Moral Disengagement Research Articles

Moral Engagement in Design: Five Considerations for Unpacking the Ethical Dimensions of Design Methods

Abstract What society experiences today as morally questionable design—from gendered toys for children to public benches that prevent sleeping—can be considered the aftermath of an underdeveloped foundation for systematic ethical reflection in design methodologies. Although designing is an inherently moral activity, research on how to recognize and handle ethical questions and moral dilemmas in early (conceptual) design activities is scarce. In this article, we use an interdisciplinary lens to analyze and respond to the challenges of bridging moral psychology, ethics of technology, and design methodologies. For this, we introduce the concept of moral engagement in design, which is inspired by Moral Disengagement Theory. Finally, we propose five preliminary considerations for enacting moral engagement in design practices. These considerations form an interdisciplinary bridge to help us reflect on the moral dimensions of methodological choices in conceptual design practices.

Perceived over Qualification and Cyber Loafing: Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and Moderating Role of Moral Identity

Perceived over Qualification and Cyber Loafing: Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and Moderating Role of Moral Identity

Making our groups better? The roles of moral disengagement and group identification in the learning of pro‐group unethical behaviour

AbstractPro‐group unethical behaviour (PGUB) refers to a set of behaviours that conflict with moral standards but are beneficial to the interests of an actor's workgroup. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this research investigates whether, how, and when perceived co‐worker PGUB leads employees to engage in the same unethical behaviour. We propose that moral disengagement is a crucial mechanism through which PGUB is transmitted from co‐workers to employees and that this relationship is further amplified by employees' group identification. The results of three field studies featuring different samples consistently highlight the mediating role of moral disengagement in the relationship between perceived co‐worker PGUB and employee PGUB. Furthermore, employees who identify strongly with their workgroup are more likely to exhibit moral disengagement and learn their co‐workers' PGUB than are employees with low group identification. The findings of this research provide insights for both theory and practice.

Exploring The Characteristics of Cyberbullied TikTokers Based on Their Ethnicity

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the motivations of cyberbullies and characteristics of cyberbullying on TikTok. Past research explains that a key indicator of cyberbullying is moral disengagement. Researchers found that the lack of empathy is a factor in cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can negatively influence the mental health of people according to research, and is oftentimes correlated with depression. However, these studies only focus on social media as a whole and do not highlight the comment culture of TikTok and the content of these comments. Therefore, a content analysis was conducted to analyze the words and creators used to convey hate. This study answered the following research question: “What are the characteristics of cyberbullying on TikTok based on the comments left on the content creator's posts?” The sample was selected through purposeful random sampling and the participants were split into two groups: the content creators and the commenters. There were 7 content creators and 37 comments. The content of the comments were coded and organized into eleven relevant codes. These codes were then categorized into three themes: Comments Regarding Creators’ Appearance, Comments Regarding Creators’ Intellect, and Comments Impacting the Creators’ Psychological Well-Being. To ensure the validity of this study the codes were peer reviewed and rich thick descriptions are provided to uphold the integrity of these comments. Commenters mainly used mockery as a way to humble content creators especially when the content creators were trying to uplift themes. The majority of these commenters utilize profile pictures that did represent themselves most likely to avoid the consequences of their comments. The population most comfortable commenting as themselves was black women, especially when it was under posts of other black women. The demographics of this study was limited and would be best if there was more diversity, the nature of comment sections based on ethnicities could have an influence on the hate comments. This study could be useful for the education system and parents because they deal with adolescents who may be experiencing cyberbullying on the popular social media site, TikTok.

Moral foundations, moral emotions, and moral distress in NICU nurses.

