Responsible digital conduct among Indonesian youth: a PLS-SEM study of digital ethics, empathy, and peer norms

This study investigates how digital ethical awareness and digital empathy influence responsible social media behavior among adolescents, and whether peer norms contribute directly to this behavior. We surveyed adolescents (n = 124) in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we tested four reflective constructs: Digital Ethical Awareness, Digital Empathy, Peer Norms, and Responsible Social Media Behavior. Results show that ethical awareness positively predicts empathy, empathy positively predicts responsible behavior, and ethical awareness also has a direct positive effect on responsible behavior. Empathy partially mediated the effect of ethical awareness on responsible behavior. Peer norms demonstrate a positive direct association with responsible behavior, suggesting that a supportive normative climate strengthens prosocial conduct online. The measurement model met accepted reliability and validity thresholds, and the structural model explained a meaningful portion of the variance in responsible behavior. Theoretically, these findings integrate moral cognition and empathy-based accounts of prosocial action with normative influences in adolescent digital contexts. Practically, school-based programs may combine ethics education with empathy-building and peer-led norming to promote responsible online conduct. This study provides evidence from an understudied setting and highlights scalable intervention strategies for educators and policymakers.