ABSTRACT

Current moral disengagement (MD) scales are insufficient for measuring MD in general legal contexts. We created a general legal MD scale measuring moral disengagement from both minor and serious crime, and both one’s own and others’ immoral behavior. We conducted both an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, which resulted in five factors: (1) authoritarian punishment, (2) personal minor transgressions, (3) harm minimization, (4) euphemistic labeling, and (5) dehumanization. Supporting convergent validity, the scale related to four other MD scales that pertain to either general or specific legal contexts (e.g. the execution process). Supporting divergent validity, the scale was unrelated to political locus of control. The scale also significantly and predictably related to several individual differences including social dominance orientation, legal authoritarianism, attributional complexity, and just world beliefs. Last, the new MD scale predicted legal attitudes that moral disengagement should be related to. Specifically, the new MD scale predicted attitudes toward controversial police procedures (i.e. controversial warrants and interrogation techniques) and policies (e.g., immigrant ban).

摘要

当前的道德脱离 (MD) 量表不足以在一般法律背景下衡量 MD。我们创建了一个通用的法律 MD 量表，用于衡量对轻微和严重犯罪以及自己和他人不道德行为的道德脱节。我们进行了探索性和验证性因素分析，得出五个因素：(1) 威权惩罚，(2) 个人轻微违法，(3) 伤害最小化，(4) 委婉标签，和 (5) 非人化。支持收敛有效性，该量表与其他四个 MD 量表有关，这些量表涉及一般或特定的法律背景（例如执行过程）。该量表支持发散效度，与政治控制点无关。该量表还与几个个体差异显着且可预测地相关，包括社会支配取向、法律威权主义、归因复杂性和公正的世界信仰。最后，新的 MD 量表预测了道德脱离应该与之相关的法律态度。具体而言，新的 MD 量表预测了对有争议的警察程序（即有争议的逮捕令和审讯技术）和政策（例如，移民禁令）的态度。