Moral disengagement moderates the link between psychopathic traits and aggressive behavior among early adolescents

This study investigated the relationships between three psychopathic dimensions (callousness/unemotionality, grandiosity/manipulation, and impulsivity/irresponsibility) and reactive and instrumental aggression in a community sample of early adolescents (N = 243, age M = 12.29, SD = 1.18). The moderating role of moral disengagement (MD) was also tested. The findings from structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that impulsivity/irresponsibility was directly related to reactive but not instrumental aggression. Grandiosity/manipulation was related to both types of aggressive behavior. Moreover, MD was a significant moderator of these associations. Specifically, the positive relationship between grandiose-manipulative traits and instrumental aggression was stronger at high levels of MD. Impulsive-irresponsible traits were positively related to reactive aggression at only low levels of MD and negatively related to instrumental aggression at high levels of MD. Overall, our results highlight...