Background: Moral distress is common in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between NICU nurses' moral foundations, moral emotions, and moral distress. Research design and method: This is an observational cross-sectional self-report questionnaire study. Participants and research context: One hundred and forty-two (24%) of 585 Level 3-4 NICU nurses completed pen-and-paper self-report measures of moral foundations (harm, fairness, ingroup, authority, and purity) (Moral Foundations Questionnaire-20), proneness to self-conscious moral emotions (guilt and shame) (modified Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2), and moral distress (futile care, compromised care, and untruthful care) (modified Revised Moral Distress Scale). Ethical considerations: Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The ethics committees of the participating hospitals approved the study protocol (HREC Reference: LNR/18/SCHN/316). Results: Non-parametric statistical analyses showed medium to large correlations between moral foundations and moral emotions. Moral foundations and moral emotions had trivial to small correlations with moral distress. Using a liberal p-value of <.10 for statistical significance because of the small sample size, harm (rs = 0.22) and fairness (rs = 0.16) predicted futile care, ingroup predicted compromised care (rs = 0.19) and untruthful care (rs = 0.15), and purity predicted untruthful care (rs = 0.15). Guilt-proneness predicted futile care (rs = 0.15). Shame-proneness did not predict moral distress. Conclusion: The correlations between moral foundations and moral emotions were significant. Moral foundations and guilt-proneness predicted one or more dimensions of moral distress. The smaller than expected effect sizes may have been owing to how moral foundations, moral emotions, and moral distress were conceptualized and measured, or to moral disengagement, including NICU nurses' possible reluctance to countenance aversive but morally warranted feelings of guilt and especially shame. Understanding the nature of these relationships may complement the efforts of NICU administrators, educators, counsellors, and nurses themselves to mitigate moral distress.

Is Online Disinhibition Related to Cyberdating Abuse Perpetration through Moral Disengagement? The Moderating Role of Gender, Sexism, and Cybervictimization

Evidence suggests that online disinhibition enhances the likelihood of perpetrating cyberbullying by increasing moral disengagement; however, these psychological mechanisms have not been examined in the context of cyberdating abuse. In the current study (N = 362), we examined whether online disinhibition would predict more frequent direct cyberaggression toward a partner through greater moral disengagement, and explored the moderating role of gender, sexism, and past experiences of cyberdating abuse victimization. The results indicated that online disinhibition was positively correlated with moral disengagement, which in turn predicted more frequent direct cyberaggression toward partners. In addition, participants' gender and past experiences of cyberdating abuse victimization moderated this relationship: (a) more online disinhibition was associated with greater moral disengagement in men (vs. women), which in turn predicted more direct cyberaggression toward partners and (b) more online disinhibition was linked to greater moral disengagement, which in turn predicted more direct cyberaggression perpetration toward partners among individuals with frequent past victimization experiences (vs. low past victimization experiences). These findings highlight online disinhibition and moral disengagement as potential risk factors that may heighten direct cyberaggression against partners, as well as enhance our understanding of the circumstances determining its occurrence. Scholars and practitioners may use this work to develop and test psychoeducational programs to prevent cyberdating abuse through mitigating the occurrence of these disinhibiting factors in romantic.

Concurrent Associations Between Callous-Unemotional Traits, Moral Disengagement, and Bullying Perpetration in Adolescence

The aim of the current study was twofold. The first aim was to examine whether callous-unemotional (CU) traits are directly related to moral disengagement and bullying perpetration as well as whether CU traits are indirectly related to bullying perpetration mediated by moral disengagement among adolescents. The second aim was to examine whether the three distinct dimensions of CU—callousness, uncaringness, and unemotionality—are directly related to moral disengagement and bullying perpetration, as well as whether they are indirectly related to bullying perpetration mediated by moral disengagement among adolescents. Self-report survey data from 706 adolescents ( Mage = 14.5) from 20 schools in Sweden were gathered and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that CU traits were positively and directly linked to bullying perpetration, but also indirectly mediated by moral disengagement. Similarly, callousness and uncaringness showed direct and indirect associations with bullying perpetration, whereas unemotionality was found to be only indirectly associated with bullying perpetration. Unemotionality had the weakest connection to moral disengagement and was not directly related to bullying perpetration, whereas callousness, in particular, but also uncaringness, had stronger connections to moral disengagement and bullying perpetration. In sum, the findings underscore the importance of explicitly integrating moral considerations into endeavors aimed at preventing school bullying among adolescents.

Basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement, and defender self-efficacy as predictors of students' self-reported bystander behaviors over a school year: a growth curve analysis.

Though school children tend to view peer victimization as morally wrong most do not to intervene on the victim's behalf and some instead choose to aid the victimizer. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate how students' defending and pro-aggressive bystander behaviors evolved over the course of one school year and their association to basic moral sensitivity, moral disengagement, and defender self-efficacy. Three-hundred-fifty-three upper elementary school students (55% girls; 9.9-12.9 years of age) each completed self-report surveys at three points during one school year. Results from latent growth curve models showed that pro-aggressive bystander behavior remained stable over the year, whereas defending behavior decreased. Moreover, students who exhibited greater basic moral sensitivity were both less likely to be pro-aggressive and simultaneously more likely to defend. Students with defender self-efficacy were not only associated with more defending behavior at baseline but also were also less likely to decrease in defender behavior over time. Conversely, students reporting a higher degree of moral disengagement were linked to more pro-aggressive behavior, particularly when also reporting lower basic moral sensitivity. These short-term longitudinal results add important insight into the change in bystander behavior over time and how it relates to students' sense of morality. The results also highlight the practical necessity for schools to nurture students' sense of morality and prosocial behavior in their efforts to curb peer victimization.

