Moral Disengagement as a Moderating Factor in the Relationship between the Perception of Dating Violence and Victimization

Isabel Cuadrado-Gordillo, Inmaculada Fernández-Antelo and Guadalupe Martín-Mora Parra
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Isabel Cuadrado-Gordillo: Department of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
Inmaculada Fernández-Antelo: Department of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
Guadalupe Martín-Mora Parra: Department of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: There have been studies establishing the relationship between moral disengagement and aggressiveness in various contexts, especially in the role of the aggressor. Few, however, have analyzed moral disengagement’s mediating role in the phenomenon of teenage dating violence, taking into account how these mechanisms affect the victims’ perception of themselves as fearful, trapped, or mistreated in a dating relationship. This study analyzes the relationship between moral disengagement, the acceptance of violence, and how the victims of this type of abuse perceive victimization. The participants were 2577 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18. They completed two questionnaires that addressed teenage dating violence and moral disengagement. To study the relationship between the variables, factorial, structural, correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to construct the perceptual structure of victimization. The analyses showed moral disengagement and the acceptance of violence, as well as their interaction, to have a mediating and moderating influence by modifying the perception of victimization. The victims’ levels of moral disengagement explained their acceptance of the violence and their inability to recognize abuse. Finally, these results may be a key element in the design of psychological interventions aimed at minimizing the use of moral disengagement and the acceptance of violence in situations involving aggression in teenage dating.

Keywords: dating violence; adolescents; victimization; moral disengagement; acceptance of violence; moderating effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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