Parental Styles and Moral Disengagement as Predictors of Attitude towards Cybercrime among Undergraduates

Abstract

This study examined parental styles and moral disengagement as predictors of attitude towards cybercrime among undergraduates of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. Purposive sampling method was utilized in the selection of two hundred (196) undergraduates from four different departments; they included 148 female and 48 male. Their age ranged from 18 to 25 years with mean age of 22.18 years and standard deviation of 1.82. Three instruments, namely: Attitude towards Cybercrime (ATC); The Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), and Moral Disengagement Scale (MDS). Correlational design was used as the research design in the study, while multiple linear regression analysis was adopted as statistical tools for analysis. The result showed that authoritative and authoritarian parental style are not among the predictors of attitude towards cybercrime among undergraduates at β = .-124, t = -1.726, P > .05 and β =.020. t = .272, P > .05 respectively. Thus hypothesis one and two were rejected. However, it was observed that permissive parental style and moral disengagement predicted attitude towards cybercrime; as such, hypothesis number three and four were accepted at R2=.273, F(191,195)=19.35, P<.001 and R2=.027, β= .164, t=.2.316, P<.05 respectively. Based on the research outcome, it was recommended among many other that Parents’ should adopt positive parenting style filled with warmth relationship between parents’ and children as well as appropriate communication so as to reduce the observed high rate of cybercrime among University undergraduates.