Moral Disengagement as a Predictor of Attitude towards Cybercrime: The Moderating Role of Social Identity

Abstract

This study examined the predictive relationship of moral disengagement on attitude towards cybercrime as well as the moderating role of social identity among undergraduates of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka.539 undergraduates participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 25 years with mean age of 22.50 and standard deviation of 3.50. 341 (63.3%) were male while 198 (36.7) were females. Three instruments were used for data collection: Moral Disengagement scale, Attitude towards Cybercrime scale and Social Identity Scale. This study is a correlational study and moderated regression analysis was adopted for data analyses. The result indicated that the first hypothesis was accepted at β = .84, p < .001 (n = 529. However, the second  hypotheses of the study was rejected at -.009, p > .05 (n = 529); which indicated that while moral disengagement predicted attitude towards cybercrime, social identity did not moderated the relationship between moral disengagement and attitude towards cybercrime. Hence, it was recommended that tertiary institutions should enact laws that can deter students from going into cybercrime.