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Development of the Moral Disengagement Bullying Behavior Scale

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Abstract

To understand the underlying cognitive processes of youth involved in bullying has been of interest in bullying literature. The mechanisms of moral disengagement have gained considerable attention in research as an underlying motive for why youth engage in bullying behaviors. The current study focused on developing a new moral disengagement measure that would incorporate the eight mechanisms of moral disengagement with bullying behaviors. The current study investigated the new measure’s psychometric properties. Factor analyses of the data resulted in a single-factor 14-item measure with evidence of good fit. Further evidence of reliability and validity for the test score interpretation was provided.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, RJ, upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 60115, USA

    Ruth Jeong, Michelle K. Demaray & Kara M. Styck

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  1. Ruth Jeong
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  2. Michelle K. Demaray
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  3. Kara M. Styck
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Contributions

All authors have participated sufficiently in the conception and design of this work or the analysis and interpretation of the data, as well as the writing of the manuscript, to take public responsibility for it. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ruth Jeong.

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Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

All participating individuals were given information on the study procedures and terms of consent prior to participating in the study. The current study followed the American Psychology Association (APA)’s Ethics Code as the standard for conducting research.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Jeong, R., Demaray, M.K. & Styck, K.M. Development of the Moral Disengagement Bullying Behavior Scale. Int Journal of Bullying Prevention (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-023-00206-5

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