How Social Support Affects Moral Disengagement: the Role of Anger And Hostility

Abstract

We investigated the mediating roles of anger and hostility in the relationship between social support and moral disengagement. Participants were 315 college students who completed the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Aggression Questionnaire to assess anger and hostility, and the Moral Disengagement Questionnaire. Multiple mediation analysis results indicated that high levels of anger and hostility were associated with low levels of social support and high levels of moral disengagement. In addition, the total indirect effects and specific indirect effect of social support on moral disengagement through anger and hostility were all significant, suggesting that anger and hostility mediated the relationship between social support and moral disengagement. Implications of these findings are discussed.