Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Two Sides of the Same Coin? The Relations between Prosocial and Physically Aggressive Behaviors

  • Origina Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The direct and indirect relations between six types of prosocial behavior and physical aggression were examined. Data were gathered from 252 college students (M age = 21.67 years; 184 women) who completed measures of sympathy, prosocial behavior, and physical aggression. Structural equation modeling revealed that sympathy fully mediated the relations between compliant prosocial behaviors and physical aggression, and partially mediated the relations between altruism and physical aggression and public prosocial behaviors and physical aggression. The findings suggest that the relations between prosocial behaviors and aggression are complex and that prosocial behavior should not be treated as a unitary construct.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bandura A, Caprara GV, Barbaranelli C, Pastorelli C, Regalia C (2001) Sociocognitive self-regulatory mechanisms governing transgressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol 80:125–135

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Batson CD (1998) Altruism and prosocial behavior. In Gilbert DT, Fiske ST, Lindzey G (eds) Handbook of Social Psychology: Vol 2 (4th ed., pp. 282–316). McGraw Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Batson CD, Ahmad N, Tsang J (2002) Four motives for community involvement. J Soc Issues 58:429–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boxer P, Tisak MS, Goldstein SE (2004) Is it bad to be good? An exploration of aggressive and prosocial behavior subtypes in adolescence. J Youth Adolesc 33:91–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caprara GV, Barbaranelli C, Pastorelli C (2001) Prosocial behavior and aggression in childhood and pre-adolescence. In Bohart AC, Stipek DJ (eds) Constructive & Destructive Behavior: Implications for family, school, & society (pp. 187–203). American Psychological Association, Washington, DC

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Carlo G, Eisenberg N, Knight GP (1992) An objective measure of adolescents’ prosocial moral reasoning. J Res Adolesc 2:331–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlo G, Hausmann A, Christiansen S, Randall BA (2003) Sociocognitive and behavioral correlates of a measure of prosocial tendencies for adolescents. J Early Adolesc 23:107–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlo G, Raffaelli M, Laible DJ, Meyer KA (1999) Why are girls less physically aggressive than boys? Personality and parenting mediators of physical aggression. Sex Roles 40:711–729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlo G, Randall BA (2001) Are all prosocial behaviors equal? A socioecological developmental conception of prosocial behavior. In Columbus F (ed) Advances in psychology research, vol. III (pp 151–170). Nova Science, Hauppauge, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlo G, Randall BA (2002) The development of a measure of prosocial behaviors for late adolescents. J Youth Adolesc 31:31–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlo G, Roesch SC, Melby J (1998) The multiplicative relations of parenting and temperament to prosocial and antisocial behaviors in adolescence. J Early Adolesc 18:266–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cialdini RB, Schller M, Houlohan D, Arps K, Fultz J, Eaman AL (1987) Empathy-based helping: Is it selflessly or selfishly motivated? J Pers Soc Psychol 52:749–758

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coie J, Dodge KA (1998) Aggression and antisocial behavior. In Damon W (Series ed), Eisenberg N (Vol. ed), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 3. Social emotional and personality development (5th ed., pp. 779–862). New York: Wiley

  • Coie J, Kupersmidt JB (1983) A behavioral analysis of emerging social status in boys’ groups. Child Dev 54:1400–1416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crick NR, Grotpeter JK (1995) Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Dev 66:710–722

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crowne DP Marlowe D (1964) The approval motive. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis MH (1983) Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. J Pers Soc Psychol 44:113–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis MH, Franzoi SL (1991) Stability and change in adolescent self-consciousness and empathy. J Res Pers 25:70–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge KA (1983) Behavioral antecedents of peer social status. Child Dev. 54:1386–1399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly AH, Crowley M (1986) Gender and helping behavior: A meta-analytic review of the social psychological literature. Psychol Bull 100:283–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eberly MB Montemayor R (1998) Doing good deeds: An examination of adolescent prosocial behavior in the context of parent-adolescent relationships. J Adolesc Res 13:403–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg N (1986) Altruistic emotion, cognition, and behavior. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg N (2003) Prosocial behavior, empathy, and sympathy. In Bornstein MH, Davidson L, Keyes CLM, Moore KA (eds) Well-being: Positive development across the life course (pp. 253–265). Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg N, Fabes RA (1998) Prosocial development. In Damon W (Series ed) & Eisenberg N (Vol. ed), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 3. Social emotional and personality development (5th ed., pp. 701–778). New York: Wiley

  • Eisenberg N, Guthrie IK, Murphy BC, Shepard SA, Cumberland A, Carlo G (1999) Consistency and development of prosocial dispositions: A longitudinal study. Child Dev 70:1360–1372

