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Social Psychology and Society
2026. Vol. 17, no. 1, 93–111
doi:10.17759/sps.2026170106
ISSN: 2221-1527 / 2311-7052 (online)

The ethics gap in adolescents’ online communication

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Digital technologies create new contexts for the moral choices of adolescents, significantly different from traditional forms of social interaction. The theoretical framework of the study is the concept of the "ethical gap" by C. James, combined with modern approaches to studying the influence of the digital environment on the transformation of moral norms in online communication.
Objective. To identify the main behavioral practices of the ethical gap in the online communication of adolescents with different levels of problematic social media use.
Hypothesis. Adolescents with problematic social media use more frequently exhibit behavioral practices associated with the ethical gap.
Methods and materials. The study involved 539 adolescents aged 12 to 18 (M = 14, SD = 1,7). A cross-sectional design was used with an online survey. Problematic social media use was diagnosed using an adapted questionnaire based on the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale. A special structured questionnaire was developed to operationalize indicators of the ethical gap. Statistical analysis included the Mann-Whitney U-test and Pearson's χ² test.
Results. Adolescents in the high-risk group were significantly more likely to be in a digital environment with a higher concentration of destructive content, demonstrated a willingness to discuss socially sensitive topics, used profanity, exhibited negative emotional reactions to criticism, and were more frequently both victims and initiators of aggression. A significant association was found between family structure and the level of problematic use of social media.
Conclusions. The phenomenon of the ethical disconnect is not universal, even among adolescents in the high-risk group, as evidenced by the preservation of basic moral guidelines among the majority of respondents. It can be assumed that the influence of specific characteristics of the digital environment contributes to the weakening of moral guidelines among adolescents from risk groups.

General Information

Keywords: ethical gap, problematic use of social media, moral standards, teenagers, online communication

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2026170106

Received 23.10.2025

Revised 05.02.2026

Accepted

Published

For citation: Husnutdinova, M.R., Poskakalova, T.A. (2026). The ethics gap in adolescents’ online communication. Social Psychology and Society, 17(1), 93–111. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2026170106

© Husnutdinova M.R., Poskakalova T.A., 2026

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Margarita R. Husnutdinova, Candidate of Science (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7688-0230, e-mail: husnutdinovaMR@mgppu.ru

Tatiana A. Poskakalova, Research Associate, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4932-0921, e-mail: poskakalova@gmail.com

Contribution of the authors

Margarita R. Khusnutdinova — article idea; theoretical analysis and conceptual model development; statistical data analysis; database formation and empirical data processing; visualization of research results; writing the text.
Tatiana А. Poskakalova — research ideas; collection of empirical data; research planning; research supervision.
All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

Participation in the online survey was entirely voluntary and anonymous. The first page of the questionnaire contained a detailed information message (survey header), which included: the purpose of the study, a description of the procedure, the researcher’s contact information, an assurance of anonymity, and the right to withdraw at any time. Initiating the survey and submitting responses were
considered as the respondent’s conscious and voluntary consent to participate (so-called “implied consent”).

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