The Roles of Moral Disengagement and Perceived Anti-Bullying Norms in the Aggression of American and South Korean Victimized Youth

Abstract

Peer victimization may lead to aggression among youth in the United States and South Korea. Moral disengagement (MD), a social-cognitive process justifying antisocial actions, may develop from victimization experiences and promote aggression. While MD could explain the victimization-aggression relation, this has not been tested cross-culturally, nor with American or Korean samples. Additionally, the potential buffering effect of anti-bullying classroom norms remains unexplored. We tested whether MD explains the relation between victimization and aggression in American and Korean youth, comparing cross-cultural effect sizes. We also examined if perceived anti-bullying classroom norms buffered against increases in MD or aggression. Using a cross-sectional design, we recruited American (N = 292, 60% female, M_age = 13.59, SD_age = 0.65) and Korean (N = 462, 50% female, M_age = 13.67, SD_age = 0.58) 7th and 8th graders. Participants self-reported victimization experiences, aggressive behaviors, MD, and perceived anti-bullying classroom norms. After testing measurement invariance, we used multiple group structural equation modeling of moderated mediation to compare the groups. MD partially explained the victimization-aggression link in both groups with similar effect sizes. Anti-bullying norms did not moderate any effects but were negatively related to MD. MD appears to explain why victims become aggressive similarly across cultural contexts. Classroom anti-bullying norms reduce MD but do not moderate the negative impacts of victimization.