Emotions of moral disengagement, class norms and bullying in adolescence: A multilevel approach.

Using an individual-by-environment framework, this study evaluated the role of individual- and group-level moral indices and their interaction in predicting student reports of bullying. The sample included 1,009 Italian adolescents (36% girls) from 56 classrooms (mean age = 15.02 years, SD = .71). Individual-level predictors included gender and emotions of moral disengagement, whereas group-level predictors included pro-bullying behaviors and class bullying norms of accepted students. Results showed that emotions of moral disengagement were associated with individual bullying and that both measures of group bullying norms–class levels of pro-bullying roles and class levels of bullying by accepted students–were associated with bullying at the classroom level. In addition, a cross-level interaction was also observed; emotions of moral disengagement were associated with increased bullying when levels of pro-bullying behavior in the classroom were higher.