Moral Disengagement, Normative Beliefs of Peer Group, and Attitudes Regarding Roles in Bullying

Bystanders to bullying: fourth- to seventh-grade students’ perspectives on their reactions

“…If the school uses a peer support system, the risk of responsibility transfer among students has to be addressed. The current findings also support previous research (Almedia, Correia & Marinho, 2010;Gini, 2006;Obermann, 2011;Thornberg & Jungert, 2013), which concludes the importance of making students aware of and counteracting the mechanisms of moral disengagement in bystander situations.…”

The Role of Moral Disengagement in the Associations Between Children's Social Goals and Aggression

“…However, a growing body of work examining moral disengagement in children highlights the role of this unique form of social cognition in predicting social behavior, particularly bullying and aggression. Specifically, research has demonstrated that children with higher levels of moral disengagement are more likely to aggress against peers (e.g., Obermann, 2011;Paciello, Fida, Tramontano, Lupinetti, & Caprara, 2008) and report more positive attitudes toward aggression (Almeida, Correia, & Marinho, 2010).…”

Unique and Interactive Effects of Moral Emotions and Moral Disengagement on Bullying and Defending among School Children

“…Previous studies have found the link between moral disengagement and different moral emotions. For example, moral disengagement has been negatively associated with empathy (Almeida, Correia, & Marinho, 2010;Barriga, Sullivan-Cosetti, & Gibbs, 2009;Hyde et al, 2010) and feelings of guilt regarding moral transgressions (Bandura et al, 1996;. In Obermann's (2011b) study, so-called "unconcerned passive bystanders" displayed a higher level of moral disengagement compared with defenders and "guilty passive bystanders."…”