Predicting Cyber Aggression Based on Empathy, Moral Disengagement and Anger Rumination in Adolescents

Cyber aggression is a new form of interpersonal violence among adolescents that can cause a lot of damage to their mental health, so it is necessary to address its underlying factors. Therefore, the present study was conducted to predict cyber aggression based on empathy, moral indifference, and rumination of anger in adolescents.
The research method was a correlational description. The statistical population of this research was all the students studying in the second-period boys' high schools in Tabriz in the academic year 2022-2023, and 395 people were selected by the multi-stage cluster sampling method based on Morgan's sampling table. Anger rumination questionnaires (ARS), basic empathy scale, cyber aggression questionnaire for adolescents (CYBA), and moral indifference questionnaire were used in this research. The data were analyzed using the simultaneous regression analysis test.
The results showed that there is a significant negative relationship between cyber aggression and emotional empathy (P<0.05) and a positive relationship between moral indifference and anger rumination with cyber aggression (P<0.01); Also, the results showed that 0.27 changes in cyber aggression are explained by emotional empathy, moral indifference, and anger rumination subcomponents. Also, cognitive empathy, memories of anger, and understanding the causes do not have a significant contribution to predicting cyber aggression (P<0.0001).
The present study showed that to control behaviors such as cyber aggression, more attention should be paid to emotional and moral components such as empathy, moral indifference, and anger rumination.