Does perceived greenwashing promote or inhibit ethical voice? Effects of moral disengagement and perceived competitive pressure

Based on the social cognitive theory of morality and considering employees’ perspectives, we build and test a mediated moderation model in which perceived greenwashing interacts with perceived inter-organizational competitive pressure to affect ethical voice through moral disengagement. We conducted a multisource time-lagged organizational field survey (Study 1) and two vignette-based experiments (Study 2 and 3) to test our hypotheses. Results show that perceived greenwashing negatively (positively) affects ethical voice through moral disengagement under high (low) perceptions of competitive pressure. Studies have indicated that when employees feel that their organizations are under greater competitive pressure, stress may cause them to suppress their objections to greenwashing through moral disengagement. These findings have implications for the social cognitive theory of morality and managers who aim to encourage ethical voice and discourage moral disengagement.

Can the dark core of personality be measured briefly, multidimensionally, and invariantly? The D25 measure

The dark core of personality is a recent construct that encompasses the malevolent, antagonistic, and aversive side of human nature that represents the common inner core of dark personality traits. The aim of the present study is to develop a short, multidimensional, and invariant version of the dark core of personality D70 measure. Two samples of participants were used in the current study (N = 570, M = 35.42 years, SD = 11.41, range = 18–69; N = 242, M = 30.19 years, SD = 12.78, range = 16–77). The new D25 measure was developed, consisting of five factors – Callousness, Deceitfulness, Vindictiveness, Narcissistic Entitlement, and Sadism. All the structural models examined obtained adequate fits (1-factor, 5-factor, 5-factor bifactor, 5-factor 2nd order), but the 5-factor 2nd order model was considered the best option. Internal consistency/reliability, as measured by the alpha and omega coefficients and more traditional indicators, was mainly good. Construct validity (e.g., with moral disengagement, low self-control, and empathy measures) and criterion-related validity (e.g., with justice-involvement variables) were demonstrated. Scalar measurement invariance across gender and age was established, with male participants and younger participants scoring significantly higher than female participants and older participants. The findings provide support for the use of the D25 as a valid and reliable short multidimensional measure of the dark core of personality construct.

Understanding the moral cognition of aggression: Longitudinal serial effects of personal relative deprivation and hostility on within-person changes in civic moral disengagement.

Moral disengagement is an important aggressive and moral cognition. The mechanisms of changes in moral disengagement remain unclear, especially at the within-person level. We attempted to clarify this by exploring the serial effects of personal relative deprivation and hostility on civic moral disengagement. We conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey with 1058 undergraduates (63.61% women; mean age = 20.97). The results of the random intercept cross-lagged panel model showed that personal relative deprivation at Wave 1 and hostility at Wave 2 formed a serial effect on the within-person changes in civic moral disengagement at Wave 3, and the longitudinal indirect effect test showed that the within-person dynamics in hostility at Wave 2 acted as a mediator. The results of multiple group analysis across genders further showed that the longitudinal indirect role of hostility at Wave 2 was only observed for men, but not for women, which indicates the moderating effect of gender. These findings facilitate an understanding of the mechanisms of aggressive cognitions at the within-person level and offer implications for the prevention and intervention of aggression from the perspective of moral cognition.

Should I do this? Incongruence in the face of conflicting moral and role expectations

Moral incongruence—a misalignment between professional role expectations and personal moral values—is an important phenomenon in modern organizations. Though scholarly work has provided us with insights into broad forms of role incongruence, much less is known about the distinct characteristics of moral incongruence. Moreover, we lack understanding of how moral incongruence may shape employee attitudes and behaviors. Drawing on deonance theory and socio-cognitive theory, we develop a model explaining the role of moral incongruence in promoting employee prohibitive voice, withdrawal, and unethical role behavior through the mechanisms of moral outrage and moral disengagement. Examining potential boundary conditions, we also consider the roles of moral identity, self-interest, moral intensity, unethical climate, ethical leadership, and organizational identification. Given the ethical implications of moral incongruence and the significance of the phenomenon for organizations, this work has implications for both theory and practice.

