Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying

Abstract Background Traditional moral disengagement is observed in daily life. However, with the increase in time spent in virtual environments, the need to also investigate online moral disengagement (OMD) is evident. In this study, we aimed to adapt the OMD Scale (OMDS) to the Turkish population a...

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Main Authors: Fuad Bakioğlu, Bahtiyar Eraslan Çapan, Sami Kırteke, Amir H Pakpour
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-07-01
Series:BMC Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02992-7
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author Fuad Bakioğlu
Bahtiyar Eraslan Çapan
Sami Kırteke
Amir H Pakpour
author_facet Fuad Bakioğlu
Bahtiyar Eraslan Çapan
Sami Kırteke
Amir H Pakpour
author_sort Fuad Bakioğlu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Traditional moral disengagement is observed in daily life. However, with the increase in time spent in virtual environments, the need to also investigate online moral disengagement (OMD) is evident. In this study, we aimed to adapt the OMD Scale (OMDS) to the Turkish population and examine the relationship among OMD, empathic tendency, and cyberbullying. Methods A total of 694 volunteering Turkish adolescents, 404 (58.2%) females and 290 (41.8%) males and with a mean age of 15.19 years (range: 14–17 years; standard deviation = 1.09), were included. Data were collected using the OMDS, Cyberbullying Scale, and Adolescent KA-Sİ Empathic Tendency Scale. The study was conducted in several stages: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), item factor loading, item-total correlation, concurrent analysis, mediating analysis, and reliability analysis. Results The CFA confirmed the validity of the eight-item structure OMDS. The findings also revealed a significant relationship between OMD, empathic tendency, and cyberbullying. Precisely, OMD mediated the relationship between empathic tendency and cyberbullying. Conclusion The reliability values of the OMDS were good. Likewise, the Turkish version of the scale was also valid and reliable. OMD mediated the relationship between empathic tendency and cyberbullying.
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spelling doaj-art-44e47e6f72354cee8c9ec044dd6f45aa2025-08-20T04:03:07ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-07-011311810.1186/s40359-025-02992-7Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullyingFuad Bakioğlu0Bahtiyar Eraslan Çapan1Sami Kırteke2Amir H Pakpour3Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey UniversityFaculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Anadolu UniversityMinistry of National EducationDepartment of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping UniversityAbstract Background Traditional moral disengagement is observed in daily life. However, with the increase in time spent in virtual environments, the need to also investigate online moral disengagement (OMD) is evident. In this study, we aimed to adapt the OMD Scale (OMDS) to the Turkish population and examine the relationship among OMD, empathic tendency, and cyberbullying. Methods A total of 694 volunteering Turkish adolescents, 404 (58.2%) females and 290 (41.8%) males and with a mean age of 15.19 years (range: 14–17 years; standard deviation = 1.09), were included. Data were collected using the OMDS, Cyberbullying Scale, and Adolescent KA-Sİ Empathic Tendency Scale. The study was conducted in several stages: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), item factor loading, item-total correlation, concurrent analysis, mediating analysis, and reliability analysis. Results The CFA confirmed the validity of the eight-item structure OMDS. The findings also revealed a significant relationship between OMD, empathic tendency, and cyberbullying. Precisely, OMD mediated the relationship between empathic tendency and cyberbullying. Conclusion The reliability values of the OMDS were good. Likewise, the Turkish version of the scale was also valid and reliable. OMD mediated the relationship between empathic tendency and cyberbullying.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02992-7Moral disengagementCyberbullyingEmpathic tendencyOnlineAdolescent
spellingShingle Fuad Bakioğlu
Bahtiyar Eraslan Çapan
Sami Kırteke
Amir H Pakpour
Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
BMC Psychology
Moral disengagement
Cyberbullying
Empathic tendency
Online
Adolescent
title Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
title_full Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
title_fullStr Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
title_full_unstemmed Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
title_short Adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the Turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
title_sort adaptation of the online moral disengagement scale to the turkish population and its association with empathic tendency and cyberbullying
topic Moral disengagement
Cyberbullying
Empathic tendency
Online
Adolescent
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02992-7
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