in: Research Anthology on Combating CyberAggression and Online Negativity, Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, Editor, IGI Global, New York, pp.1444-1458, 2022
The aim of this study is to investigate a mediator role of emphatic tendency in the relationship between
moral disengagement and cyber bullying. The participants comprised 338 Turkish adolescents. The
age of participants ranged between 11 and 18 years. The study data was gathered using the Moral
Disengagement Scale, the Cyber Bullying Scale and the Emphatic Tendency Scale. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. A bootstrapping analysis was conducted in order to determine
any indirect effects. The results show that moral disengagement predicted cyber bullying positively and
emphatic tendency negatively, and that emphatic tendency predicted cyber bullying negatively. It was
further found that the structural equation model, which proposes that moral disengagement, has a direct
and an indirect effect through emphatic tendency on cyber bullying was confirmed. The results of the
study are discussed in the light of Social Cognitive Theory, and suggestions for future studies are made.