A Study On The Relationship Between Empathy,Moral Disengagemnt And Aggressive Behaviour In Junior High School Students

On the basis of the current hot issues of middle school students and existing research results,it is found that the problem of aggressive behavior of middle school students in China is still very significant,which is worthy of further study,so as to provide basis and reference for school education.In order to understand the occurrence and inhibition mechanism of aggressive behavior of junior high school students,this study further identified the relationship between empathy,moral disengagement and aggressive behavior by combining horizontal and longitudinal studies,questionnaire measurement and interview methods.Besides,the study explored the relationship between different components of empathy(cognitive empathy and emotional empathy)and the two types of aggressive behavior(active aggression and reactive aggression),and the moral disengagement mechanism behind the two types of aggressive behavior.In the first study,550 valid questionnaires were collected from three middle schools in Hubei province,Sichuan Province and Shandong Province.The results showed that :(1)In terms of empathy,there were significant differences in grade,gender,whether a class leader,but no significant differences in origin,whether the only child,whether a left-behind child,and family structure.In terms of moral disengagement,there were significant differences in grade,gender and whether the only child,but there were no significant differences in origin,whether a class leader,left-behind child,and family structure.In terms of active aggression,there were significant differences in origin.but in terms of aggressive behaviour,there were no significant differences in gender,whether the only child,whether a class leader,whether a left-behind child,and family structure.(2)Empathy was positively correlated with aggressive behavior.There was a significant negative correlation between empathy and moral disengagement.Moral disengagement is positively correlated with aggressive behavior.Empathy can significantly and negatively predict aggressive behavior and moral disengagement.Moral disengagement can positively predict aggressive behavior.Moral disengagement plays a mediating role between empathy and aggression.The second study was a longitudinal study with qualitative data obtained through interviews to further clarify the relationship between different components of empathy,eight cognitive mechanisms of moral disengagement and two types of aggressive behavior.The longitudinal study took the data measured in Hubei Province as the first data,and conducted the second test four months later.A total of 300 valid questionnaires were collected during the two measurements.The results showed that cognitive empathy inhibited active aggression.Affective empathy could not restrain active aggression effectively.Neither cognitive empathy nor affective empathy could inhibit reactive aggression.Distorted outcome,euphemism and responsibility diffusion can significantly predict active aggression.Moral justification,euphemism,shift of responsibility,diffusion of responsibility,distorted outcome and dehumanization can significantly predict reactive aggression.On the basis of longitudinal study,a total of 8 junior high school students were interviewed by semi-structured interview method.Primary data of empathy,aggressive behavior and moral disengagement of junior high school students were obtained.The interview results were basically consistent with the results of study 2.This study is helpful to further understand the occurrence and inhibition mechanism of junior high school students’ aggressive behavior,provide effective suggestions for the intervention of different types of aggressive behavior,provide strong theoretical support for the construction of harmonious class and harmonious campus,and better promote the healthy growth of junior high school students.