The Social Values of Aggressive–Prosocial Youth

Recent research has identified youth who utilize both aggressive and prosocial behavior with peers. Although the social values and motivations associated with aggression and prosocial behavior have been well studied, the values of youth who utilize both aggression and prosocial behavior are unknown. The current study identified groups of adolescents based on peer nominations of aggression and prosocial behavior from both Israel (n = 569; 56.94 % Arab, 43.06 % Jewish; 53.78 % female) and the United States (n = 342; 67.54 % African-American; 32.46 % European-American; 50.88 % female). Self-enhancement, self-transcendence, openness-to-change, and conservation values predicted behavioral group membership. Power values predicted membership in the aggressive group relative to the aggressive–prosocial, prosocial, and low-both groups. For Israeli boys, openness-to-change values predicted membership in the aggressive–prosocial group relative to the prosocial group. The values of aggressive–prosocial youth were more similar to the values of prosocial peers than to aggressive peers, suggesting that motivational interventions for aggressive–prosocial youth should differ in important ways than those for aggressive youth.