Friend Influence on Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Motivational ...

oth time points and to target’s prosocial behavior at T2 (on the
basis of peer nominations) but not to target’s prosocial behavior at
T1 (also on the basis of peer nominations). Moreover, target’s
prosocial goal pursuit at both time points was related significantly
and positively to target’s prosocial behavior at both time points.
Sex was related significantly and positively to friend’s prosocial
behavior, target’s prosocial goal pursuit (T1 and T2), and target’s
prosocial behavior (T1 and T2). In other words, girls were more
likely to perceive their friends as prosocial, to report frequent
prosocial goal pursuit, and to be nominated by same-sex, samegrade
classmates as more prosocial than were boys. 1
The significant correlations indicated that testing for mediation
had merit, in that variables of interest were related in the expected
directions. To test for mediation more formally, we next examined
the pathway from friend’s prosocial behavior to target’s prosocial
goal pursuit with a series of regression models. First, we regressed
prosocial goal pursuit at T1 on friend’s prosocial behavior (Condition
a of Baron & Kenny, 1986). As shown in Table 2, friend’s
prosocial behavior significantly and positively predicted target’s
prosocial goal pursuit, F(2, 174) 16.35, p .0001. (Step 3 was
included to test moderation, which is described in the next section.)
We next examined relations between friend’s prosocial behavior
and change in goal pursuit over time by regressing prosocial
goal pursuit at T2 on friend’s prosocial behavior at T1, after
controlling for prosocial goal pursuit at T1 (an extension of Baron
& Kenny’s, 1986, Condition a). As shown in Table 3, friend’s
prosocial behavior was not a significant predictor of target’s prosocial
goal pursuit (T2), although target’s prosocial goal pursuit (T1)
significantly predicted target’s prosocial goal pursuit (T2). Finally,
we regressed prosocial behavior at T2 on both friend’s prosocial
behavior at T1 and prosocial goal pursuit at T2 (Conditions b and
c of Baron & Kenny, 1986), after controlling for prosocial goal
pursuit at T1. As shown in Table 4, target’s prosocial goal pursuit
(T1, but not T2) predicted target’s prosocial behavior at T2 with
friend’s prosocial behavior at T1 controlled for.
Taken together, the results of the regression analyses indicate
that target’s prosocial goal pursuit (T1) served as a pathway that
links friend’s prosocial behavior (T1; on the basis of target’s
perception) to target’s prosocial behavior (T2; on the basis of peer
nominations), in that friend’s prosocial behavior (T1) was related
to target’s prosocial goal pursuit (T1), and target’s prosocial goal
Table 2
Results of Hierarchical Regression Analysis on Target’s
Prosocial Goal Pursuit, Time 1
Variable Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
1. Sex
2. <strong>Friend</strong>’s prosocial behavior
.30*** .20** .19**
(FPB), T1 .28*** .35***
3. Interaction Frequency FPB, T1 .16*
Affective Quality FPB, T1 .21**
<strong>Friend</strong>ship Stability FPB, T2 .01
R 2
.09*** .07*** .05*
Total R 2
.21***
Note. n 177. The standard errors for each step are as follows: .55 (Step
1), .53 (Step 2), and .52 (Step 3). T1 Time 1; T2 Time 2.
* p .05. ** p .01. *** p .001.
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
pursuit at T1 was related to the change in target’s prosocial
behavior over time. However, complete mediation, as defined by
Baron and Kenny (1986), was not supported given that friend’s
prosocial behavior (T1) was a nonsignificant predictor of change
in target’s prosocial goal pursuit, and target’s prosocial goal pursuit
(T2) was a nonsignificant predictor of target’s prosocial behavior
(T2).
Question 2: How Do <strong>Friend</strong>ship Characteristics of
Affective Quality, Interaction Frequency, and <strong>Friend</strong>ship
Stability Moderate the Relation of a <strong>Friend</strong>’s Prosocial
Behavior to a Target Individual’s Prosocial Goals?
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In keeping with social-learning theory (Bandura, 1986), we
hypothesized that behavior is learned, in part, through observing
best friends. Moreover, we predicted that friend influence is most
likely to occur by way of goal pursuit when (a) the affective
quality of a friendship is high, and (b) the interaction frequency
and friendship stability between an individual and a friend are high
such that the individual and friend spend a significant amount of
time together.
To test for these moderating effects, we included interaction
terms at the last step of the regression analyses presented in Tables
2 and 3: Affective Quality <strong>Friend</strong>’s Prosocial Behavior, Interaction
Frequency <strong>Friend</strong>’s Prosocial Behavior, and <strong>Friend</strong>ship
Stability <strong>Friend</strong>’s Prosocial Behavior. Affective quality, interaction
frequency, and friend’s prosocial behavior were mean centered
to reduce the redundancy of each interaction term.
As shown in Table 2, two interaction terms (involving affective
quality and interaction frequency) included at Step 3 significantly
predicted target’s prosocial goal pursuit at T1; however, friendship
stability was not a significant predictor. As shown in Table 3, the
Affective Quality <strong>Friend</strong>’s Prosocial Behavior interaction term
was not a significant predictor of T2 goal pursuit with T1 goal
pursuit controlled for. (We tested models in which each interaction
term was entered as a separate step, and the results were not
significantly different from those reported in Tables 2 and 3).
To explore further the significant Affective Quality <strong>Friend</strong>’s
Prosocial Behavior interaction for target’s prosocial goal pursuit at
T1, we regressed goal pursuit (T1) on friend’s prosocial behavior
for each of three levels of affective quality, as determined by a
subdivision of the affective quality variable along the 33rd and
67th percentiles (see Aiken & West, 1991). <strong>Friend</strong>’s behavior was
a significant, positive predictor ( .38, p .001) of goal pursuit
at T1 only when affective quality was high, F(1, 68) 11.43,
SE 0.43, p .001 (see Figure 2). These findings thereby suggest
that friend’s prosocial behavior is related to target’s prosocial goal
pursuit at T1 when the target perceives the friendship to have high
levels of affective quality.
To explore further the significant Interaction Frequency
<strong>Friend</strong>’s Prosocial Behavior interaction for target’s prosocial goal
pursuit at T1, we regressed goal pursuit (T1) on friend’s prosocial
behavior for each of three levels of interaction frequency, as
determined by a subdivision of the interaction frequency variable
1 Initially, grade and ethnicity were included within the first step for all
three regressions; however, the two variables were nonsignificant and,
thus, omitted from what is reported here.