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

Shen Liu, Ping Wang, Wenxiao Gao, Minghua Song, Na Zhang

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Heterogeneous profiles of virtue personality trait in anxiety-depression symptom networks and simulated intervention effects: evidence from a large college student sample.BMC psychology · 2026
Article

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Shen LiuDepartment of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China. liushen@ahau.edu.cn.

Ping WangDepartment of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.

Wenxiao GaoDepartment of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.

Minghua SongMental Health Education Guidance Center, Huzhou University, Huzhou, China. 1443081434@qq.com.

Na ZhangDepartment of Information Management, Anhui Vocational College of Police Officers, Hefei, 230036, China. zhangna@ahjgxy.edu.cn.

Funding

Outstanding Youth Program of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Anhui Province 2022AH030089Research Project of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education 24YJC190018Starting Fund for Scientific Research of High-Level Talents at Anhui Agricultural University rc432206

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo 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.

methodsThe 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.

resultsThe 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.

conclusionsThese 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.

Indexed as

FriendsInterpersonal RelationsMoralsPersonalitySocial BehaviorStudentsAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesUniversitiesYoung AdultBystander defending behaviorCollege studentsFriendship qualityMoral identityVirtuous personality

Identifiers

PMID40616135

DOI10.1186/s40359-025-03058-4

PMCPMC12228306

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LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.