Personal values as a mediator between parent and peer expectations and adolescent behaviors.

The current study examined the mediating role of adolescents' personal values on the relation between maternal and peer expectations for prosocial behaviors and adolescents' self-reported prosocial and antisocial behaviors. One hundred thirty-four adolescents (mean age = 16.22 years, 54% girls) completed measures of their own values and behaviors, as well as their perceptions of the positive expectations that their mother and their best friend(s) had for their (the adolescents') prosocial behaviors. Stepwise regression analyses suggested that adolescents' personal prosocial values mediated the relation between adolescents' perceptions of both maternal and peer expectations and adolescents' prosocial behaviors. In addition, for boys, perceptions of positive peer expectations were directly and negatively related to antisocial behaviors. The current study has important implications for parents, educators, and practitioners who are concerned about promoting adolescents' positive behaviors and discouraging negative behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socialization of prosocial behavior in the preschool classroom.

Videotaped the naturally occurring classroom behaviors of 33 preschool children 51–63 mo old. Instances of prosocial, defensive, and social behaviors were coded, as well as peer and teacher reactions to prosocial behaviors. Although teachers responded positively to Ss' prosocial behaviors only a small percentage of the time, peers reacted positively a moderate proportion of the time. Ss who frequently responded to requests for prosocial behavior received fewer positive reactions from peers than Ss who complied with requests less often. In contrast, teachers were more likely to react positively to girls who exhibited high levels of "asked for" (compliant) prosocial behaviors. The type of reactions an S received for prosocial behaviors was related both to the type of reactions given to others' prosocial behaviors and to positive sociability. Frequent performance of spontaneous prosocial actions was related to a different pattern of behaviors than was frequency of prosocial behaviors in response to a request. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deindividuation and valence of cues: Effects on prosocial and antisocial behavior.

Manipulated deindividuation and valence of costume cues in a 2?×?2 factorial design. P. G. Zimbardo's (1970) theory of deindividuation suggests that deindividuation should disinhibit antisocial behavior independent of cue valence, and should reduce any influence due to cues. The theory of K. J. Gergen et al (1973) suggests that cues may have increasing influence, given deindividuation, and that deindividuation may increase prosocial behavior, given positive cues, and increase antisocial behavior, given negative cues. Results support Gergen's position. Given options to increase or decrease shock level received by a stranger, no main effect was found for deindividuation. There was a main effect for costume cues, and an interaction of cues with deindividuation, with deindividuation facilitating a significant increase in prosocial responses in the presence of positive cues and a nonsignificant increase in antisocial responses in the presence of negative cues. Also cues interacted with trial blocks, prosocial behavior increasing with positive cues and antisocial behavior increasing with negative cues over trial blocks. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct and crossover effects of prosocial and antisocial coping behaviors.

The relationship of antisocial and prosocial coping behaviors to individual and relationship well-being was prospectively examined in a sample of fire-emergency workers (FEWs) and their marital or romantic partners (69 couples). Results of hierarchical multiple regression equations indicated that FEW's antisocial coping was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Prosocial coping was related to decreased anger expression and increased relationship adjustment. Partners' prosocial coping was a significant predictor of FEW's reports of better relationship adjustment. For partners, prosocial coping was positively related to their relationship adjustment. FEW coping was unrelated to partners' outcome. Results for the FEWs support the notion that coping has direct and crossover effects. Moreover, results indicate that prosocial and antisocial coping behaviors have differential effects on well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-solving skills training and relationship therapy in the treatment of antisocial child behavior.

The present investigation evaluated the effects of cognitive-behavioral problem-solving skills training (PSST) and nondirective relationship therapy (RT) for the treatment of antisocial child behavior. Psychiatric inpatient children (N?=?56, ages 7–13) were assigned randomly either to PSST, RT, or to a treatment-contact control condition (in which children met individually with a therapist but did not engage in specific activities designed to alter antisocial behavior). Children were hospitalized during the period in which treatment was administered and discharged thereafter. The PSST condition led to significantly greater decreases in externalizing and aggressive behaviors and in overall behavioral problems at home and at school and to increases in prosocial behaviors and in overall adjustment than the RT and contact-control conditions. These effects were evident immediately after treatment and at a 1-year follow-up. The RT and control children did not consistently improve over the treatment and follow-up periods. Comparisons with nonclinical (normative) levels of functioning revealed that a significantly higher proportion of PSST children, compared with those in other conditions, fell within the normative range for prosocial behavior at posttreatment and at follow-up. Even so, the majority of PSST children and almost all RT and control children remained outside the normative range of deviant behavior. The implications of the results for further research for antisocial youth are highlighted. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accurate identification of fear facial expressions predicts prosocial behavior.

The fear facial expression is a distress cue that is associated with the provision of help and prosocial behavior. Prior psychiatric studies have found deficits in the recognition of this expression by individuals with antisocial tendencies. However, no prior study has shown accuracy for recognition of fear to predict actual prosocial or antisocial behavior in an experimental setting. In 3 studies, the authors tested the prediction that individuals who recognize fear more accurately will behave more prosocially. In Study 1, participants who identified fear more accurately also donated more money and time to a victim in a classic altruism paradigm. In Studies 2 and 3, participants' ability to identify the fear expression predicted prosocial behavior in a novel task designed to control for confounding variables. In Study 3, accuracy for recognizing fear proved a better predictor of prosocial behavior than gender, mood, or scores on an empathy scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial factors and high-risk sexual behavior: race differences among urban adolescents

Adolescence is a period of sexual experimentation. We examined psychosocial predictors of high-risk sexual behavior and condom use. The sample included 824 ninth-graders, most of whom are African American. We conducted separate analyses for whites and African Americans. Predictors included alcohol and substance use, delinquency, prosocial behaviors, and family and peer influences. We found that problem behaviors predicted high-risk sexual behavior, but the effects were stronger for white youth. We also found that friends' behaviors were more predictive than family influences, except for family conflict. In general, the models explained more variance for white youths than for African-American youths. The results suggest that problem behavior theory and social interactions theory may be most relevant for white youth and that other models may be necessary to explain high-risk sexual behavior among African-American youths.     

A trickle-down model of organizational justice: Relating employees' and customers' perceptions of and reactions to fairness.

This study developed and tested a trickle-down model of organizational justice that hypothesized that employees' perceptions of fairness should affect their attitudes toward the organization, subsequently influencing their behaviors toward customers. In turn, customers should interpret these behaviors as signals of fair treatment, causing them to react positively to both the employee and the organization. The model was tested on a sample of 187 instructors and their students. The results revealed that instructors who perceived high distributive and procedural justice reported higher organizational commitment. In turn, their students reported higher levels of instructor effort, prosocial behaviors, and fairness, as well as more positive reactions to the instructor. Overall, the results imply that fair treatment of employees has important organizational consequences because of customers' attitudes and future intentions toward key service employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Domain-appropriateness of maternal discipline as a predictor of adolescents' positive and negative outcomes.

The purpose of the current study was to examine adolescents' perceptions of the appropriateness of maternal discipline across social domains and how domain-appropriateness was related to adolescents' prosocial and antisocial behaviors via adolescents' personal prosocial values. A total of 133 adolescents (54% girls; mean age = 16.23 years, SD = 1.27) completed questionnaires in their classrooms at school. Results suggest that adolescents perceived mothers as responding differently to their misbehavior and perceived different maternal discipline as appropriate as a function of the domain into which the misbehavior fit. Findings also suggest that domain-appropriateness of maternal discipline was related to adolescent outcomes (directly, and indirectly via personal values), suggesting the importance of domain-appropriate maternal discipline during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of autonomy-supportive coaching, need satisfaction, and self-perceptions on initiative and identity in youth swimmers.

