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Stability and Change of Moral Disengagement and Its Impact on Aggression and Violence in Late Adolescence
Author(s) -
Paciello Marinella,
Fida Roberta,
Tramontano Carlo,
Lupinetti Catia,
Caprara Gian Vittorio
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01189.x
Subject(s) - psychology , aggression , poison control , moral disengagement , developmental psychology , suicide prevention , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , social psychology , disengagement theory , criminology , medical emergency , gerontology , medicine
Stability and change of moral disengagement were examined in a sample of 366 adolescents from ages 14 to 20 years. Four developmental trajectories were identified: (a) nondisengaged group that started with initially low levels followed by an important decline, (b) normative group that started with initially moderate levels followed by a decline, (c) later desister group that started with initially high‐medium levels followed by an increase from 14 to 16 years and an even steeper decline from 16 to 20 years, and (d) chronic group that started with and maintained medium‐high levels. The results attest that adolescents who maintained higher levels of moral disengagement were more likely to show frequent aggressive and violent acts in late adolescence.