Dark Triad Traits and Cyberbullying: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and the Moderating Role of Self-Esteem Among University Students

Abstract

In the past, the Dark Triad traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy have been inconsistently related to cyberbullying. This research question was: is there a mediating role of moral disengagement between Dark Triad traits and cyberbullying (perpetration and victimization) and a moderating role of self-esteem between Dark Triad traits and cyberbullying amongst university students in Pakistan? The sample consisted of 200 undergraduate students (100 men, 100 women; the mean age is 21.2 years, SD = 1.8) at the University of Peshawar who were asked to take part in the study and complete the Short Dark Triad scale, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Moral Disengagement in Cyberbullying Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scal. No direct relationship was found between the three Dark Triad traits when used as a composite score and cyberbullying. But moral disengagement completely explained the indirect association (between the composite Dark Triad measure and perpetration, indirect effect =.077, 95% CI [.028, .136]) and victimization (indirect effect =.055, 95% CI [.017, .106]). Looking at its individual traits, the only significant predictor of perpetration ( =.227, p =. 001) and victimization ( =.241, p =. 001) was psychopathy. Self-esteem did not mediate any of the hypothesized relations but had a direct negative effect on engaging in cyberbullying. These results imply that moral disengagement can be a more effective intervention focus as compared to personality change in order to curb online aggression in college students. Shortcomings are cross-sectional design, use of self-report measures and low internal consistency of certain subscales.