Department of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Aggress Behav. 2010 Mar-Apr;36(2):81-94. doi: 10.1002/ab.20336.
This study investigated the relationship between cognitive mechanisms, applied by people to rationalize and justify harmful acts, and engagement in traditional peer and cyber aggression among school children. We examined the contribution of moral disengagement (MD), hostile attribution bias, and outcome expectancies, and we further explored the individual contribution of each MD mechanism. Our aim was to identify shared and unique cognitive factors of the two forms of aggression. Three hundred and thirty-nine secondary school children completed self-report measures that assessed MD, hostile attribution bias, outcome expectancies, and their roles and involvement in traditional and cyber aggression. We found that the MD total score positively related to both forms of peer-directed aggression. Furthermore, traditional peer aggression positively related to children's moral justification, euphemistic language, displacement of responsibility and outcome expectancies, and negatively associated with hostile attribution bias. Moral justification also related positively to cyber aggression. Cyber aggression and cyber victimization were associated with high levels of traditional peer aggression and victimization, respectively. The results suggest that MD is a common feature of both traditional and cyber peer aggression, but it seems that traditional forms of aggression demand a higher level of rationalization or justification. Moreover, the data suggest that the expectation of positive outcomes from harmful behavior facilitates engagement in traditional peer aggression. The differential contribution of specific cognitive mechanisms indicates the need for future research to elaborate on the current findings, in order to advance theory and inform existing and future school interventions tackling aggression and bullying.
本研究调查了人们用于合理化和证明有害行为的认知机制与儿童参与传统同伴和网络攻击之间的关系。我们检验了道德脱离（MD）、敌意归因偏差和结果预期的作用，并进一步探讨了每个 MD 机制的个体作用。我们的目的是确定这两种形式的攻击的共同和独特的认知因素。339 名中学生完成了自我报告的测量，这些测量评估了 MD、敌意归因偏差、结果预期以及他们在传统和网络攻击中的角色和参与度。我们发现 MD 总分与两种形式的同伴定向攻击都呈正相关。此外，传统的同伴攻击与儿童的道德合理化、委婉语、责任转移和结果预期呈正相关，与敌意归因偏差呈负相关。道德合理化也与网络攻击呈正相关。网络攻击和网络受害分别与高水平的传统同伴攻击和受害有关。研究结果表明，MD 是传统和网络同伴攻击的共同特征，但似乎传统形式的攻击需要更高水平的合理化或证明。此外，数据表明，对有害行为的积极结果的期望促进了传统同伴攻击的参与。特定认知机制的差异贡献表明需要进一步研究来阐述当前的发现，以推进理论并为现有的和未来的学校干预措施提供信息，这些措施涉及攻击和欺凌行为。
