BULLYING AND MECHANISMS OF MORAL DISENGAGEMENT: SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT Bullying is one of the main problems faced by children and adolescents in schools. This study aimed to examine evidence available in the literature on the effect of moral disengagement on the involvement of students in situations of bullying. To this end, a systematic review was carried out with meta-analysis and consultation of eight databases. Eligible publications were analyzed using conceptual analysis and the Metafor statistical package. The study was registered on the PROSPERO database. In total, 15 articles were included in the review. The data show that moral disengagement is a strong predictor for bullying behavior (OR 0.27; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.35) and students prone to morally disengage can practice more bullying when compared to students with greater moral engagement. It is concluded that cognitive factors related to moral disengagement must be included in the discussion of the phenomenon, as well as be considered in the anti-bullying intervention proposals.