The study amied to realized the relationship among the adolescents¡¦ moral disengagement¡Voriented ,empathy ¡Voriented, and preference of violent video games experience with bullying behavior. The data was collected by means of questionnaires and participants were grades fifth-grades to twelfth in Tainan and Kaohsiung area.A questionanare including basic data, scale of moral disengagement, scale of empathy, scale of passion, and scale of bullying behavior,and 700 effecitve participants were obtained. Data analysis methods included descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, The study amied to realized the relationship among the adolescents¡¦ moral disengagement¡Voriented ,empathy ¡Voriented, and preference of violent video games experience with bullying behavior. The data was collected by means of questionnaires and participants were grades fifth-grades to twelfth in Tainan and Kaohsiung area. A questionnaire including basic data, scale of moral disengagement, scale of empathy, scale of passion, and scale of bullying behavior, and 700 effective participants were obtained. Data analysis methods included descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Independent t-test, One-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and Regression Analysis. The results of this study were as follows: 1. In Tainan and Kaohsiung, about 20% of adolescent had suffered cyberbullying, 17% of adolescent had suffered traditional bullying; 11% of adolescent had been bullied in network, and 11% of adolescent had been bullied in campus. Commonly occurred types of traditional bullying are verbal bullying, relational bullying and physical bullying. 2 .39% of adolescents in Tainan and Kaohsiung will choose action to rescue the victim when they encounter the event of bullying. 3. Compared with the female, the male more likely to become the bully/victim; compared with lower grades, higher grades more likely to become the bully/victim; compared with higher qualifications of players more likely to become the bully. 4.The was a significantly positive correlation between the behavior of bully/victim and moral disengagement-oriented; the was a significantly negative correlation between the behavior of bully/victim and empathy-oriented. 5.Bystander attitude is more likely to assistant, the lower degree of moral disengagement. 6.Bystander¡¦s attitude is more inclined to help victims, the lower degree of moral disengagement. 7.Obsessive passion of violent online game, harmonious passion of violent online game, advantages comparison and experience of violent online game are the most significant predictor to predict become the victim of cyberbulling; obsessive passion of violent online game and experience of violent online game are the most significant predictor to predict become the victim of traditional bullying; obsessive passion of violent online game, experience of violent online game and euphemistic labeling are the most significant predictor to precict become the bully of cyberbullying; obsessive passion of violent online game, euphemistic labeling attribution of blame and perspective-taking are the most significant predictor to precict become the bully of traditional bullying.

In colleges and universities, 55% of students involved in campus organizations participate in hazing activities (Allan & Madden, 2008). While there is research on the prevalence and frequency of hazing, there is little on why students choose to participate. The purpose of this qualitative research is to understand how organizational values, formal or informal, influence hazing as well as the student's explanations for engaging in hazing activities. The theories of bystander effect and moral disengagement are used to frame why students choose to be involved in potentially harmful situations. According to research on bystander effect, when individuals are in a group setting they are less likely to intervene in a given situation (Latne & Nida, 1981; Fisher et al, 2006; Berkowitz, 2009). Moral disengagement theory tells us that most individuals are unable to engage in morally ambiguous activities until they have been able to justify those activities through a larger purpose (Bandura, 1999). Currently there is no qualitative research that examines hazing through a lens of moral disengagement or the bystander effect. Despite secrecy surrounding the topic, 23 students participated in interviews to discuss their role in hazing activities. Each of the students was involved in one of four organizations that had been found responsible for hazing activities through the same university judicial process. The 23 participants came from three fraternities that lost recognition from the host institution, as well as one women's club sport team that was sanctioned for hazing. Participants were asked about the hazing activities they participated in, their role in the activities, the organizational values, and their personal values. The participants explained their decisions to participate in hazing using the various ways outlined in moral disengagement theory, and additionally demonstrated the bystander effect through their participation.

