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Antisocial Behavior

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

  • 98 Accesses

Synonyms

Criminality; Delinquency; Lawlessness

Definition

Antisocial behavior (ASB) occurs when a person willingly and intentionally harms other people, property, or animals.

“None of us are saints.” – Albert Fish, Convicted Serial Killer (Philbin 2011)

Antisocial behavior (ASB) occurs when a person willingly and intentionally harms other people, property, or animals. This may occur through physical or verbal means and includes behaviors that violate social norms. For instance, the following actions exemplify antisocial behavior: deception and lies, vandalism, theft, substance abuse, reckless endangerment, and assault (Kazdin 2015). Antisocial behavior exists on a continuum, as individuals engaging in such behavior vary in the frequency of such behavior and may also be indicative of a diagnosable psychological disorder. Furthermore, this definition encompasses a wide variety of destructive behaviors that typically have a negative impact on society. People who engage in ASB often find...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

    Christina Ciulla, Leonardo Rojas & Amanda M. Kimbrough

  2. Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

    Rosanna E. Guadagno

Authors
  1. Christina Ciulla
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  2. Leonardo Rojas
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  3. Amanda M. Kimbrough
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  4. Rosanna E. Guadagno
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosanna E. Guadagno .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Division of Social Sciences, New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL, USA

    Catherine Cottrell

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Ciulla, C., Rojas, L., Kimbrough, A.M., Guadagno, R.E. (2019). Antisocial Behavior. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1776-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1776-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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