Virtuous personality and bystander defending behavior among college students: roles of moral identity and friendship quality

BACKGROUND: To explore the relationship between virtuous personality and bystander defending behavior among college students, and to examine the roles of moral identity and friendship quality, a survey was conducted with 643 college students. METHODS: The survey used the Chinese Virtuous Personality Scale, the Bystander Defending Behavior Scale, the Moral Identity Scale, and the Friendship Quality Inventory. To test the hypotheses, descriptive statistics, t-tests, and correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS 22.0. Additionally, mediation and moderation effects were tested using the SPSS macro program PROCESS, specifically Models 4, 7, and 59. RESULTS: The results revealed the following: (1) a significant positive correlation was found between virtuous personality, bystander defending behavior, moral identity, and friendship quality; (2) virtuous personality not only directly and positively predicted bystander defending behavior, but also influenced this behavior through the mediating role of moral identity; (3) the first part of the mediating effect- "virtuous personality → moral identity → bystander defending behavior"-was moderated by friendship quality. Specifically, the impact of virtuous personality on moral identity was stronger in individuals with higher friendship quality compared to those with lower friendship quality. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that virtuous personality can enhance bystander defending behavior among college students by fostering moral identity. However, lower levels of friendship quality can weaken the positive influence of virtuous personality on moral identity, thereby affecting bystander defending behavior.