Design and Validation of the Moral Courage in Bullying Scale in Adolescents

Abstract

Moral courage is a cognitive process based on the determination to help others despite personal and social costs. Understanding how moral courage activates defending behaviors in bullying requires the use of instruments adapted to contextual characteristics. This study aimed to develop and validate the Moral Courage Bullying Scale. Participants were 1,628 Spanish students (48.4% girls) aged 11 to 16 years (M_age = 13.47 years; standard deviation = 1.02), randomly assigned to two subsamples. In Sample 1 (n = 811), Exploratory Factor Analysis identified a one-factor structure with good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In Sample 2 (n = 817), Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed this structure and its invariance across time, developmental stage, and gender. Convergent validity showed that moral courage was positively associated with moral anger, sympathy, and prosociality. Discriminant validity suggested that moral courage is not associated with both dimensions (justice and aversion) of Schadenfreude—enjoyment when seeing other people suffer. Longitudinal analyses demonstrated that moral courage predicts greater involvement in defending behaviors and less involvement in passive bystander behaviors over time. To sum up, this study provides a validated measure of moral courage in bullying for adolescents, highlighting its relevance in decision-making when witnessing peer victimization.

Keywords

moral cognition prosocial behavior bullying bystanders psychometric properties measurement invariance

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