Moral Disengagement and Low Self-Control Make a Versatile Rulebreaker: A Partial Test of Situational Action Theory Across Various Manifestations of Deviance

The present work explores the co-occurrence of deviant behaviors through the lens of Situational Action Theory (SAT), which posits that an individual's crime propensity is influenced by diminished morality, self-control, and their interaction. Three cross-sectional studies (N1 = 799, N2 = 310, N3 = 865) examined these factors across multiple deviant behaviors, demonstrating their predictive power for past Offending, Likelihood of assault, Cyberfraud, Alcohol and Cannabis use. Study 3 further revealed that Moral disengagement and Low self-control together explained over half of the variance in deviant behavior co-occurrence. These findings reinforce SAT's applicability across several deviant manifestations and suggest targeting moral development and self-control in prevention efforts.