School Climate and Responsibility as Predictors of Antisocial and Prosocial Behaviors and Violence: A Study towards Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

Self-determination theory and Vallerand’s hierarchical model have been studied taking into account different types of social factors that can result in different consequences. The purpose of this work was to see if responsibility and social climate could predict antisocial and prosocial behavior and violence. For this, 429 students (M = 11.46, SD = 1.92) participated in the study, answering a questionnaire with five variables: school climate, responsibility, motivation, satisfaction of psychological needs, prosocial and antisocial behavior, and violence. The main results indicated that most variables correlated positively and directly, except in the case of antisocial behavior and violence. On the other hand, a prediction model (X2 = 584.145 (98); RMSEA = 0.104 [90% CI = 0.096, 0.112]; TLI = 0.849; CFI = 0.894) showed that responsibility and school climate can predict basic psychological needs, and that these needs can improve autonomous motivation, which, in turn, could positively predict on improving prosocial behavior and reducing antisocial behavior and violence. In conclusion, school climate and responsibility can encourage the development of positive consequences in the classroom, specifically in terms of prosocial behavior and the reduction of violence and antisocial behavior.