Psychometric Properties of the Moral Disengagement through Technologies Questionnaire (MDTech-Q) in a Sample of Chilean University Students

Abstract

In the virtual environment, hostile and aggressive comments that could negatively affect university students who often use different digital platforms are frequently observed, more than other age groups who have little or no supervision. In this sense, moral disengagement (MD) has been linked to different negative behaviors that manifest in physical interactions and which currently take place on the Internet, creating the need for instruments that specifically address MD online. The aim of this study is to adapt and validate the Moral Disengagement through Technologies Questionnaire (MDTech-Q) with Chilean university students. The sample comprised 527 university students (43.14% men, 56.86% women), with an average age of 22.09 years (SD (Standard Deviation) = 3.59) enrolled in 12 universities. First, a linguistic adaptation of the scale took place, and the surveys were applied considering ethical principles. Then, two confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed, which considered four correlated factors, and provided satisfactory indices, agreeing with the original theoretical proposal, and demonstrating suitable reliability by internal consistency. In relation to the analyses of invariance according to sex and social media use, the MDTech-Q is stable up to scalar invariance. This study provides evidence of the psychometric quality of the MDTech-Q for its use on Chilean university students.