In recent years, the interest inspired using the internet and social media, and the important impact they have had on people’s lives has inspired many academic publications. Technology is a major part of our society, and this explosion in information and communication technologies has led to radical changes in how we live, at all levels. This impact is even greater among the younger generations, as they more often use social media as the fundamental setting for relating to others.

While ICT offers great benefits, the risks and problems associated with it are currently one of the greatest concerns at a global level (Gini et al., 2014; Lee and Shin, 2017; Kowalski et al., 2018; Zhao and Yu, 2021; Zhu et al., 2021). Cyberbullying is one of the most serious, and its prevalence is increasing (Kowalski et al., 2014; Watts et al., 2017; Fang et al., 2020). This is defined as behavior comprising online aggression against another person, perpetrated by individuals or groups repeatedly and intentionally, with the intention of inflicting distress or harm. It also displays the characteristic of anonymity, concealment, and virtuality that the internet offers, as it is relatively simple for cyberbullies to hide behind screen names or false names (Peter and Petermann, 2018; Wang and Ngai, 2020; Chan et al., 2021; Zhao and Yu, 2021). Although the most common loci for cyberbullying are social media, it can also happen through email, chats, online games, web pages or digital images (Kowalski et al., 2018; Paciello et al., 2020; Zhang and Zhao, 2020). It can take very varied forms, most notably: flaming, or use of vulgar language; trolling, or forcing people to argue through negative communication; denigration, or spreading harmful rumors; masquerade, which consists of hiding one’s true identity; exclusion, which involves removing someone from a group; outing, or revealing private information; cyberstalking or sending offensive messages; harassment, which comprises sending offensive messages; and fraping, which involves publishing inappropriate content in a person’s accounts to make other users believe that the victim has posted it (Shaikh et al., 2020).

Given the above, there is no doubt that cyberbullying is a phenomenon that can have serious consequences for its victims and their environments, and it is regarded as potentially more harmful than traditional bullying thanks to the lack of spatial–temporal boundaries of the internet (Gao et al., 2020). These consequences for the victim can be of various types, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse (Fang et al., 2020), self-harming and even suicide (Kowalski et al., 2014). To sort and systematize the evidence currently available, there have been numerous systematic reviews paying special attention to victims and witnesses or observers of the situation (Zhu et al., 2021). This has left to one side the people who commit this violence, which has not been the subject of exhaustive research in this respect (Shaikh et al., 2020; Imuta et al., 2022). For this reason, it is necessary to explore the factors or circumstances that can contribute to cyberbullying among children and adolescents.

Authors such as Bauman (2010), Perren and Sticca (2011), and Pornari and Wood (2010) have studied how virtual settings can foster a lack of moral engagement with actions done in them because the reaction of the cybervictim is not observed. In these virtual scenarios, the social rules and limits of the offline world can be ignored with fewer immediate consequences. In addition, it is simple to share, retweet and repeat bullying messages online (Zhao and Yu, 2021). Therefore, it is more probable that cyberbullying behavior will be associated with a higher level of moral disengagement (Busching and Krahé, 2015; Zhao and Yu, 2021). The term “moral disengagement,” proposed by Bandura et al. (1996) based on social cognition theory, is defined as a set of self-regulating mechanisms by which individuals justify their immoral behavior to make their actions seem less damaging (Bjärehed et al., 2020; Fang et al., 2020; Marín-López et al., 2020). This process comprises four moral disengagement strategies and eight mechanisms. The first strategy is cognitive restructuring, which includes the mechanisms of euphemism, advantageous comparison, and moral justification. The second strategy is minimization of one’s own role, with mechanisms such as displacement/diffusion of responsibility. The third is ignorance or distortion of consequences, which includes ignoring/distorting consequences, and the last strategy is blaming or dehumanizing the victim, with attribution of blame and dehumanization (Bandura, 1990, 1991, 2016). Given that virtual settings generate feelings of anonymity, impunity and false protection owing to the characteristics of online communication, Runions and Bak (2015) analyzed how the lack of social and emotional signs, diffusion of messages on social media and the role of the media in the diffusion of cases of cyberbullying can facilitate moral disengagement. Moreover, for Zhao and Yu (2021), the virtual world does not feature the same mechanisms as the offline world to establish social norms and supervision and moral evaluation systems, and so it is less likely that people will form a morality influenced by external norms and positive behavior. Numerous studies have indicated that a high level of moral disengagement is related with adolescents with a higher propensity to cyberbully peers (Lazuras et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2017; Orue and Calvete, 2019). Similarly, many studies have also shown that gender significantly moderates the relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying perpetration, and the relationship between moral disengagement and cyberbullying was stronger for males than that for females (Kowalski et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2016). Research indicates that boys show fewer moral feelings, such as guilt or empathy, than girls (Bussey et al., 2015). This is partly explained because girls tend to desire more often positive relations with others, so they limit their engagement in cyberbullying behaviors, even when they have higher levels of moral disengagement (Wang et al., 2016).

As these relationships do not always occur, so other mediator variables that influence cyberbullying must be studied. It is for this reason that our aim in this study is to analyze the evidence that underlines the role of moral disengagement in the profiles of cyberbullies, and to identify the association that can appear between moral disengagement (MD) and other psychological variables when perpetrating cyberbullying. In this way, we will arrive at an analysis of determining factors that must be considered when designing and planning specific actions aimed at preventing this type of behavior online.

