Prosocial behavior: what it is, characteristics, types and how to develop it

Some people are inclined to take charge of the welfare of others more than others, spontaneously and regardless of the circumstances and the recipients, sometimes at the cost of considerable sacrifices and personal risks. Not only people who are candidates for holiness like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but also individuals common, who in the most varied circumstances do not hesitate to endanger their lives to protect that of others. Although it may seem fickle in a society like the current one, so oriented to competition and threatened by discord, the truth is that whoever takes care of others also does good to himself same.

Doing good is not fortuitous, but intentional and, as such, reflects the concertation of structures emotional, cognitive, and motivational, such as feelings, efficacy convictions, values, expectations, ends. In this Psychology-Online article we will delve into what is prosocial behavior, its characteristics, the different types and how to develop it.

Index

1. What is prosocial behavior
2. Examples of prosocial behavior
3. Characteristics of prosocial behavior
4. Types of prosocial behaviors
5. Factors influencing prosocial behavior
6. How to develop prosocial behavior

Mussen and Eisenberg (1985) defined prosocial behavior in terms of "actions intended to help or benefit another person or group of people, without expecting external rewards". Therefore, a prosocial action is any conduct carried out at their expense by an individual or a group and directed at achieve or improve the well-being of another person or a group of people, or reduce their suffering or improve the relations.

In the field of reflection and psychosocial research, the interest in prosocial behavior is relatively recent: the The period of greatest expansion of research on this subject is between the 1960s and the early 1980s. past. The beginning was determined, especially in the United States, by the increase in criminal phenomena, particularly in large cities: a series of cases of commotion due to the fact that some bystanders or bystanders witnessed episodes of violence without helping the victims desperate. Public opinion wondered about the disappearance of social norms and the decadence of the times.

The emblematic episode that caught the attention of public opinion and psychologists was the murder of Kitty Genovese, which occurred on March 3, 1964 in Kew Gardens, Queens, a suburb of New York.

More specifically, the expression "prosocial behavior" or "prosociality" is used to indicate a wide range of behaviors or conducts intended to benefit other people in addition to themselves, such as:

• Aid
• The consolation
• The donation
• The care
• The sharing

Actions that concretely translate into physical help, verbal support, listening: behaviors intended to benefit another person and that may have altruistic, selfish or mixed motivations at the base.

Most psychologists believe that any voluntary behavior that benefits other people has the right to be recognized as prosocial. A broad category of behaviors, characterized by intention of procuring a favor to another person and freedom of choice (for example, the absence of professional obligations), in which there are also behaviors that can be described as altruistic.

Criteria for considering an action prosocial:

1. The act must benefit an individual, or more individuals, or a group of individuals.
2. The agent or issuer of the conduct is not obliged to fulfill its obligations.
3. The conduct must be gratuitous, that is, spontaneous, not requested by another individual.

In this article you will find more information about altruism and helping behavior according to social psychology.

Social psychologists, however, have not developed specific theories for the study of prosocial behavior, but have tried to read this phenomenon already. either within existing classical theories and microtheories, validating their reading with research data, or from theories proposed by others disciplines. Here is a summary of the conception of prosocial behavior according to the different theories:

• Social learning theory: behavior learned from others, by imitation, adapting to an existing situation.
• Theory of social norms: result of the norms of giving and social responsibility.
• Theory of social exchange and equity: instrumental behavior to successively obtain a reward and compensation for injustices and imbalances in the system.
• Attribution theory: result of the allocation of provisions or situations carried out.
• Stress reduction: The result of the inability to tolerate the embarrassment and anguish caused by the suffering of others.
• Maintenance / increase of self-esteem: result of the desire / need to increase or maintain the positive evaluation of the self.
• Cognitive-evolutionary theory: expression of a moral process of development.
• Sociobiological-evolutionary theory: genetically determined behavior that has the function of safeguarding the species.

There are numerous factors or situations that favor or inhibit aid:

• The number of spectators in an emergency.
• Observe or not the aid situation and interpret it as an emergency situation.
• The ability to take responsibility in this situation.
• In general, people are more likely to help when they have just observed another person helping, or when they have a lot of time available.
• Even humor and physical likeness have a bearing on the willingness to help.

Research suggests that increasing helpful or prosocial behaviors requires:

1. Reduce or eliminate the factors that hinder them: reduce ambiguity and increase responsibility, activate the feeling of guilt and concern for one's own image.
2. Teach prosociality and altruism: teach moral inclusion, create models of altruism, learn by doing, attribute altruistic behavior to altruistic motivations, know the mechanisms that regulate altruism.
3. Encourage the action of the reciprocity rule.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Prosocial behavior: what it is, characteristics, types and how to develop it, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.

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• Myers, D. G. (2009). Social psychology. Milan: McGraw-Hill.