The role of Type D personality in predicting moral disengagement among university students

Moral disengagement among young people, a key mechanism underlying cyber aggression, has drawn scholarly attention. Understanding its relationship with personality traits may inform prevention and intervention strategies. This study examined the associations between Type D personality dimensions-negative affectivity and social inhibition-and moral disengagement and assessed whether these associations differed by sex. This secondary analysis was based on data from 400 South Korean undergraduates who participated in a larger study on cyber aggression. Participants completed the Type D Personality Scale-14 and the Moral Disengagement Scale and reported their internet use patterns, including gaming, communication, studying, shopping, and content consumption. Hierarchical regression analyses identified factors associated with moral disengagement. Among males, negative affectivity showed the strongest association, followed by gaming use, whereas social inhibition and the negative affectivity-social inhibition interaction were not significant. Among females, negative affectivity was significantly associated with moral disengagement, and the negative affectivity-social inhibition interaction was significant, whereas the main effect of social inhibition was not significant after including the interaction term. These findings suggest that negative affectivity, the affective dimension of Type D personality, may be a more important correlate of moral disengagement than social inhibition. Gaming use may also represent a relevant contextual factor for males. Overall, prevention and intervention strategies for moral disengagement among university students should consider negative affectivity, social inhibition, online activities such as gaming, and sex differences.