Professor Joseph Ciarrochi - The upsides and downsides of the dark side

28th March 2018 - Brown Bag Seminar

Presentation Title:
"The Upsides and Downsides Of The Dark Side: A longitudinal study into the role of prosocial and antisocial strategies in adolescent friendships"

Topic:
Resource Control Theory (RCT) posits that both antisocial and prosocial behavior are social strategies that combine in unique ways and are in the service controlling resources such as friendships. Little research has examined the developmental consequences of resource control strategies for same and opposite sex friendships. The present study assessed a large cohort of students (N = 2803; 49.7 % male) yearly from Junior high (grades 8 to 10) and senior high school (11 to 12) on levels of antisocial behavior (aggression and rule breaking, or A), prosocial behavior (cognitive and affective empathy, or P), peer nominated friendship, and self-reported well-being. Non-parametic cluster analyses of the joint trajectories of A and P identified four profiles: Non-strategic (moderately low (~=-.6SD) on both A and P), bi-strategic (moderately high on both), prosocial (moderately low on A and high on P), and antisocial (moderately low on P, and very high on A (~=+1.6 SD). Multi-level negative bi-nomial analyses revealed that non-strategic youth received the fewest opposite sex friendship than everybody including antisocial youth. In addition, although the prosocial group exhibited little antisocial behavior, they nevertheless received fewer opposite sex nominations than the more negative bi-strategic youth. However, this effect was quailed by developmental period: bi-strategics lost, on average, approximately a full opposite sex nomination from Junior to senior high, and became less favored than prosocial youth. Finally, despite some advantages in obtaining opposite sex nominations, both bi-strategic and antisocial youth experienced lower self-esteem and mental health than other groups, and this effect was more pronounced amongst females. We discuss the complex trade-offs of different resource control strategies for close friendships and well being