Social-Cognitive Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement, Gender Differences and Psychological Predictors in Young Populations.

The theory of moral disengagement has been useful in explaining disruptive social behavior in young people, showing differences between men and women. However, there are no studies regarding the association of psychological factors, as impulsivity, self-esteem, anxiety, and moral disengagement. Therefore, we analyzed gender differences and psychological predictors of moral disengagement mechanisms in young people. This was a quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative, and correlational study. Participants were 1,419 young people aged 16 to 30 years (M = 20.6, SD = 3.32) who answered the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (mmds), the Barratt Impulsivity scale (bis-11), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (rses) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (bai). A Student's t-test showed that men had higher scores on moral disengagement mechanisms and self-esteem, and women had higher scores on anxiety. Moral disengagement mechanisms were found to be inversely correlated with self-esteem, but directly correlated with impulsivity and anxiety. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that self-contempt, impulsivity, anxiety, and gender had the strongest effects on predicting moral disengagement and mechanisms. These effects were similar for men and women. This study provides important information about the influence of psychological factors not explored in previous studies on the understanding of moral agency in young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]