Purpose: Adolescent bullying has varying degrees of negative impact on both bullies and victims. Bullying in adolescents is complex, and the influence of individual factors and social factors should not be underestimated. Normative beliefs about aggression play an important role in adolescents’ bullying. However, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unknown. The current study investigated the mediating role of moral disengagement between normative beliefs about aggression and bullying, as well as the moderating role of self-control in this relationship from the perspective of individual cognition.
Methods: A sample of 491 Chinese adolescents (female = 38.9%; mean age = 13.05 years) were study participants. They completed questionnaires about normative beliefs about aggression, bullying, moral disengagement and self-control. SPSS21.0 statistical software was used to collate the obtained data, analyze descriptive statistics, and carry out reliability analysis and correlation analysis.
Results: Moral disengagement mediated the relationship between normative beliefs about aggression and bullying (ab =0.13, 95% CI =[0.07, 0.21]). The association between normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement was moderated by self-control (β =− 0.08, t =− 2.25, p < 0.05). The association between moral disengagement and bullying was moderated by self-control (β =− 0.09, t =− 2.42, p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Results revealed that moral disengagement mediates the link between normative beliefs about aggression and bullying. Self-control moderated the relationship between normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement, and between moral disengagement and bullying.
Keywords: normative beliefs about aggression, moral disengagement, self-control, bullying