Conscience and Compromise: The Struggle of Moral Codes in Business

Abstract This paper investigates the ethical dilemmas faced by consultants when balancing personal morals with professional obligations, using a real-life case study involving a consultant overhearing illegal price-fixing activities. The case highlights the consultant’s internal conflict and the decision to remain silent due to fear of professional repercussions and power dynamics. The analysis discusses violations of the Dutch OOA code of conduct, particularly concerning integrity and professional independence, and explores the ethical frameworks of moral disengagement, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. The paper emphasizes the complexity of moral integrity in consulting and the potential consequences of both action and inaction in ethically challenging situations.

Parental Expectations and Student’s Morality Mediating Role of Frustration Intolerance

This study aimed to examine how student morality was affected by parents’ expectations and the emphasis was on moral disengagement and academic dishonesty. The study further demonstrated the mediating role of frustration intolerance between parental expectations and students’ morality. A sample of students was chosen from various educational institutions (colleges and universities) in the Attock and Wah Cantt districts. For data collection, the researchers used four reliable scales namely, Living up Parental Expectations Inventory (LPEI), Frustration Discomfort Scale (FDS), Moral Disengagement Scale (MDS) and Academic Dishonesty Scale (ADQ). The findings from the research showed that students striving to live according to their parent’s expectations, students frequently indulge in moral disengagement and academic dishonesty. The findings additionally indicated that male students exhibited a greater degree of moral disengagement and academic dishonesty than female students furthermore frustration intolerance partially mediates the relationship between parents’ expectations and the moral behaviour of learners. The study findings suggest that to promote and fortify ethical actions in students, parents' desire needs to be handled effectively. By considering the impact of the pressure of parental expectations on moral disengagement and academic dishonesty, parents and educationists can organise collective efforts to create a supportive atmosphere to encourage integrity and honesty among students in academic settings.

Integrating modern research on social courage via psychological contract theory: direct and interactive effects of work engagement and moral disengagement

PurposeThe current article integrates four prominent directions of modern research on workplace social courage. We (1) apply a novel framework, psychological contract theory, to identify (2) work engagement and moral disengagement as potential antecedents of social courage, (3) unethical pro-organizational behaviors as a possible duplicitous outcome of these antecedents and (4) moderating effects of moral disengagement on the relations of work engagement with these outcomes.Design/methodology/approachWe perform a two-wave survey study (n = 347), wherein antecedents are measured at Time 1 and outcomes are measured at Time 2 (one week later).FindingsWe support that work engagement and moral disengagement significantly relate to both workplace social courage and unethical pro-organizational behaviors. We also support that moral disengagement moderates the relation of work engagement with unethical pro-organizational behaviors but not workplace social courage.Practical implicationsWe highlight that work engagement can be a possible avenue to promote workplace social courage, but organizations should monitor any interventions because it may also promote unethical pro-organizational behaviors for those who are morally disengaged. We also contend that the current results support the “resiliency of courage” by discovering a nonsignificant moderating effect, providing further support for this broadly replicable aspect of workplace social courage.Originality/valueWe discuss how these findings support psychological contract theory as a viable lens to understand workplace social courage, and we call on future researchers to apply the theory to identify further relations of the construct.

Mindfulness as a Moderator Between the Association of Moral Disengagement and Cyberbullying

AbstractCyberbullying has increased in recent years due to the uptake of internet use by youth. One psychological process that has been consistently related to cyberbullying is moral disengagement. It is a process that is used to justify cyberbullying behavior as it enables the perpetration of cyberbullying without the perpetrator feeling guilt or remorse. A factor that may mitigate the use of moral disengagement is self-reflection and calmness that characterizes mindfulness. To address this possibility, this study investigated the role of mindfulness as a moderator of the association between moral disengagement and cyberbullying perpetration. Participants were 586 ethnically diverse youth aged between 10 and 16 years of age. Results revealed that mindfulness moderated the association between moral disengagement and cyberbullying perpetration. The relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying perpetration was weaker at high than at low levels of mindfulness. The findings suggest the potential benefits of including mindfulness training in anti-bullying intervention programs to decrease the prevalence of cyberbullying perpetration.

