The Roles of Moral Disengagement and Perceived Anti-Bullying Norms in the Aggression of American and South Korean Victimized Youth

Peer victimization may lead to aggression among youth in the United States and South Korea. Moral disengagement (MD), a social-cognitive process justifying antisocial actions, may develop from victimization experiences and promote aggression. While MD could explain the victimization-aggression relation, this has not been tested cross-culturally, nor with American or Korean samples. Additionally, the potential buffering effect of anti-bullying classroom norms remains unexplored. We tested whether MD explains the relation between victimization and aggression in American and Korean youth, comparing cross-cultural effect sizes. We also examined if perceived anti-bullying classroom norms buffered against increases in MD or aggression. Using a cross-sectional design, we recruited American ( N = 292, 60% female, M age = 13.59, SD age = 0.65) and Korean ( N = 462, 50% female, M age = 13.67, SD age = 0.58) 7th and 8th graders. Participants self-reported victimization experiences, aggressive behaviors, MD, and perceived anti-bullying classroom norms. After testing measurement invariance, we used multiple group structural equation modeling of moderated mediation to compare the groups. MD partially explained the victimization-aggression link in both groups with similar effect sizes. Anti-bullying norms did not moderate any effects but were negatively related to MD. MD appears to explain why victims become aggressive similarly across cultural contexts. Classroom anti-bullying norms reduce MD but do not moderate the negative impacts of victimization.