Moral Disengagement Development: Peer Influences on Cognitive Self-Justification Mechanisms of Social Transgression

Moral disengagement processes are cognitive self-justification processes of transgressive actions that have been hypothesized to be learned and socialized within social contexts. The current study aimed at investigating socialization of moral disengagement by friends in two developmentally different age groups, namely late childhood (age: 9–10 years; n = 133, 42.9 % girls) and early adolescence (age: 11–14 years; n = 236, 40.6 % girls) over a 1-year period. Specifically, the current study examined whether similarity in moral disengagement between friends was the result of friends’ influence or friend selection. Moreover, gender (42 % girls), individual bullying behavior, and perceived popularity status were examined as potential moderators of socialization for moral disengagement within friendship networks. Self-report measures were used to assess moral disengagement, sociometric questions and a peer-nomination scale for friendship networks and bullying behavior, respectively.