Positive University Environment and Agreeableness as Protective Factors Against Antisocial Behavior in Mexican University Students

Abstract

Violence in schools is a global issue. Approximately 32% of Mexican students have experienced some form of violence in the school setting in their lives. Previous research has tended to focus on the causes of violence and antisocial behaviors in offenders or adolescent samples and has found evidence to suggest the underlying role of environmental and personal factors. The present study investigates the effect of positive school environment and agreeableness as protective factors against antisocial behaviors in a sample of undergraduate and graduate students (n = 304) from northwestern Mexico. Our results demonstrate that a positive school environment has a negative effect on antisocial behaviors via mood and anxiety disorders as well as in interaction with agreeableness, suggesting an interplay between personality and environment. These findings can provide some basis for the development of university programs aimed at fostering positive environments that promote student mental health and protect against antisocial behaviors.

Behavioral Activation System and Early Life Parental Abuse Are Associated with Antisocial Behaviors in Mexican Adolescents

“…Previous literature has highlighted the crucial importance of investigating the psychological factors that protect individuals against negative stimuli. Recent research has begun to target both environmental and personality variables, which may be protective of the appearance of antisocial behaviors [71,72]. In this study, we found that some BAS constructs may serve such a protective function.…”

Prediction of self-efficacy in recognizing deepfakes based on personality traits

“…Deepfakes detection can be seen as part of forensic science. People with high agreeableness are known for their cooperativeness; agreeableness is often referred to as safeguards against antisocial behavior ( Frias Armenta & Corral-Frías, 2021 ), including - in the context of this present study - deepfakes creation and distribution. They esteem innovative forensic methods in their environment and have a positive attitude toward it for the common good ( Sarki & Mat Saat, 2020 ).…”

Home habitability, perceived stress and antisocial behaviour (Habitabilidad de la vivienda, estrés percibido y conducta antisocial)

“…Segundo, al tratarse de una investigación de carácter cuantitativo, no considera las prácticas y significados de la experiencia subjetiva y simbólica de las personas, respecto a las interacciones que se generan al interior de la vivienda. Finalmente, es importante que futuras investigaciones se enfoquen en medir la conducta antisocial en un amplio espectro de contextos socioculturales y variables ambientales como de la personalidad, así como se demuestra en investigaciones recientes (Frías-Armenta & Corral-Frías, 2021; Frías-Armenta et al, 2021).…”

“…Secondly, because this is a quantitative study, it does not consider the practices and meanings of people’s subjective and symbolic experience in terms of the interactions generated inside the home. Finally, it is important for future research to focus on measuring antisocial behaviour in a broad spectrum of sociocultural contexts along with environmental factors like personality, as demonstrated in recent studies (Frías-Armenta & Corral-Frías, 2021; Frías-Armenta et al, 2021).…”