Prosocial behavior creates amicable climates while aggression breeds hostile attribution

Evidence

The second disinhibitory process operates through the effects of moral disengagement on prosocial behavior and the emotional and social climate it creates. Pro socialness is characterized by cooperativeness, helpfulness, and sharing. It also arouses empathy for the plight of others and moves us to console them in difficult times. Individuals who behave prosocially create amicable social environments, whereas those who behave aggressively are quick to attribute hostile intent to others and to produce hostile environments wherever they go (Raush, Barry, Hertel, & Swain, 1974). Discordant relationships in the early formative years are likely to lead a child down dissocial paths. In their research on the development of deviancy, Patterson and Bank (1989) have shown that discordant behavior provokes peer rejection, which in turn increases the likelihood of gravitation to antisocial associates. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 266

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to hostile attribution bias research in social cognition and to the developmental cascade literature (peer rejection to antisocial gravitation).