Differential Susceptibility to Friendship Quality: The Role of Need for Approval

ABSTRACT Friendships assume a salient role in well‐being during mid‐adolescence. This research examined (a) how friendship quality (stressful vs. supportive) is differentially associated with mid‐adolescents’ social adjustment (engagement in antisocial vs. prosocial behavior); (b) the extent to which these associations are contingent on individual differences in the tendency to base one's self‐worth on peer approval; and (c) whether these associations differ in boys and girls. Adolescents ( N = 324; 179 girls; M age = 14.87; SD = 1.22) completed questionnaires during a school‐based assessment. For boys, friendship stress was associated with more antisocial behavior among adolescents with high levels of avoidance‐oriented need for approval (NFA), whereas friendship support was associated with more prosocial behavior among adolescents with low levels of avoidance‐oriented NFA. For girls, friendship quality and NFA made independent contributions to social behavior. This research provides a more nuanced understanding of the role of friendship quality in social competence.