This study tested a sequential process model linking youth sport coaching climates (perceived coach behaviors and perceived need satisfaction) to youth self-perceptions (perceived competence and global self-esteem) and youth development outcomes (initiative, identity reflection, identity exploration). A sample of 119 youth between the ages of 10 and 18 who participated in a community-directed summer swim league completed questionnaires over the course of the 7-week season. Results indicated that coaches' autonomy support, particularly via process-focused praise, predicted youth competence need satisfaction and relatedness need satisfaction in the coaching relationship. Youth competence need satisfaction predicted self-esteem indirectly via perceived competence. Finally, self-esteem predicted identity reflection, and perceived competence predicted both identity reflection and initiative. Effects of age, sex, and perceptions of direct contact with the coach were not significant. Findings suggest that the quality of the coaching climate is an important predictor of the developmental benefits of sport participation and that one pathway by which the coaching climate has its effect on initiative and identity reflection is through developing youth self-perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synergistic interaction of child manageability problems and parent-discipline tactics in predicting future growth in externalizing behavior for boys.

Manageability problems during early childhood for boys were hypothesized to disrupt parental discipline practices. In turn, disrupted parental discipline practices were hypothesized to interact with manageability problems during late childhood to predict change in antisocial behavior during the transition from elementary to middle school. Results indicated that maternal retrospective perceptions of unmanageability predicted observed maternal discipline practices, even when maternal antisocial behavior and depressed mood and the disruptive and antisocial behavior of the boy were statistically controlled. Graphical analyses and latent class growth models indicated that level of temper tantrums interacted with maternal discipline in predicting change in teacher ratings of antisocial behavior. The nature of the interaction indicated that maternal discipline was a risk factor for growth in antisocial behavior only for boys with high levels of tantrums. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategies for making friends: Relations to social behavior and peer acceptance in early adolescence.

Examined relations among strategy knowledge about making friends, prosocial and antisocial behavior, and peer acceptance at school during early adolescence. Based on a sample of 423 6th- and 7th-grade students, findings indicated that knowledge of both appropriate and inappropriate strategies for making friends was related significantly to both types of social behavior and to peer acceptance. Results also suggested that displays of prosocial (but not antisocial) behavior represent an intermediate process that links knowledge about making friends to peer acceptance. These results were obtained even when taking into account significant relations of IQ to strategy knowledge, social behavior, and peer acceptance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive problem-solving skills training and parent management training in the treatment of antisocial behavior in children.

Evaluated the effects of problem-solving skills training (PSST) and parent management training (PMT) on 97 children (aged 7–13 yrs) referred for severe antisocial behavior. Children and families were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 conditions: PSST, PMT, or PSST and PMT combined. It was predicted that (1) each treatment would improve child functioning (reduce overall deviance and aggressive, antisocial, and delinquent behavior, and increase prosocial competence); and (2) PSST and PMT combined would lead to more marked, pervasive, and durable changes in child functioning and greater changes in parent functioning (parental stress, depression, and overall symptoms). Expectations were supported by results at posttreatment and 1-yr follow-up. PSST and PMT combined led to more marked changes in child and parent functioning and placed a greater proportion of youth within the range of nonclinic (normative) levels of functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An extension of uncertainty management theory to the self: The relationship between justice, social comparison orientation, and antisocial work behaviors.

A multisource field study of 103 employees and their supervisors tested an extension of uncertainty management theory (E. A. Lind & K. Van den Bos, 2002; K. Van den Bos & E. A. Lind, 2002). According to this theory, persons high in social comparison orientation (F. X. Gibbons & B. P. Buunk, 1999) experience chronic uncertainty about the self. It was hypothesized that this should strengthen the effects of interactional and procedural justice perceptions on antisocial work behaviors. As predicted, the negative relationship between employee perceptions of interactional justice and supervisory ratings of antisocial work behaviors was stronger for people who are high as compared with low in social comparison orientation. Results provide evidence for an extension of uncertainty management theory to the self-domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of adolescents' participation in organized activities: Are sports best when combined with other activities?