Failure to morally self-regulate: deindividuation and moral disengagement from pro-environmental behavioural intentions across tourism and home contexts

ABSTRACT This study extends current research on cross-contextual inconsistencies in pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) intentions. We compare the mechanisms influencing PEB intentions in tourism and post-visit home contexts. We find that moral obligation, moral disengagement, and perceived anonymity are consistently linked with PEB intentions in both contexts, but public self-awareness has a substantial impact on PEB intentions only during travel. While public self-awareness does not work consistently in relation to PEB intentions across tourism and home contexts, perceived anonymity has a consistently strong impact on moral disengagement and PEB intentions in both contexts. This study extends previous research on the contextual inconsistency of PEB intentions by elucidating the mechanisms by which deindividuation (anonymity and absence of public self-awareness) may limit PEB intentions through failure of moral self-regulation. This research also contributes to the literature on moral disengagement and deindividuation by demonstrating how the predictive effects of deindividuation components depend on the environment. Our findings will help practitioners and policymakers to devise effective, context-aware strategies to promote sustainable behaviours.

Exploring online deviant behaviour: a study on the impact of internet anonymity on tourists’ exaggerated comments

ABSTRACT The research objectives of this paper are to analyze the role of internet anonymity in customers’ publication of exaggerated online reviews, explore the potential processes of moral disengagement, and study possible moderating and mediating factors. To achieve these objectives, this study conducts a questionnaire survey among 530 internet users and perform regression analysis to test the research model. This test results reveal that internet anonymity has a positive impact on exaggerated online reviews through two moral disengagement mechanisms: advantageous comparison and distorting consequences. Moral identity not only negatively moderates the effect of internet anonymity on advantageous comparison and distorting consequences but also negatively moderates the mediating role of advantageous comparison and distorting consequences between internet anonymity and exaggerated online reviews. This research enriches the findings in the field of fake reviews and value co-destruction in the tourism sector and offers insights for relevant regulatory agencies to improve the online environment.

The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement in the Association Between Maltreatment and Bullying Perpetration: Testing the Differences of Gender and Household Registration

ABSTRACTAlthough previous studies have indicated that adverse childhood experiences profoundly impact children's psychological and behavioural development, comprehensive investigations into the direct and indirect mechanisms through which maltreatment affects bullying perpetration among Chinese children are lacking. This study aims to explore the effect of maltreatment on children's bullying perpetration and the potential mediating role of moral disengagement. Moreover, the gender and household registration differences in the associations are also investigated. Employing a multistage cluster sampling method, 1318 questionnaires were collected (612 males, 706 females, mean age = 15). Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the hypothesized theoretical model. The findings reveal that the experiences of maltreatment in early childhood directly influence children's bullying perpetration, with moral disengagement potentially mediating this association. Furthermore, substantial gender disparities exist in the effect of maltreatment on bullying perpetration, and notable variations based on household registration are observed in the association of maltreatment on children's moral disengagement. These findings enhance our understanding of how childhood maltreatment affects children's bullying perpetration and offer valuable insights for the development of social policy and intervention programmes targeting child maltreatment and school bullying.

The role of moral disengagement and classroom collective efficacy in social support and bystander behavior of elementary school students: A multilevel moderated mediation analysis.

Few studies have examined the process of the relationship between social support and bystander behavior, and previous research has primarily focused on individual- or group-level correlates of bystander behavior without a full understanding of these correlates and their interactions. To address this research gap, the present study examined whether social support and moral disengagement at the individual level, as well as collective efficacy at the classroom level, were associated with bystander behavior in school bullying situations. Questionnaires were administered to 1,310 elementary school students in Grades 4-6 (Mage = 10.97 ± 0.98 years) from 61 classes in the Zhejiang Province of China. Multilevel moderated mediation analyses revealed that higher levels of social support were directly related to more defender behavior and less reinforcer and outsider behavior, and social support was also related to bystander behavior through the indirect role of moral disengagement. In classrooms with higher levels of collective efficacy to stop peer bullying, students tended to show more defender behavior and less outsider behavior. Higher levels of classroom collective efficacy did not moderate the relationship between moral disengagement and defender behavior, although it did inhibit the reinforcer and outsider behaviors of those with high levels of moral disengagement. This study sheds light on the relationship between multiple factors and bystander behavior at both the individual and classroom levels and contributes to the understanding of school bullying in the context of peer group interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).