de los principales hallazgos. Objetivo: Revisar la literatura y evidencia empírica sobre el efecto de la desvinculación moral en la participación de niños(as) y adolescentes en el acoso escolar, el ciberacoso y otros comportamientos agresivos. Método: Se trató de un estudio de revisión documental. La búsqueda bibliográfica se efectuó en la Web of Science. Se incluyeron 45 estudios empíricos para el análisis. Resultados: Se encontró que la desvinculación moral y sus diferentes estrategias sociocognitivas tienen efectos directos e indirectos que predicen la participación de niños(as) y adolescente en el acoso escolar, el ciberacoso, comportamientos agresivos y antisociales. Adicionalmente, la empatía, las relaciones de amistad, la crianza, las tendencias prosociales, la ira y los rasgos insensibles-no emocionales son factores que, en conjunto, contribuyen al desarrollo, mantenimiento o disminución de conductas de acoso y ciberacoso. También se reportó que los hombres presentan una mayor tendencia que las mujeres al acoso escolar, el ciberacoso, la agresión y uso de la desvinculación moral. Conclusiones: Se señala la importancia de los procesos de cognición moral para el desarrollo de estrategias de intervención psicoeducativa y psicosocial destinadas a prevenir y reducir el acoso y ciberacoso en niños(as) y adolescentes.

Abstract Introduction: A growing number of studies have demonstrated consistent links between Bandura's moral disengagement theory and disruptive and inhumane behaviors. The direct and indirect relation- ships of moral disengagement with bullying, cyberbullying, and other aggressive behaviors in children and adolescents have recently been explored, ensuring a review of key findings. Objective: To review the literature and empirical evidence on the effect of moral disengagement on children's and adolescents' engagement in bullying, cyberbullying, and other aggressive behaviors. Method: This was a documentary review study. The literature search was carried out in the Web of Science. Forty-five empirical studies were included for analysis. Results: Were found that moral disengagement and its different socio-cognitive strategies have direct and indirect effects that predict child and adolescent involvement in bullying, cyberbullying, aggressive and antisocial behaviors. Additionally, empathy, friendship relationships, parenting, prosocial tendencies, anger and callous-unemotional traits are factors that together contribute to the development, maintenance or decrease of bullying and cyberbullying behaviors. It was also reported that males present a greater tendency than females to bullying, cyberbullying, aggression, and use of moral disengagement. Conclusions: The importance of moral cognition processes for the development of psychoeducational and psychosocial intervention strategies aimed at preventing and reducing bullying and cyberbullying in children and adolescents is pointed out.

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Resumen Introducción: La Organización Mundial de la Salud indica que es necesario eliminar los valores, las actitudes y los estereotipos basados en el género que afectan la salud y el bienestar de las niñas y mujeres en el mundo. Desde la psicología de la personalidad, algunos trabajos científicos han demostrado que rasgos como la triada oscura de la personalidad (maquiavelismo, psicopatía y narcisismo) y la desconexión moral aumentan la susceptibilidad al sesgo de género, la amenaza y la agresión interpersonal. Como contribución al diseño de un perfil personológico propenso a aceptar y justificar las actitudes sexistas, el objetivo principal de este trabajo fue estudiar el rol mediador de la desconexión moral entre la triada oscura de la personalidad y el sexismo ambivalente en adolescentes. Método: La muestra estuvo compuesta por 803 adolescentes (M = 15.33, DT = 0.99; 50.3% chicos) tras utilizar un muestreo por conveniencia para realizar un análisis de la varianza y la comparación de varios modelos mediacionales a partir de la técnica de bootstrapping. Resultados: Los rasgos de la triada oscura de la personalidad se relacionan directa y significativamente con el sexismo hostil y benevolente de los/as adolescentes, y la desconexión moral tiene un efecto mediador importante en esta relación. Conclusiones: Finalmente, se discute cómo trabajar la desconexión moral para la transformación de estas creencias y actitudes de género que perpetúan la discriminación hacia las adolescentes en programas de prevención.

Abstract Introduction: The World Health Organization indicates that gender-based values, attitudes and stereotypes that affect the health and well-being of girls and women around the world need to be eliminated. From personality psychology, scientific studies have shown that traits such as the dark personality triad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) and moral disengagement increase susceptibility to gender bias, threat, and interpersonal aggression. As a contribution to the design of a personological profile prone to accept and justify sexist attitudes, the main aim of this paper was to study the mediating role of moral disengagement between the dark personality triad and ambivalent sexism in a sample of adolescents. Methods: The sample consisted of 803 adolescents (M = 15.33, SD = 0.99; 50.3% boys) using convenience sampling to assess ambivalent sexism, dark personality triad and moral disengagement. An analysis of variance and comparison of various mediational models was carried out using the bootstrapping technique. Results: The dark personality triad traits are directly and significantly related to adolescents' hostile and benevolent sexism, and that moral disengagement has a relevant mediating effect on this relationship. Conclusions: Finally, the implications of these findings for the transformation of these gendered beliefs and attitudes that perpetuate discrimination against girls and women are discussed in relation with prevention programs.

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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.

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This study aims to find causal factors of aggression in a group of Latino adolescents to achieve a greater understanding of human nature, taking into account personal and contextual variables. The fundamental hypothesis is that moral disengagement, personality traits, self-esteem, values, parenting, sex, and socioeconomic situation can function as possible casual factors of aggression in adolescents. The study examined the variables using the structural equations model (SEM) to determine causal factors of aggression in a sample of 827 adolescents (54% men and 46% women) between 11 and 16 years of age. According to the scientific literature review, sociodemographic, personal, and familiar variables were included in the causal model. The influence of the variables occurred in two ways: one that inhibits aggression and the other that reinforces it. The results are discussed based on identifying protective and risk factors against aggression: biological sex and values of conformity and transcendence as aggression's inhibitors and, on the other hand, openness, moral disengagement, and leadership values as the most important predictors of aggression.

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We analyzed gender and anxiety differences in middle school students facing a physical peer aggression situation. The participants were 1147 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (male: n = 479; female: n = 668) who watched a 12 s animation representing the situation and filled out a questionnaire to analyze the legitimation of violent behaviors and anxiety levels. We registered their decisions to solve the situation using a categorical scale that included assertive, avoidant, aggressive, submissive, and supportive behaviors. Gender was not associated with the adolescent's behaviors in facing a simulated peer aggression situation. However, male teenagers tended to perceive adults as sanctioners and neutrals; those who used the diffusion of responsibility and dehumanization to justify their behavior also showed a higher state of anxiety. Female teenagers who expected legitimation from their peers, presented higher anxiety as well. Educational interventions may use these results, helping adolescents to understand that their acts have substantial implications in the lives of others. It is essential to develop group interventions that modify how adolescents manage their conflicts and change gender stereotypes that significantly impact health. We highlight the need for linking families in educational programs facing the challenges of transforming the legitimization of violence in parental practices.