Although many adolescents participate in sports and other types of organized activities, little extant research explores how youth development outcomes may vary for youth involved in different combinations of activities. The present study uses the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a large, nationally representative sample, to compare activity patterns of adolescents ages 10–18 years (n = 1,711). A cluster analytic technique revealed 5 activity clusters: sports-focused, sports plus other activities, primarily school-based activities, primarily religious youth groups, and low activity involvement. Activity patterns were examined in conjunction with 5 categories of youth development outcomes, including competence (e.g., academic ability), confidence (e.g., self-concept of ability), connections (e.g., talking with friends), character (e.g., externalizing behavior problems), and caring (e.g., prosocial behavior). Results showed that those who participated only in sports had more positive outcomes compared with those who had little or no involvement in organized activities, but less positive outcomes compared with those who participated in sports plus other activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's interpersonal behaviors and the teacher–child relationship.

Relations between kindergartners' (N?=?199; M age?=?5 years 6 months) behavioral orientations and features of their 1st-grade teacher-child relationships (i.e., conflict, closeness, dependency) were examined longitudinally. Early behavioral orientations predicted teacher-chiId relationship quality in that (a) unique associations emerged between children's early antisocial behavior and features of their 1st-grade teacher-child relationships (i.e., negative relation with closeness, positive relation with conflict and dependency) and between asocial behavior and teacher-child dependency, and (b) prosocial behavior was correlated with but not uniquely related to any feature of children's 1st-grade teacher-child relationships. In addition, specific features of the teacher-child relationship (e.g., conflict) predicted changes in children's behavioral adjustment (e.g., decreasing prosocial behavior). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does being good make the grade? Social behavior and academic competence in middle school.

Examined relations of prosocial and antisocial classroom behavior to academic achievement, taking into account the possible mediating effects of academically oriented classroom behavior and teachers' preferences for students. Correlational findings based on 423 students in 6th and 7th grade indicated that prosocial and antisocial behavior are related significantly to GPA and standardized test scores and to teachers' preferences for students and academic behavior. Results from multiple-regression analyses suggested that both types of social behavior are significant, independent predictors of classroom grades, even when academically oriented behavior and teachers' preference for students, IQ, family structure, sex, ethnicity, and days absent from school are taken into account. Results of regressions suggested that significant correlations between social behavior and academic outcomes can be explained in part by significant relations between social and academic behavior. The role of social behavior in promoting classroom learning is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in conformity to peers and parents.

Investigated developmental changes in conformity to parents and peers and relations between parent and peer conformity. In Study 1, 251 children in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 12th grade responded to hypothetical situations in which peers urged the child to perform either antisocial, prosocial, or neutral behaviors. For all types of behavior, the age trends for conformity were curvilinear, and peer conformity peaked in the 6th or 9th grade. In Study 2, 273 children in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 12th grades responded to situations testing conformity to peers on antisocial and prosocial behavior and conformity to parents on prosocial and neutral behavior. For antisocial behavior, a peak in peer conformity was found at the 9th grade. Significant age changes were not found for prosocial behavior. Conformity to parents on both types of behavior decreased steadily with age. With some but not all measures, conformity to parents and conformity to peers were negatively correlated. In addition, the relations between parents and peer conformity changed with age. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers: A multimethod assessment.

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers were examined in 2 studies. Study 1 examined the degree to which 4th-8th-grade boys and girls (N=408) nominated the same peers for multiple criteria. Children viewed liked others as prosocial and disliked others as antisocial but associated perceived popularity with both prosocial and antisocial behavior. In Study 2, a subset of the children from Study 1 (N=92) described what makes boys and girls popular or unpopular. Children described popular peers as attractive with frequent peer interactions, and unpopular peers as unattractive, deviant, incompetent, and socially isolated. In both studies, children's perceptions varied as a function of the gender, age, and ethnicity of the participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behavior.

Previous research has documented that playing violent video games has various negative effects on social behavior in that it causes an increase in aggressive behavior and a decrease in prosocial behavior. In contrast, there has been much less evidence on the effects of prosocial video games. In the present research, 4 experiments examined the hypothesis that playing a prosocial (relative to a neutral) video game increases helping behavior. In fact, participants who had played a prosocial video game were more likely to help after a mishap, were more willing (and devoted more time) to assist in further experiments, and intervened more often in a harassment situation. Results further showed that exposure to prosocial video games activated the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which in turn promoted prosocial behavior. Thus, depending on the content of the video game, playing video games not only has negative effects on social behavior but has positive effects as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)