IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i3p1000-d485740.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement in the Transition from Cybergossip to Cyberaggression: A Longitudinal Study

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Falla

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad de Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Rosario Ortega-Ruiz

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad de Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Eva M. Romera

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad de Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

Abstract

The internet is an area where young people establish relationships and develop socially, emotionally and morally, but it also gives rise to certain forms of online behaviour, such as cybergossip, which are associated with cyberaggression and other risky behaviour. The aims of this study were to verify whether a longitudinal association exists between cybergossip and cyberaggression, and to discover which mechanisms of moral disengagement may mediate this relationship. The final sample consisted of 1392 students (50% girls; M age = 13.47; SD = 0.77), who were surveyed in a three-wave longitudinal study at six-month intervals. The results obtained confirmed a direct, positive relationship between cybergossip, subsequent cyberaggression and the mediation exerted by cognitive restructuring in this transition. We discuss the importance of recognizing and detecting the fine distinction between online gossip and cyberaggression with the intention of doing harm, and focus on the justifications used by young people to normalize online bullying. To sum up, there is a clear need to encourage ethical, responsible behaviour in online interactions in order to achieve well-balanced, more sustainable relationships in classrooms.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Falla & Rosario Ortega-Ruiz & Eva M. Romera, 2021. "Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement in the Transition from Cybergossip to Cyberaggression: A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-12, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:1000-:d:485740
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1000/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1000/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yang, Xiaohui & Wang, Zhenhong & Chen, Huan & Liu, Danni, 2018. "Cyberbullying perpetration among Chinese adolescents: The role of interparental conflict, moral disengagement, and moral identity," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 256-263.
    2. Amy Orben & Andrew K. Przybylski, 2019. "The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 173-182, February.
    3. Cynthia Van Hee & Gilles Jacobs & Chris Emmery & Bart Desmet & Els Lefever & Ben Verhoeven & Guy De Pauw & Walter Daelemans & Véronique Hoste, 2018. "Automatic detection of cyberbullying in social media text," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Juan de D. Benítez-Sillero & José M. Armada Crespo & Esther Ruiz Córdoba & Javier Raya-González, 2021. "Relationship between Amount, Type, Enjoyment of Physical Activity and Physical Education Performance with Cyberbullying in Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Andrés Concha-Salgado & Angélica Ramírez & Beatriz Pérez & Ricardo Pérez-Luco & Eduardo García-Cueto, 2022. "Moral Disengagement as a Self-Regulatory Cognitive Process of Transgressions: Psychometric Evidence of the Bandura Scale in Chilean Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-25, September.
    3. Haukur Freyr Gylfason & Anita Hrund Sveinsdottir & Vaka Vésteinsdóttir & Rannveig Sigurvinsdottir, 2021. "Haters Gonna Hate, Trolls Gonna Troll: The Personality Profile of a Facebook Troll," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-11, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Omar Hegazi & Samer Alalalmeh & Ahmad Alfaresi & Soheil Dashtinezhad & Ahmed Bahada & Moyad Shahwan & Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun & Tesleem K. Babalola & Haya Yasin, 2022. "Development, Validation, and Utilization of a Social Media Use and Mental Health Questionnaire among Middle Eastern and Western Adults: A Pilot Study from the UAE," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Silvia Gabrielli & Silvia Rizzi & Sara Carbone & Enrico Maria Piras, 2021. "School Interventions for Bullying–Cyberbullying Prevention in Adolescents: Insights from the UPRIGHT and CREEP Projects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Carlos Carrasco-Farré, 2022. "The fingerprints of misinformation: how deceptive content differs from reliable sources in terms of cognitive effort and appeal to emotions," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Amgad Muneer & Suliman Mohamed Fati, 2020. "A Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques for Cyberbullying Detection on Twitter," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Gülsen Erden & Asil Ali Özdoğru & Sami Çoksan & Hale Ögel-Balaban & Yakup Azak & İlkiz Altınoğlu-Dikmeer & Aysun Ergül-Topçu & Yeşim Yasak & Gözde Kıral-Uçar & Seda Oktay & Pelin Karaca-Dinç & Ezgi Di, 2022. "Social Contact, Academic Satisfaction, COVID-19 Knowledge, and Subjective Well-being Among Students at Turkish Universities: a Nine-University Sample," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2017-2039, August.
    6. Amy Orben & Andrew K. Przybylski & Sarah-Jayne Blakemore & Rogier A. Kievit, 2022. "Windows of developmental sensitivity to social media," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Vowels Matthew J., 2024. "Typical Yet Unlikely and Normally Abnormal: The Intuition Behind High-Dimensional Statistics," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 87-113, March.
    8. Xiongkai Tan & Sha Zhang & Ruichen Ge & Hong Zhao, 2024. "Connectivity in crisis: the contrasting roles of mobile and non-mobile Internet on subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Laura R. Persky & Janet L. Walsh & Ken Pinnock, 2023. "Creating Positive Workplace Culture To Reduce Workplace Bullying," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 17(1), pages 43-53.
    10. Xiao, ZhiMin, 2017. "Of young people and Internet cafés," SocArXiv 2d8rz, Center for Open Science.
    11. Schneider, Sebastian O. & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Higher Order Risk Preferences: Experimental Measures, Determinants and Related Field Behavior," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224643, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland & Viktor Schønning & Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan & Randi Træland Hella & Jens Christoffer Skogen, 2021. "Pupils’ Use of Social Media and Its Relation to Mental Health from a School Personnel Perspective: A Preliminary Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-15, August.
    13. Zhiyou Wang & Chunkai Li & Kaikai Ai, 2022. "Family Economic Strain and Adolescent Aggression during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Roles of Interparental Conflict and Parent–Child Conflict," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2369-2385, August.
    14. Ahmad, Amal, 2022. "Imperfect information and learning: Evidence from cotton cultivation in Pakistan," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 176-204.
    15. Shuaa A. Aljasir & Maisoon O. Alsebaei, 2022. "Cyberbullying and cybervictimization on digital media platforms: the role of demographic variables and parental mediation strategies," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    16. Nate Breznau & Eike Mark Rinke & Alexander Wuttke & Hung H. V. Nguyen & Muna Adem & Jule Adriaans & Amalia Alvarez-Benjumea & Henrik K. Andersen & Daniel Auer & Flavio Azevedo & Oke Bahnsen & Dave Bal, 2022. "Observing many researchers using the same data and hypothesis reveals a hidden universe of uncertainty," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(44), pages 2203150119-, November.
    17. Herrero, Juan & Rodríguez, Francisco J. & Urueña, Alberto, 2023. "Use of smartphone apps for mobile communication and social digital pressure: A longitudinal panel study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    18. Cecilia M. S. Ma, 2022. "Relationships between Social Networking Sites Use and Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role of Gender," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-11, September.
    19. Aaron Haddock & Nadia Ward & Rondy Yu & Nicole O’Dea, 2022. "Positive Effects of Digital Technology Use by Adolescents: A Scoping Review of the Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Lieberman, Alicea & Schroeder, Juliana & Amir, On, 2022. "A voice inside my head: The psychological and behavioral consequences of auditory technologies," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:1000-:d:485740. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.