Latent profiles of prosocial strategies and their role in a moderated mediation model of adolescent bullying

BACKGROUND: Bullying, a significant global issue detrimental to student well-being, is increasingly understood as a goal-directed strategy within power-imbalanced contexts. This study investigates the relationships among agentic goals, two resource control strategies (coercive and prosocial), and bullying behaviors. METHODS: = 13.6 years) completed measures of agentic goals, resource control strategies, and bullying behavior. Adopting a person-oriented approach, we first used latent profile analysis (LPA) on prosocial strategy scores to identify heterogeneous subgroups. Subsequently, variable-oriented moderated mediation models were examined within each subgroup. RESULTS: LPA delineated two distinct subgroups: a High Prosocial Orientation Group (73.8%) and a Low Prosocial Orientation Group (26.2%). Across the sample, agentic goals were positively associated with bullying, mediated by coercive strategies. The critical finding was that prosocial strategies moderated this mediation pathway; however, this moderated mediation effect was significant only within the High Prosocial Orientation Group. CONCLUSION: This study supports a nonpathological, goal-oriented framework for understanding bullying. The findings reveal that the protective role of prosocial strategies is conditional, effectively moderating the harmful pathway from agentic goals to bullying only among adolescents who already possess a high baseline level of such competence. This underscores the importance of interventions that address underlying motivational goals and promote prosocial skills, while also highlighting the potential need for differentiated approaches based on individuals' existing strategic repertoires.