To achieve the proposed aim, we carried out a scoping review (Arksey and O’Malley, 2005). According to Munn et al. (2022), this type of review has the aim of systematically synthesizing the available evidence, in a particular context, of a subject or field to enable key characteristics or factors related to be identified. To do so, a psychology librarian was consulted to define the search strategies (following Chong et al., 2022), adapting the “Objectives” section of the PRISMA-ScR protocol (Tricco et al., 2018) by replacing PICO with SPIDER, where: S refers to subjects who use social media; P-I is any type of violence exercised through social media; D is a descriptive study; E is moral disengagement; and R is quantitative studies. The SPIDER acronym (Cooke et al., 2012) best meet the review objectives (Marín, 2022). No review protocol was previously published.

Table 1 summarizes the principal results. It shows the articles finally selected ordered alphabetically and numbered.

Our aim in this study was to analyze the evidence that underlines the role of moral disengagement in cyberbullies and to determine the association that might occur between moral disengagement and other psychological variables when perpetrating cyberbullying. We have made progress in the analysis of the determining factors that must be considered when designing and planning specific actions aimed at preventing these behaviors online.

First, we found that there is little literature on this subject, although the studies that do exist all point in the direction of moral disengagement having an important role in the predisposition to commit cyberbullying. Perpetrators obtain higher scores in moral disengagement, independently of the context in which the studies are performed. As we verified in our review, research indicates that males show higher levels of MD than females, which is consistent with previous studies (Bandura et al., 1996; Bussey et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2016; Zhao and Yu, 2021).

Although most studies show that the tendency to commit acts of cyberbullying is greater in boys, some studies already indicate that the proportion of cyberbullying happened in cyberspace is similar between males and females, and the difference lies in the way in which cyberbullying is committed (Kowalski et al., 2018; Martínez-Pecino and Durán, 2019; Wang et al., 2019). Some researchers found that girls usually use emails or chat rooms for cyberbullying (Zych et al., 2019), while boys often employ text messages or online games for cyberbullying (Wang et al., 2016; Romera et al., 2021). In these situations, the disinhibitory effect associated with anonymity is of great importance. Suler (2004) found out that people could openly display their aggression in cyberspace, whereas, owing to social desirability, it was suppressed in the real world.

Secondly, it has been found that, as well as the moral disconnection, there is a series of psychological variables that are directly related with the probability of committing cyberbullying. Shaikh et al. (2020) performed a systematic review in which they found that personality, stress, anxiety, depression, emotional intelligence, revenge, loneliness, frustration, self-esteem, aggression, empathy, antisocial behavior, insecurity, internalization and jealousy are crucial in the phenomenon of cyberbullying. In relation to our results, previous studies confirm this association in both the empathy variable and socio-emotional competence. Schultze-Krumbholz et al. (2018) demonstrated the role of empathy as a protective factor against cyberbullying, while Mascia et al. (2021) noted the importance of social keys as activators of processes of empathy, as certain elements of language are absent in online settings, which can facilitate hostile and aggressive attitudes toward others in bullies.

Our results also indicated that the dark triad personality, namely traits of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, is positively related to cyberbullying. This agrees with the study by Nocera et al. (2022), which found that psychopathic traits are the most important ones in aggression, violent behavior, bullying, moral foundations and cyber-aggression owing to a lack of empathy and excess impulsiveness. Common characteristics of the three traits in the triad are disdain for social values, aversive social insensitivity, a history of being abusive, lack of empathy, disagreeableness, and impulsivity (Zhang et al., 2022).

In the light of our analysis, we believe that the role of education is especially important in the specific actions that must be taken to reduce the likelihood of cyberbullying actions being perpetrated against any person, especially in the case of children and adolescents. As Llorent et al. (2021) and Marín-López et al. (2020) observe, a holistic approach from schools is required to involve the curriculum and the planning of actions, without neglecting the role of families in the development of children and adolescents.

Since the relationship between MD and cyberbullying is evident, it is necessary to work comprehensively, from education, on the formation of moral values that allow understanding the reasons why cyberbullying cannot be committed in any of its forms. It is important that there is coherence between what is taught at school, at home and what is seen in our society, so it is everyone’s responsibility to foster in the new generations both emotional intelligence, for the management of emotions, and social skills, especially in subjects who present type D personality traits. At the educational level, both guidance departments and tutorial action should have plans that include this type of training from very early stages. For these actions to be truly effective, we suggest including in the programs analysis of profiles that make more in-depth prevention or even intervention. In relation to gender, since men’s peer relationships play a decisive role in non-moral behavior, positive relationships based on respect for others, with clear moral boundaries, should be encouraged.

The most significant limitation that might affect this study is the systematic review methodology used (scoping review). While this does enable a panoramic overview of the state of the question in accordance with the objective set, it cannot go into detail on the directionality of the relationships established between the different variables studied. To do so, it would be advisable to use another of the various systematic review methodologies (Sutton et al., 2019). For their part, the conclusions we reached should be limited to Western study populations, which are predominant in the studies reviewed, being used in 70% of them, with samples that are not necessarily representative as most of them were convenience or accidental, and with certain prior biases (predominance of women, subjects aged under 30 years). Similarly, the data to establish the relationships identified were obtained using self-report techniques, which do not always achieve reliable results to define precisely the role that the variables studied play, and which, therefore, are accompanied by other more comprehensive ones (for example, anecdotal, guided interview, encounter groups).

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

MM-M and JB-Á contributed to conception and design of the study, the organization of the database, the elaboration and revision of the manuscript, and finally read and approved the submitted version. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.