A longitudinal study of the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between morally injurious events and moral disengagement

<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Purpose</h3> In South Korea, the COVID-19 pandemic may have raised or elevated the standard of morality in Korean society where sensitivity to fairness has increased recently. These conditions were expected to increase perception of morally injurious events, which in turn would increase moral disengagement. Therefore, their causal relationship and the mediating role of self-compassion, which is known to mitigate the effects of negative events were examined. <h3>Methods</h3> In September 2021, data were collected from 790 Korean adults aged 20 or older. An online survey was conducted to collect responses to the Korean versions of the moral injury events scale, the self-compassion scale, and the moral disengagement scale. Data were also collected on gender, education level, and age. Approximately 1 year later, between August and September 2022, the participants were asked to participate in a second online survey. Responses were collected from 500 people. The potential mediating effects of the sub-components of self-compassion, which included moral disengagement, gender, age, and education level at the first time point as covariates, were verified using Hayes' PROCESS macro. <h3>Results</h3> The results showed that morally injurious events are cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with moral disengagement. Perceived transgressions and betrayals are positively correlated with the negative aspects of self-compassion, such as self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification. Perceived transgressions in the first time point affected moral disengagement in the second time point, but self-compassion had a mediating effect. Perceiving their own or others' transgressions heightened the clarity of self-judgment, which increased moral disengagement after about one year. Perceived betrayals by others did not significantly predict moral disengagement after about one year. <h3>Conclusions</h3> This study showed that suppressing self-judgment can function in terms of moral disengagement. Future studies should verify the results and specify the contexts in which positive and negative elements of self-compassion cause positive effects.