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg N, Lundy T, Shell R, Roth K (1985) Children's justifications for their adult and peer-directed compliant (prosocial and nonprosocial) behaviors. Deve Psychol 21:325–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg N, Miller PA (1987) The relation of empathy to prosocial and related behaviors. Psycholo Bull 101:91–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg N, Shea CL, Carlo G, Knight GP (1991) Empathy-related responding and cognition: A “Chicken and the Egg” dilemma. In Kurtines WM, Gewirtz JL (eds) Handbook of Moral Behavior and Development (pp. 63–88). Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Eron LD, Huesmann LR (1984) The relation of prosocial behavior to the development of aggression and psychopathology. Aggressive Behav 10:201–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabes RA, Carlo G, Kupanoff K, Laible D (1999) Early adolescence and prosocial/moral behavior. 1. The role of individual processes. J Early Adolesc 198:5–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Feshbach S, Feshbach ND (1986) Aggression and altruism: A personality perspective. In Zahn-Waxler C, Cummings EM, Iannotti R (eds) Altruism and aggression: Biological and social origins (pp. 135–164). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey KS, Hirschstein MK, Guzzo BA (2000) Second Step: Preventing aggression by promoting social competence. J Emotional Behav Disord 8:102–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill KL, Calkins SD (2003) Do aggressive/destructive toddlers lack concern for others? Behavioral and physiological indicators of empathic responding in 2-year-old children. Dev Psychopathol 15:55–71

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grusec JE, Goodnow JJ, Cohen L (1996) Household work and the development of concern for others. Dev Psychol 32:999–1007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grusec JE, Goodnow JJ, Kuczynski L (2000) New directions in analyses of parenting contributions to children's acquisition of values. Child Dev 71:205–211

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haapasalo J, Tremblay RE, Boulerice B, Vitaro F (2000) Relative advantages of person- and variable-based approaches for predicting problem behaviors from kindergarten assessments. J Quant Criminol 16:145–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy SA (2005) Religiosity and prosocial behaviors in adolescence: The mediating role of prosocial values. J Moral Edu 34:231–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris JA, Rushton JP, Hampson E, Jackson DN (1996) Salivary testosterone and self-report aggressive and pro-social personality characteristics in men and women. Aggressive Behav 22:321–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings PD, Zahn-Waxler C, Robinson J, Usher B, Bridges D (2000) The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems. Dev Psycholo 36:531–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley PH (2003a). Prosocial and coercive configurations of resource control in early adolescence: A case for the well-adapted machiavellian. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 49:279–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley PH (2003b). Strategies of control, aggression and morality in preschoolers: An evolutionary perspective. J Exp Child Psychol 85:213–235

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill CE (2004) Helping skills: Facilitating exploration, insight, and action (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman ML (1987) The contribution of empathy to justice and moral judgment. In Eisenberg N, Strayer J (eds) Empathy and its development (pp. 47–80). Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu L, Bentler PM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct Equ Model An Interdisciplinary Journal 6:1–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes C, White A, Sharpen J, Dunn J (2000) Antisocial, angry, and unsympathetic: “Hard-to-manage” preschoolers’ peer problems and possible cognitive influences. J Child Psychol Psychiatr 41:169–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iannotti RJ (1985) Naturalistic and structured assessments of prosocial behavior in preschool children: The influence of empathy and perspective taking. Dev Psycholo 21:46–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaukianen A, Björkqvist K, Lagerspetz K, Österman K, Salmivalli C, Rothberg S, et al. (1999) The relationships between social intelligence, empathy, and three types of aggression. Aggressive Behav 25:81–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight GP, Fabes RA, Higgins DA (1996) Concerns about drawing causal inferences from meta-analyses: An example in the study of gender differences in aggression. Psycholo Bull 119:410–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kochanska G (1997) Mutually responsive orientation between mothers and their young children: Implications for early socialization. Child Dev 68:94–112

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kochanska G, Aksan N (1995) Mother-child mutually positive affect, the quality of child compliance to requests and prohibitions, and maternal control as correlates of early internalization. Child Development 66:236–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krueger RF, Hicks BM, McGue M (2001) Altruism and antisocial behavior: Independent tendencies, unique personality correlates, distinct etiologies. Psycholo Sci 12:397–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahey BB, Schwab-Stone M, Goodman SH, Waldman ID, Canino G, Rathouz PJ, et al. (2000) Age and gender differences in oppositional behavior and conduct problems: A cross-sectional household study of middle childhood and adolescence. J Abnorm Psychol 109:488–503

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laible DJ, Carlo G, Raffaelli M (2000) The differential relations of parent and peer attachment to adolescent adjustment. J Youth Adolesc 29:45–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby EE, Jacklin CN (1974) The psychology of sex differences. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon DP, Lockwood CM, Hoffman JM, West SG, Sheets V (2002) A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychol Methods 7:83–104

