Prosocial and Antisocial
Development
Individual Differences in Prosocial Behavior
Role of Nature:
 Identical twins show modest correlations in
tendency to engage in prosocial acts
 Most likely due to differences in temperament
 e.g. amount of negative emotion and
regulation of emotion
 e.g. Assertiveness
Again, a key difference in moral reasoning
and moral action—e.g. how cognitive
functioning and personality style (moral
character) interact to influence behavior
Nurture (e.g. Parents influence in 3 main ways)
Modeling and communication of values
 More imitation of those that have a positive relationship with
 Discussions of consequences on person’s feelings not just
indicating good/bad
Opportunities for prosocial activities
• “Snowball” effect: those that engage in prosocial feel better about
themselves, others treat them more positively, thus engage in more
prosocial behavior
Discipline and parenting style
 Supportive and constructive parenting is related to higher prosocial
behavior
 Physical punishment, threats, and authoritarian parenting are related to
lower sympathy and prosocial behavior
 Physical rewards for prosocial behavior decrease motivation later for
prosocial behavior if the reward is not present
 Punishment for not using prosocial behavior leads the child to believe the
reason for helping is to avoid own punishment
Antisocial Behavior
• Comes in many forms, degrees, many paths to it
• Poor parenting > child conduct problems
> peer rejection + academic failure
> deviant peer group > antisocial behavior
• “Poor parenting” can result from low SES, low
education, unemployment, marital discord/divorce,
etc.
• Amplifying effect = stressors greater for those who
already have negative traits or poor social skills
Conduct Disorder
9% of males, 2 % of females under age 18
Basic rights of others are violated, social norms and rules violated
Disturbance of conduct lasting at least 6 months during which 3
of the following have been present:
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Has stolen without confrontation of victim
Ran away from home more than twice
Often lies
Deliberately engages in fire setting
Often truant from school
Broken into someone else care, house, etc.
Cruel to animals
Forced someone into sexual activity
Initiates physical fights
Used a weapon in more than one fight
Stolen with confrontation of a victim
Physically cruel to people
Antisocial Personality Disorder
A personality disorder = enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, or
thinking about world, exhibited in a range of contexts; inflexible
and maladaptive (often recognizable by adolescence or earlier)
Conduct disorder prior to age 15 and
A pattern of irresponsible and antisocial behavior since age 15 including at least 4 of
the following:
• Unable to sustain consistent work behavior
• Fails to conform to social norms; lawful behavior
• Irritable and aggressive
• Fails to honor financial obligations
• Impulsive
• No regard for the truth (lies, cons, uses aliases)
• Reckless regarding own and others’ safety
• If parent, lacks ability to function as responsible parent
• Has never sustained a monogamous relationship for more than a year
• Lacks remorse
ASPD: Bob Hare’s Descriptives
Emotional/Interpersonal Problems
• Glib and superficial
• Egocentric
• Lack of remorse or guilt
• Lack of empathy
• Deceitful and manipulative
• Shallow emotions
Social Problems
• Impulsive
• Poor behavior controls
• Need for excitement
• Lack of responsibility
• Early behavior problems
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Classic Inconsistency
• Continuity across development (5%) but at
the same time:
• The majority of those with conduct
disorders do not go on to develop ASPD
• There is a markedly higher rate of antisocial
behaviour in teens (peeks at age 17, up to
70% of teens) (it may be normative?)
Equifinality
• Moffit’s (1993) Theory
– Two paths:
• Life-Course Persistent
– Starts early and continues into adulthood
• Adolescence-Limited
– Starts and ends in adolescence
Life Course Persistent
Factors that predispose us to ASPD
– 1. Genetics
– 2. Prenatal alcohol and drug abuse
– 3. Obstetrical complications
 Resulting in neurological damages
Neurological damages expressed in 3 ways:
– Difficult temperament (cranky babies)
– Deficits in verbal skills (expressive and receptive speech, reading
and writing development)
– Executive deficits (planning behaviours, shifting attention, checking
the plan)
Can be made worse with maladaptive home environments (e.g. harsh
and unpredictable behaviour by parents, abusive, poor monitoring)
[Note: Biological parents may share neurological consequences
compounding the effect]
Life Course Persistent
• E.g. How these traits come together in ASB?
– Verbal abilities
• Verbal deficits may lead to the child acting out more because they
cannot articulate their needs appropriately
• Therefore, they elicit more negative feedback from caregivers
– Difficult Temperment Problems forming close attachments
• Happens early (first with parents)
• And other relationships across the lifespan
• Poor relationships (lack of empathy), choose antisocial mates
– Executive Difficulties
• Lead to decreased academic success due to inability to plan,
impulsive, poor attention
• Resulting in School failure, occupational failure, criminal behavior
Adolescence-Limited
• Kids who associate with antisocial peers may mimic the behaviour
– This behaviour is seen as cool initially, but as they age, the rewards are
seen differently (not so rewarding)
– They will then shift their behaviour more prosocial behaviour (they grow
out of it)
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• Life-course persistent
– Rare – 5%
– Inflexible
– Has biological roots
• Environmentally influenced
• Adolescence Limited
– Common
– Adaptive? Flexible
– has sociocultural roots (requires an antisocial role model they can mimic)
Evidence for 2 paths
• People who experience birth complications have higher rate of adult
violent offending (Kandel & Mednick, 1991)
• Twin studies (Taylor, 2000)
– Early onset---life-course (MZ > DZ)
– Late onset—adolescence limited (MZ approximately equal to DZ)
• IQ Deficits
– ASB ½ standard deviation below average IQ
– PIQ > VIQ
• Even after accounting for SES & family adversity is accounted
for
• Effortful attention (WISC-R ‘freedom from distraction’ is low for ASB
• Inhibitory problems (Go/No-Go), Working memory deficits in ASB
• Prefrontal cortex structural abnormalities