The term “prosocial” was coined in the 1970s by social scientists as an antonym for the term “antisocial behaviour”. Dunkeld (2014) defined prosocial behaviours as those behaviours where the intention is to help others, often out of a concern for their rights, feelings and welfare. Researchers argue that five key things need to happen for a person to take action. The individual must notice what is happening, interpret the event as requiring immediate action, have empathy for those in need, experience feelings of responsibility, believe they have the necessary skills to help, and then finally make a conscious choice to help.
There are different types of prosocial behaviour based upon the motivation for prosocial action. These include prosocial actions whose purpose is to benefit self, actions that are performed in response to an identified individual need and finally, actions that are designed to help others without the expectation of personal gain. Different prosocial behaviours are likely to have a different motivation. Proactive prosocial actions were found to be motivated by status-linked goals and wanting to increase popularity within a group. Prosocial actions that are altruistic, on the other hand, were found to be more closely related to being liked by peers and achieving shared goals. Other researchers have developed helping, sharing, and comforting as sub-types when defining prosocial behaviour ( Batson et al..2008). Whilst altruism is seen by some as a form of prosocial behaviour, some suggest that they are different concepts. They propose that while prosocial behaviour is a type of helping which provides self-benefit, altruism is a way of helping that is purely motivated by concern for the individual in need. Others have argued that reciprocity underlies both prosocial behaviour and altruism (Decety et.al., 2016)
Altruism
Altruism is defined as the unselfish concern for others; taking action because of a desire to help not out of a sense of duty or loyalty for religious reasons. These actions are often undertaken without an expectation, however reciprocal altruism involves helping others with the expectation that they will provide help in return ( Fehr & Fischbacher, 2003). Different types of altruistic behaviour include, genetic altruism where the act of kindness benefits close family members, reciprocal altruism which is based upon a belief that one day the person will be able to help, group-selected altruism which involves altruistic acts based upon group affiliation and finally, pure altruism which is motivated by internalised values and morals. Not all prosocial behaviours are fully altruistic. There are a number of different explanations for the existence of altruism. These include evolution and the positive feelings that are generated by compassionate actions which then reinforce altruistic behaviours. Altruism is also influenced by our interactions and relationships with others, and observing prosocial behaviour appears to lead to helping behaviour, although this is influenced by gender, culture and individual context. While altruism is defined as helping others without the expectation of a reward, there can be cognitive incentives. Helping others can relieve an individual’s own distress and can uphold the view they have of themselves as being a kind person. Other cognitive explanations include feelings of empathy towards the person in need of their help, which is known as the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Altruism can also help to alleviate negative feelings associated with seeing somebody in distress, known as the negative-state relief model. Altruism has been found to have a wide range of benefits including better health, better mental well-being, better relationships, and improved social connections. The following have been found to be effective in fostering helpful behaviours; finding inspiration from other people who are altruistic, practicing empathy, and regularly performing acts of kindness. There are also potential difficulties to being altruistic, including becoming emotionally overwhelmed by helping others.
Compassion
Compassion involves the ability to feel empathy for others and awareness, and this is an important aspect of motivating prosocial behaviour. Researchers (Lim & Stephano (2016): Weng et. al., (2013) found that adults can learn to be more compassionate and teaching compassion, using meditation, also results in more altruistic behaviours along with changes to the brain., leading to lasting changes in how people think and act. Compassion is a central component of prosocial behaviours, including altruism and heroism, and involves feeling that the difficulties being faced by another person are serious, that these difficulties are not self-inflicted, and being able to picture themselves in a similar situation.
Psychologists suggests the reasons why people act in ways that are prosocial include evolutionary influences, personal benefits, and reciprocal behaviour (Silk & House, 2015). Evolutionary psychologists link prosocial behaviours to the principles of natural selection. Helping members of your own genetic family makes it more likely your family will survive and pass on its genes to future generations. Evidence suggest that people are more likely to help those they are closely related to. They also posit that the view that helping others might lead to reciprocal kindness and in doing so increase the likelihood of survival and being able to reproduce. Prosocial behaviour is also seen as being motivated by personal benefits that include improving self-image, reciprocal benefits, and more altruistic reasons. When looking at early socialisation, Waugh et; al (2015) found that many prosocial behaviours are developed in childhood and adolescence, and are encouraged by adults. Older people appear to be more willing to be prosocial ( Cutler et. al., 2021).
Heroism and the Bystander Effect
Acts of heroism are valued across different cultures. While there has been a great deal of research into the causes of actions that are described as “evil”, our understanding of heroism is less clear. There have been a number of definitions that include having a concern for other people in need or a concern to defend a moral cause while knowing there is a personal risk and done without an expectation of reward. Heroes tend to exhibit bravery, moral integrity, courage, be protecting, conviction, honesty, altruism, self-sacrificing, selfless, determined, inspiring, and helpful (Kinsella et.al., 2015). Farley (2005) distinguishes between acts of heroism that carry personal risk and those that do not, and goes on to outline two key factors that underpin those acts of heroism that involve personal risk, risk-taking behaviour, and generosity. Those who risk their lives to help others are likely to take more risks and they also possess compassion, kindness, empathy and altruism. It is often the power and immediacy of the situation that inspires immediate and unconscious action. The norms and expectations of society can also influence prosocial behaviour. Reciprocity can be seen as a social expectation in which individuals feel pressured to help others if they have helped them in the past. Another example is the bystander effect which refers to the tendency for people to be less likely to come to the assistance of a person in distress when other people are present.
Factors Affecting Prosocial Behaviour
Researchers have identified a number of factors that contribute to or interfere with prosocial behaviour. These include fear of judgement or embarrassment, how other people respond and the number of people present, creating diffusion of responsibility. Prosocial action benefits both the recipient and the person acting in ways that are prosocial. Research has shown that people who act in ways that are prosocial are likely to experience positive moods more often and negative moods less frequently. Waugh et; al., (2015) found that the social support gained through prosocial behaviour can have a positive impact on different aspects of wellbeing, including reducing loneliness, alcohol use, and depression. Research has also found that engaging in prosocial behaviours mitigates the negative effects of stress (Rapossa et.al., 2016).
Developing Prosociality
There are actions that corporate entrepreneurs can take to improve prosocial behaviour in themselves and others. These include developing their skills in order to feel better prepared, modelling prosocial actions and in doing so inspiring others to take action and finally, recognising and showing appreciation for acts of kindness. Prosocial behaviour can be promoted by rewarding helping others and punishing acts of selfishness, by reciprocating when we are the beneficiaries of prosocial behaviour and by recognising when people act in ways that are prosocial and by either reducing the effort required to be prosocial or by coming aware of and overcoming any aversion to acting in ways that are prosocial, focusing on the benefits and not the effort (Lockwood et. al, 2021), and by accepting moral responsibility for helping others which includes reflecting upon how we might be biased to helping particular people (Cutler et al., 2021).
Wolf et.al. (2021) conducted a series of eight experiments and found that thinking about children led to adults being more likely to demonstrate compassionate values. In another field study, researchers found that adults were more likely to make a charitable donation on a busy street when children were present. Previously Gummer (1995) suggested the reason for this is our being programmed to ensure the survival of the human race and therefore it is natural to want to protect them. She went on to posit that the unconditional positive regard from children increases adults’ own sense of accomplishment, effectiveness, importance, and self-worth. In another study, Perlin and Li (2020) posited that awe has prosocial effects explaining the reason for this being awe reduces the attention being paid to self-orientated concerns and in doing so makes available attention to other-orientated concerns. They then go on to propose the notion of the quiet ego and linking awe of a model of self that is developed by personality psychology and includes the individual’s interaction with their environment.
Conclusion
Prosocial behaviour has been shown to have many benefits. It has been associated with improved mental health and well-being, better relationships, and wider societal benefits. Levels of prosocial behaviour are likely to improved by a greater awareness and understanding of what it is, what motivates people to act in ways that are prosocial, the benefits, and understanding how prosocial values and behaviours can be developed.
References
Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., Powell, A. A., Stocks, E. L., Shah, J., & Gardner, W. L. (2008). Prosocial motivation. Handbook of motivation science, 135-149.
Batson, C. D. (2011). Altruism in humans. Oxford University Press, USA.
Crockett, M., Kurth-Nelson, Z., Siegel, J , Dayan, P. Crockett, M., Kurth-Nelson, Z., Siegel, J., Dayan, P., & Dolan, R. (2014). Harm to others outweighs harm to self in moral decision making. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111.
Cutler, J. L., Wittmann, M. K., Abdurahman, A., Hargitai, L., Drew, D., Husain, M & Lockwood, P. L. (2021). Ageing is associated with disruptions in reinforcement learning whilst learning to help others is preserved. Nature Communications
Cutler, J. L., Nitschke, J. P. Lamm, C. & Lockwood, P. L. (2021). Older adults across the globe exhibit increased prosocial behaviour but also greater in-group preferences. Nature Aging
Decety, J., Bartal, I. B. A., Uzefovsky, F., & Knafo-Noam, A. (2016). Empathy as a driver of prosocial behaviour: highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1686), 20150077.
Dunfield, K.A. (2014). A construct divided: Prosocial behaviour as helping, sharing and comforting subtypes. Front Psychol. 2014,5:958.
Farley R. ‘By endurance we conquer’: Ernest Shackleton and performances of white male hegemony. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 2005;8(2):231-254. doi:10.1177/1367877905052419
Fehr, E., & Fischbacher, U. (2003). The nature of human altruism. Nature 425
Fehr, E. & Rockenbach, B. (2004). Human altruism, economic, neural and evolutionary perspectives. Current opinion in neurobiology, 14
Gumme, B. (1995) Which Side Are You On? Administration in Social Work, 19:2, 81-99,
Kinsella, E.L., Ritchie, T.D. & Igou, E.R. (2015). Zeroing in on heroes; a prototype analysis of hero features. Pers Soc Psychol.2015; 108(1):114 – 127
Lim, D. & DeSteno ,D. (2016) . Suffering and compassion: the links among adverse life experiences, empathy, compassion and prosocial behaviour. Emotion, 2016:16(2):175-182
Lockwood, P., Hamonet, M., Zhang, S., Ratnavel, A., Salmony, F., Husain, M., & Apps, M. (2017). Prosocial apathy for helping others when effort is required. Nature Human Behavior, 1
Lockwood, P. L., Wittmann, M. K., Nili, H., Matsumoto-Ryan, M., Abdurahman, A., Cutler, J. L., Husain, M. & Apps, M. A. J. (2021). Distinct neural representations for prosocial and self-benefitting effort. bioRxiv
Manning, R., Levine, M., & Collins, A. (2007). The Kitty Genovese murder and the social psychology of helping; the parable of the 36 witnesses. Am Psychol, 2007;62(6):555-62.
Perlin JD, Li L.(2020) Why Does Awe Have Prosocial Effects? New Perspectives on Awe and the Small Self. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2020;15(2):291-308. doi:10.1177/1745691619886006
Raposa, E. B, Lawes, H.B., & Ansell, E.B. (2016). Prosocial behaviour mitigates the negative effects of stress in everyday life. Clin Psychol Sci. 2016:4 (4):691- 96.
Silk, J. B., & House, B. R. (2016). The evolution of altruistic social preferences in human groups. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1687), 20150097.
Waugh, W., Bronwell, C., & Pollock, B. (2015). Early socialization of prosocial behaviour: Patterns in parents’ encouragement of toddlers’ helping in an everyday household task. Infant Behaviour Development.2015;39;1-10.
Weng, H.Y, Fox, H.S., Shackman, A.J. Stodola, D.E. Caldwell, J.K., Rogers, G.M. & Davidson, R.J. (2013). Compassion training alters altruism and neural responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 2013:24(7):1171-1180
Wolf, L.J, Thorne, S.R. Iosifyan, M. et.al., (2021). The salience of children increases adult prosocial values. Soc Psychol Personal Sci. Published online April 1