Growth patterns of ingroup and outgroup prosocial behavior in Colombian and Uruguayan adolescents: Examining gratitude and forgiveness as predictors of chang

BELÉN MESURADO; SANTIAGO RESETT

Journal of Adolescence

Society for Research on Adolescence

Año: 2023 vol. 1

1095-9254

The first goal of the current research was to study the short-term developmental patternsof ingroup and outgroup prosocial behavior during the middle adolescence stage amongUruguayan and Colombian adolescents. The second goal was to study the probability ofinclusion in each trajectory class arising from gratitude and forgiveness (understood asthe absence of negative emotions and the presence of positive emotions toward an aggressor) while controlling for gender and age. The study included two short-term longitudinal samples from two Latin American countries: Colombia (N=212, M age=13.82 years,SD=1.25) and Uruguay (N=269, M age=14.02 years, SD=1.39). The data were collectedat three time points within a 3-month interval. The first finding indicated that differentpatterns in ingroup and outgroup prosocial behavior in adolescents emerged in bothLatin American countries. Moreover, two classes—high and low—were identified in thetrajectory of ingroup prosocial behavior, while three different classes—high, moderate,and low—were found in the trajectory of outgroup prosocial behavior in both countries. The results indicated that high levels of gratitude increased the probability thatUruguayan adolescents were included in the group of adolescents with high levels ofingroup prosocial behavior. High levels of positive emotions toward an aggressor (a dimension of forgiveness) increased the probability that a Colombian adolescent belongedto the group of adolescents with high levels of ingroup prosociality. Regarding outgroupprosocial behavior, different predictors were also identified between the countries. Theresults indicated that high levels of gratitude and positive emotions toward an aggressorincreased the probability that Uruguayan adolescents were included in the group of adolescents with high or moderate levels of outgroup prosocial behavior. Only positive emotions toward an aggressor increased the probability that Colombian adolescents wereincluded in