Enhancing moral courage through a positive school moral atmosphere: A moderated mediation model

School bullying is an issue of increasing concern across various sectors of society. To address school bullying among primary school students and implement effective interventions, we investigated the relationships between school moral atmosphere, dispositional moral sensitivity, gender, and the moral courage of primary school students. Participants were 1,028 students in Grades 5 to 6 from three primary schools in Hefei, China. The results showed that the school’s moral atmosphere directly predicted students’ moral courage, with dispositional moral sensitivity mediating this relationship. Further, gender moderated the effect of dispositional moral sensitivity on moral courage. Specifically, the positive predictive effect of dispositional moral sensitivity on moral courage was more pronounced among boys than among girls. Educators can enhance the presence of moral courage and, in turn, reduce school bullying by fostering a favorable moral atmosphere and promoting dispositional moral sensitivity in their schools.