This dissertation introduces a social cognitive model of bystander behavior and examines the mediating role of self-efficacy on the relationship between bullying victimization and negative outcomes. Based on Bandura’s (1986; 2001) social cognitive theory, this model utilizes two frameworks for understanding bystander behavior in bullying: group process framework (Salmivalli, 2010) and the bystander motivation framework (Thornberg et al., 2012). A research agenda is presented based on the key elements of the proposed model, including bystander agency, bystander self-efficacy, bystander moral disengagement, and bystander collective efficacy. The research study investigated self-efficacy for coping with bullying victimization and its mediating role on the relationship between bullying victimization and the outcomes of depression, anxiety, and perceptions of school safety. The Bullying Victimization Self-Efficacy Scale (BVSES; Kim et al., 2010), the Student Survey of Bullying Behaviors – Revised 2 (SSBB-R2; Varjas et al., 2008) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2004) were administered to 551 elementary and middle school students in a southeastern urban school district. Using structural equation modeling, a measurement model was used to confirm the factor structure of the latent variables used in the study (i.e., victimization, the BVSES scales, depression, anxiety, and school safety). Then, the hypothesized structure model was used to determine the mediating role of self-efficacy on the relationships of bullying victimization with depression, anxiety, and school safety. An alternative model was tested where depression, anxiety, and school safety were mediators of the relationship between victimization and the BVSES scales as a comparison for the hypothesized model. The measurement model yielded a good model fit, deeming it acceptable for the structure model analysis. The hypothesized and alternative models yielded a good model fit, and significant mediation effects were found in both models. However, the low magnitude suggests that self-efficacy had a relatively weak mediation effect, which may be due to the strength of the relationship between victimization and the outcome variables. This strong direct effect suggests that self-efficacy may not be a substantial mediator influencing the relationship between victimization and the outcome variables. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

In organizations, it is inevitable that some business activities might seem unfair to subordinates. Social accounts—the explanations managers give their subordinates for those decisions—are known to be a useful tool for managing subordinates’ fairness concerns. Over three decades of research, we learn that social accounts are effectiveness in improving subordinates’ fairness perceptions and reducing their negative reactions. Yet, we have only limited understanding about how social accounts affect the perceptions and behaviors of managers—those who construct and give them. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the extent to which constructing accounts affects account-givers’ perceptions and behaviors. Drawing on research in social account and behavioral ethics, a model was developed to test the positive effect of constructing accounts on unethical behavior (direct effect) through moral disengagement and guilt (indirect effect). In respect to account types, it was hypothesized that constructing justifications would lead to higher moral disengagement, less guilt, and more unethical behavior, compared with constructing excuses. Account feedback was hypothesized to moderate the indirect effects of justifications and excuses on unethical behaviors such that account acceptance would strengthen moral disengagement and weaken guilt, and in turn, increase unethical behavior. Two experimental designed studies were conducted to test these hypotheses. In Study 1, utilizing a sample of 128 management students, constructing accounts was found to have a positive effect on unethical behavior (i.e., nepotism) with guilt but not moral disengagement explaining some of the variances in this relation. In contrast to my hypotheses, constructing excuses was found to increase guilt more than constructing justifications. Using a sample of 136 management students, Study 2 generally replicated the results found in Study 1: constructing accounts was found to increase unethical behavior (i.e., dishonesty) through guilt, with excuses having a greater effect. This dissertation concludes with a discussion on contributions, practical implications, limitations, and the direction for future research on social accounts and behavioral ethics. / Ph. D.

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Killing in role-playing video games is often a prominent feature. Most of the times, the characters killed are nameless criminals or minions of the true antagonist and if the game wants the player to kill, the player will most probably kill. This research was conducted to see how a dynamic narrative could affect a player’s choice of whether or not to kill expendable adversaries when a choice was provided. Participants played an interactive narrative in two different versions, followed by interviews, to see how narrative consequences and mechanisms for moral disengagement affected the players’ choices. The results showed that the choice of whether or not to kill could be affected if the narrative is dynamic and the non-playable characters reflect upon the choices made. Future studies should be conducted to see how graphics and sound affect the choices, and to see if it might be the mere choice in itself that affects the players the most.

One of the most important factors for creating the sustainable society is that the individuals in that society behave in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Yet achieving appropriate behavior in any society is difficult, and the challenge is no less with regards to sustainability. Three of the most important factors for determining behavior have recently been highlighted by psychologists: personal efficacy, social influence, and internal standards. Because these three factors play a prominent role in behavior, it is necessary to examine what role they play in creating sustainability and how they may be utilized to achieve optimal behavior patterns. Ultimately, in order to achieve sustainability solutions must focus on individual action, realistic governmental regulation, and sustained, direct encounters with the natural world. While much time and energy has been spent on social influence and personal efficacy, less has been devoted to internal standards and this area needs more attention if there is to be any realistic attempt at creating proper behavior patterns.

