New research finds prosocial identity motivation protects against institutional infractions

We’re excited to announce that our new paper, “Identity-Based Prosocial Motivation Protects Detained Youth Against Institutional Infractions,” has been published in Law and Human Behavior!

In this study, the authors examined data on 846 male detained youth to test whether prosocial identity motivation — the desire to leave an antisocial lifestyle for a conventional one — predicts fewer institutional infractions.

We found that prosocial identity motivation (PIM) is a protective factor against serious and violent institutional infractions. These findings indicate that identity-based motivation to change is impactful during adolescence, even for youth that are deeply involved with justice systems.

Read the paper here: