The Upsides and Downsides of the Dark Side: A Longitudinal Study Into the Role of Prosocial and Antisocial Strategies in Close Friendship Formation

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Joseph Ciarrochi¹  Baljinder K. Sahdra¹  Patricia H. Hawley²  Emma K. Devine¹ 

[1] Institute of Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University;Texas Tech University, College of Education, United States

关键词: sex differences;    resource control theory;    well-being;    self-concept and self esteem;    empathy;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00114

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Resource control theory (RCT) posits that both antisocial and prosocial behaviors combine in unique ways to control resources such as friendships. We assessed students ( N = 2,803; 49.7% male) yearly from junior (grades 8–10) to senior high school (11–12) on antisocial (A) and prosocial (P) behavior, peer nominated friendship, and well-being. Non-parametric cluster analyses of the joint trajectories of A and P identified four stable profiles: non-strategic (moderately low A and P), bi-strategic (moderately high on A and P), prosocial (moderately low A and moderately high on P), and antisocial (moderately low on P, and very high on A). There were clear benefits to youth using bi-strategic strategies in junior high: they attracted relatively high levels of opposite sex friendship nominations. However, this benefit disappeared in senior high. There were also clear costs: bi-strategic youth experienced relatively low well-being, and this effect was significantly more pronounced for females than males. Prosocial youth were the only ones who maintained both high friendship numbers and high well-being throughout high school. We discuss the cost/benefit trade-offs of different resource control strategies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY