A cross-sectional study of gender role adherence, moral disengagement mechanisms and online vulnerability in adolescents

Laura Piccardi; Jessica Burrai; Massimiliano Palmiero; Alessandro Quaglieri; Giulia Lausi; Pierluigi Cordellieri; Angelo Fraschetti; Anna Maria Giannini; Emanuela Mari

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18910

A cross-sectional study of gender role adherence, moral disengagement mechanisms and online vulnerability in adolescents

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 3;9(8):e18910. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18910. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Laura Piccardi^{1

2}, Jessica Burrai¹, Massimiliano Palmiero³, Alessandro Quaglieri¹, Giulia Lausi¹, Pierluigi Cordellieri¹, Angelo Fraschetti¹, Anna Maria Giannini¹, Emanuela Mari¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185, Rome, RM, Italy.
² San Raffaele Cassino Hospital, 03043, Cassino, Italy.
³ Department of Communication Sciences, University of Teramo, 64100, Teramo, Italy.

Abstract

The wide availability of electronic devices accessible to teenagers has enabled them to use the internet to communicate, share, and obtain information. However, the use of the internet and social media has also increased the risk of vulnerability, exposing people, particularly adolescents, to several risks. We collected data from a sample of 366 adolescents (186 females and 180 males) aged 14-20 years (mean age = 17 ± 1.33 years) to investigate the mediating role of moral disengagement (MD) mechanisms in the relationship between gender and online vulnerability. Data were collected in both the inner-city and suburban high schools of Rome (Italy) using the Qualtrics Platform Online. The participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Online Vulnerability Scale, and the Civic Moral Disengagement Scale. All participants declared that they accessed and used the internet frequently. Using SPSS, the data were checked for outliers, common method bias, and normal distribution; then, correlation and mediation analyses were performed. Based on the correlation results, a mediation analysis was performed using only the displacement of responsibility as a mediator of the gender-online vulnerability link. Age was entered in the mediation model as a covariate. The results showed that girls were more vulnerable online than boys, who in turn used more moral disengagement mechanisms. In addition, moral displacement showed a positive indirect effect on the relationship between gender and online vulnerability. This means that when including the moral displacement in the mediation model boys appeared more exposed to online vulnerability as they probably adopted more immoral behaviors. These results could help to develop interventions to sensitize adolescents on both taking responsibilities for their actions on the Internet. Limitations and future research directions are briefly discussed.

Keywords: Digital natives; Gender role adherence; Gender roles; Internet risks; Moral disengagement; Online vulnerability; Sex differences; Teenagers.