Personality Factors and Civic Moral Disengagement in Law and Psychology University Students

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to clarify the different use of the civic moral disengagement between psychology and law university students, and the impact of personality factors on the use of these mechanisms depending on the course of study. Participants were randomly recruited from their academic places at the University of Catania, Sicily (Italy) and balanced on type of degree course, 82 students attending to the psychology degree course and 76 students attending to the law degree course. We used the Moral Disengagement Scale and Big Five Questionnaire for adults. Results showed that university students attending to the psychology course used the mechanisms of moral disengagement more than those attending to the law course, and law students were more emotionally stable and careful to details than psychology students. Boys used the mechanisms of moral disengagement and were more emotionally stable, open to experiences, and less agreeable than girls. Future researches will investigate the influence of personality factors on the mechanisms of moral disengagement in relation to other constructs, such as locus of control, prosocial moral reasoning, and emotional intelligence.