Aggression, Moral Disengagement and Empathy. A Longitudinal Study Within the Interpersonal Dynamics of Bullying

Abstract

Moral disengagement and empathy have been linked to aggression in traditional bullying. A number of longitudinal studies have focused on how these variables predict aggressive behavior within the dynamics of bullying. However, no conclusive results have been produced as to whether aggressive behavior in bullying can predict lower levels of empathy, and to date, no studies have explored in depth the mediating role of moral disengagement strategies in this relationship, which is the aim of this study. A total of 1,810 students (51.0% girls; Mage = 14.50; SD = 1.05) completed a survey in three waves at 6-month intervals. The results showed that aggressive behavior in bullying at Time 1 was inversely related to affective and cognitive empathy at Time 3. Minimization of responsibility, distortion of consequences and dehumanizing mediated in the aggressive behavior exhibited by the bullying aggressors and in cognitive empathy, while cognitive restructuring and the distortion of consequences mediated in affective empathy. We discuss the impact on moral and emotional sensitivity of the continued aggression occurring in the interpersonal dynamics of bullying, as well as the relationship between certain strategies of moral disengagement and the different types of empathy. We also comment on the need to design intervention programs to address the lowering of moral criteria and empathy in young people and adolescents involved in traditional bullying.

Desconexión moral cívica, empatía y actitudes de futuros docentes hacia la diversidad cultural

“…La segunda hipótesis fue confirmada. La empatía afectiva y cognitiva, cuya relación con las estrategias de autoengaño moral y otros fenómenos de agresividad ya había sido probada en estudios longitudinales con escolares (Falla et al, 2021), mediaron significativamente en la relación entre la desconexión moral cívica y las actitudes hacia la diversidad cultural. Por tanto, estos hallazgos confirman las complejas relaciones existentes entre la empatía y la moralidad (Chen et al, 2018).…”

“…Investigaciones previas señalan que los individuos que muestran mayores niveles de desconexión moral tendrán, a su vez, más probabilidades de manifestar una baja capacidad empática, tanto afectiva como cognitiva (Haddock y Jimerson, 2017). Ciertos estudios han evidenciado que la empatía cognitiva se predice por mecanismos de autoexoneración asociados a la minimización de la responsabilidad, la distorsión de las consecuencias y la deshumanización, mientras que las estrategias de reestructuración cognitiva y distorsión de las consecuencias influyen en la empatía afectiva (Falla et al, 2021).…”

“…H2: Sobre la base de estudios relativos a la relación que tiene la empatía y el desarrollo moral y prosocial (Falla et al, 2021;Haddock y Jimerson, 2017), se planteó la hipótesis de que la empatía afectiva y cognitiva mediarían significativamente en la asociación entre la desconexión moral cívica y las actitudes hacia la diversidad cultural.…”

Did They Deserve It? Adolescents’ Perception of Online Harassment in a Real-Case Scenario

“…Interestingly, several studies on young victims of cyberbullying [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ] have also found that adolescents tend to use moral justification as a way to empathize with their aggressors to protect their self-esteem, which could occur in victims of non-consensual intimate image sharing. Cyberbullying and non-consensual sharing of intimate images occur more among adolescents and young adults than older adults, often with females as victims [ 45 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ], but non-consensual sharing of intimate images might be more evenly distributed among genders [ 55 , 56 ].…”

Effects of Integrated Moral Reasoning Development Intervention for Management of Violence in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Moral reasoning consistently predicts risky behaviors in why some individuals decide to engage or not engage in risky behaviors [ 30 ]. Similarly, different patterns of violence are associated with different levels of moral disengagement [ 31 ]. The levels of moral maturity may contribute to correct and preferable decision-making to increasing exhibition of an undesired behavior, as compared to egocentric action.…”