A cross-sectional quantitative causal research design was employed to explore the relationship between adolescent digital aggression, cyberbully behavior and moral disengagement. A survey was created and electronically administered to 1077 high school students in Grades 9-12 in a selected school district in Texas. High school students were chosen because research has shown a decrease in traditional bullying and an increase of digital aggression and cyberbullying at this developmental level. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the survey was conducted to determine latent constructs. The results of the PCA revealed 6 latent variables, which included moral disengagement, school climate and culture, social relationships, spirituality, family systems, and mood (anger). Moral disengagement was the dependent variable in the current study, while the remaining latent constructs were treated as independent variables. In addition to the latent constructs, student demographics and self-identification as a cyberbully or cybervictim were included as independent variables in the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression models. An ANOVA of the survey items where the participants self-identified as a cyberobserver, a cybervictim or a cyberbully was initially conducted. Participants who identified as a cyberobserver explained less than 1.0% of the variance in moral disengagement. Additionally, participants who identified as a cybervictim also explained less than 1.0% of the variance in moral disengagement. However, participants identified as a cyberbully accounted for 7.28% of the variance in moral disengagement. Results of the multiple regression analyses indicated that gender, age, school climate and culture, social relationships, academic success, ethnicity, family systems, spirituality, and mood (anger) significantly impacted a student’s willingness to morally disengage and participate in digital aggression. Among these variables, the variance explained in moral disengagement ranged from 0.8% (Social Relationships) to 16.8% (Mood-Anger). The variables of socio-economic status and grade in school were not statistically significant predictors of moral disengagement. The results of this study are relevant for school administrators, counselors and teachers as digital aggression and cyberbully behaviors appear to be growing as ‘smart phone’ and other ‘always on’ technology trend to younger populations nationwide. The results of this study further underscore the importance of creating a school climate and culture that promotes a safe and secure learning environment for all students. This may be accomplished by incorporating adolescent aggression and bully prevention programs in school curriculums to address both traditional and digital aggressive behaviors. Recommendations are presented and future research is discussed.

This thesis was constructed on the foundation of two broad theoretical criticisms levelled against Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory. The first was the lack of clarity about what constituted the building blocks of the theory and the second was the lack of clarity about how these constituent components interacted in consistent and predictable ways as an integrated model of human behaviour. These ‘theory-level’ criticisms, which detracted from the empirical testability of social cognitive theory, seemed to have filtered down to the level of its individual building blocks. Therefore, moral disengagement, which constituted the focal variable of interest in this investigation, was not unaffected by them. Bandura’s (1986) theoretical presentation of moral disengagement as either an eight or four-dimensional construct and the empirical treatments of moral disengagement by Bandura and his colleagues as a uni-dimensional (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara & Pastorelli, 1996a; Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli & Regalia, 2001b) and a four-dimensional variable (McAlister, Bandura & Owen, 2006), raised questions about its dimensionality. The first objective of this study was to examine moral disengagement’s dimensionality and the stability of its internal factor structure (i.e. longitudinal measurement invariance) over time. The general lack of clarity about how the constituent components of social cognitive theory were expected to cohere as an integrated framework of human behaviour had specific implications for the moral disengagement construct and its temporal position relative to other social cognitive variables. The second objective of this study was to examine moral disengagement’s temporal sequences relative to select social cognitive constructs (viz. proficiency-based self-efficacy, intention, and past and future behaviour) in order to comment on the likely temporal positions of these constructs relative to each other in the context of a model for predicting antisocial behaviour. Due to the exclusive activation of moral disengagement in antisocial contexts, the examination of its dimensionality and temporal sequences was contingent on an antisocial context. Software piracy, as a specific instance of antisocial behaviour, served as the context in which moral disengagement was researched in this study. A pilot investigation was conducted to test the psychometric properties of the scales that were developed to measure moral disengagement, proficiency-based self-efficacy, intention and behaviour in this study. Once their psychometric robustness was established, these scales were used in the context of a main longitudinal investigation separated by a three to four month time-lag in order to achieve the two main research objectives. Using the structural equation modelling family of data analysis techniques (specifically, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis), the results of the main longitudinal study revealed that moral disengagement emerged as most meaningful as a uni-dimensional construct which consisted of four aggregated sets of items which represented the clusters of moral disengagement mechanisms that were likely to be activated at the four points in the self-regulation process envisaged by Bandura (1986). The findings suggested that this factor structure was longitudinally invariant when moral disengagement was measured across two assessment waves. Moral disengagement appeared to temporally precede intention and future behaviour and to temporally follow past behaviour. Self-efficacy, however, seemed to temporally precede future behaviour and to temporally follow past behaviour but unlike moral disengagement, self-efficacy appeared to temporally follow intention. Therefore, intention appeared to completely mediate the interaction between moral disengagement and proficiency-based self-efficacy in this study. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings were examined and directions for future research were proposed.