Prosocial and Antisocial Development

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Prosocial and Antisocial Development
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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 actione.g. how cognitive functioning and
  personality style (moral character) interact to
  influence behavior

3

• 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 persons 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

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Antisocial Behavior

• Comes in many forms, degrees, many paths to it
• Poor parenting gt child conduct problems
• gt peer rejection academic failure
• gt deviant peer group gt 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

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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
• 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

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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

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ASPD Bob Hares 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

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Antisocial Personality Disorder
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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?)

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Equifinality

• Moffits (1993) Theory
• Two paths
• Life-Course Persistent
• Starts early and continues into adulthood
• Adolescence-Limited
• Starts and ends in adolescence

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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

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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

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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)
• -----------------------------
• 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)

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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 gt DZ)
• Late onsetadolescence limited (MZ approximately
  equal to DZ)
• IQ Deficits
• ASB ½ standard deviation below average IQ
• PIQ gt 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