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Manning MA, Bear GG (2002) Are children's concerns about punishment related to their aggression? J Sch Psychol 40:523–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller PA, Eisenberg N (1988) The relation of empathy to aggressive and externalizing/ antisocial behavior. Psychol Bull 103:324–344

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mussen P, Eisenberg N (2001) Prosocial development in context. In Bohart AC, Stipek DJ (eds) Constructive & destructive behavior: Implications for family, school, & society (pp. 103–126). American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donohue W, Yeater EA, Fanetti M (2003) Rape prevention with college males: The roles of rape myth acceptance, victim empathy, and outcome expectancies. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 18:513–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrov JM, Keating CF (2004) Gender differences in preschool aggression during free play and structured interactions: An observational study. Soc Dev 13:255–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parpal M, Maccoby EE (1985) Maternal responsiveness and subsequent child compliance. Child Dev 56:1326–1334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Persson GEB (2005) Developmental perspectives on prosocial and aggressive motives in preschoolers’ peer interactions. Int J Behav Dev 29:80–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulkkinen L (1984) The inhibition and control of aggression. Aggressive Behav 10:221–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulkkinen L, Tremblay RE (1992) Patterns of boys’ social adjustment in two cultures and at different ages: A longitudinal perspective. Int J Behav Dev. 15:527–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Radke-Yarrow M, Zahn-Waxler C, Barrett D, Darby J, King R, Pickett M, Smith J (1976) Dimensions and correlates of prosocial behavior in young behavior. Child Dev. 47:118–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder M, Ickes W (1985) Personality and social behavior. In Lindzey G, Aronson E (eds) Handbook of social psychology: vol. 2 (3rd ed., pp. 883–947). Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Staub E (1986) A conception of the determinants and development of altruism and aggression: Motives, the self, and the environment. In Zahn-Waxler C, Cummings EM, Iannotti R (eds) Altruism and aggression: Biological and social origins. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 135–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Staub E (2005) The roots of goodness: The fulfillment of basic human needs and the development of caring, helping in nonaggression, inclusive caring, moral courage, active bystandership, and altruism born of suffering. In Carlo G, Edwards CP (eds) 51st Annual Symposium on Motivation: Moral development across the lifespan. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE

    Google Scholar 

  • Strayer J, Roberts W (2004) Empathy and observed anger and aggression in five-year-olds. Soc. Dev. 13:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay RE, Vitaro F, Gagnon C, Piché C, Royer N (1992) A prosocial scale for the Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire: Concurrent and predictive correlates. Int. J. Behav. Dev. 15:227–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitaglione GD, Barnett MA (2003) Assessing a new dimension of empathy: Empathic anger as a predictor of helping and punishing desires. Motivation & Emotion 27:301–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro F, Gagnon C, Tremblay RE (1990) Predicting stable peer rejection from kindergarten to grade one. J Clin Child Psychol 19:257–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster-Stratton C, Reid MJ (2003) Treating conduct problems and strengthening social and emotional competence in young children: The Dina Dinosaur treatment program. J Emotional Behav Disord. 11:130–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberger DA (1995) The construct validity of the repressive coping style. In Singer JL (ed) Repression and dissociation: Implications for personality theory, psychopathology, and health, pp 337–386. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberger DA, Gomes ME (1995) Changes in daily mood and self-restraint among undercontrolled preadolescents: A time-series analysis of “acting out”. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr 34:1473–1482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahn-Waxler C, Cummings EM, Iannotti R (1986) Introduction: Altruism and aggression: Problems and progress in research. In Zahn-Waxler C, Cummings EM, Iannotti R (eds) Altruism and aggression: Biological and social origins, pp 1–15. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research has been sponsored by grants from the Office of the Research Council, Institute for Ethnic Studies, and a Human Rights and Human Diversity Grant-In-Aid awarded to Gustavo Carlo and Marcela Raffaelli. The authors would like to thank Scott Roesch for his assistance in the data collection and Craig Enders for his input on the data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. is graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests include positive social and moral behaviors in children and adolescents and methodology. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, USA

    Meredith McGinley

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, USA

    Gustavo Carlo

Authors
  1. Meredith McGinley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gustavo Carlo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Meredith McGinley.

Additional information

is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Carlo's main interests include the individual, parenting, and cultural correlates of positive social and moral behaviors in children and adolescents.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McGinley, M., Carlo, G. Two Sides of the Same Coin? The Relations between Prosocial and Physically Aggressive Behaviors. J Youth Adolescence 36, 337–349 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9095-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9095-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation