What Is Prosocial Behavior And How Does It Develop?
If human beings have become such a particular species, it is, in part, because they have been able to create large social fabrics of mutual care and transmission of knowledge. That is to say, we are very prone to relating to each other in many different ways, a tendency that can be summarized in one concept: prosocial behavior
Below we will see what exactly prosocial behavior is, in what ways it is expressed and What relationship does it have with the phenomena of empathy and cooperation?
Although there is no universal definition of the concept of prosocial behavior, there is a high consensus in defining it as a repertoire of social and positive behaviors.
Due to differences in criteria on whether to include the motivational factor in the definition, the authors consider that there are two types of positive social behaviors: behaviors that benefit both parties involved and behaviors that only benefit one of the parties.
A definition proposal that integrates both the behavioral and motivational aspects, states that all positive social behavior is carried out to benefit another in the presence (or not) of altruistic motivation, such as giving, helping, cooperating, sharing, consoling, etc. . For his part, Strayer proposes a classification of four types of activities to clarify the phenomenon of prosocial behavior:
Activities of giving, sharing, exchanging or exchange objects with other individuals.
Cooperative activities
Tasks and help games
Empathic activities towards the other.
Based on this proposal, in prosocial behavior the benefit falls to the other person, while in cooperative behavior both parties coordinate to obtain mutual benefit. Now, determining how much each party earns is in itself a challenge for psychology and behavioral sciences in general. Ultimately, the willingness to help someone and the satisfaction of having done so are in themselves factors that indicate a reward for the altruistic individual.
The research carried out on the topic
Prosocial behavior is a concept that is not recent in the field of psychopedagogy However, the greatest rise in research regarding this field of knowledge corresponds to the final stage of the last century. From that point on, it has been studied more extensively how this phenomenon influences the emotional well-being of the individual (obtaining an intensely positive correlation between both) and what methodology should be followed to implement programs that enhance this type of beneficial functioning in the child population. .
Thus, it seems that during the socio-emotional development of the human being is when the promotion of prosocial behavior can produce the greatest impact, that is, the internalization of a set of values such as dialogue, tolerance, equality or solidarity that are reflected behaviorally from acts such as helping others, respect and acceptance of others, cooperation, consolation or generosity when sharing a specific object.
One of the main explanations of the concept of prosocial behavior has been proposed by learning theories, although there are also other theoretical models such as the ethological and sociobiological perspective, the cognitive-evolutionary approach or the psychoanalytic perspective.
Learning theories, of high empirical consideration, defend that prosocial behavior derives from the influence of external or environmental factors Thus, this type of behavior is learned through procedures such as classical and operant conditioning, from which the actions emitted are associated with stimuli and consequences that are pleasant for the individual (positive reinforcement) and, therefore, tend to be repeated in the future. . More frequently, the type of reinforcement provided is social (a gesture, a smile, a display of affection), rather than material.
The fact of receiving an emotional reward, according to the research carried out, seems to encourage in the individual the desire to emit behavior that helps others. That is, there is an internal motivation to carry out said behavior, unlike what happens when the reward is material, where the behavior is carried out to obtain that specific reward.
On the other hand, other studies propose how relevant observational learning through imitation of prosocial models is. Some authors highlight a greater influence of internal factors such as the cognitive styles used in moral reasoning, while others emphasize that external factors (socializing agents – family and school – and environment) are modified until they become internal controls through internalization of the regulation of one’s own behavior (Bandura, 1977 and 1987).
These contributions are classified within the interactionist perspectives, since They consider the interaction of the individual with the situation as a determining factor of behavior
Empathy, an essential component
The capacity for empathy constitutes one of the factors that cause prosocial behavior, although research must shed more light on the specific relationship between both phenomena.
Some proposals advocate defining empathy as an interactive process between affective, motivational and cognitive aspects that take place during different stages of development. Empathy has a character mostly learned through modeling processes and it is defined as being an affective response that is emitted after the awareness of understanding the experience of the situation and the feelings or perceptions that the other is receiving. This ability can be learned from understanding the meaning of certain non-verbal cues such as facial expression that indicate the emotional state of the subject in question.
Some authors have focused their studies on differentiating situational empathy from dispositional empathy, which refers to the tendency of some personality types that are more sensitive to empathic manifestations. This last distinction has been taken as a key aspect to study the nature of prosocial behavior, finding a high correlation between a high empathic predisposition and a greater emission of prosocial behavior.
The facets of empathy
Empathic capacity can be understood from three different perspectives Taking into account each of them, the mediating role of this phenomenon can be differentiated with regard to prosocial behavior: empathy as an affect, as a cognitive process or as the result of the interaction between the first two.
The findings show that the first case is more closely related to the behavior of helping others, although it has not been concluded that it is a causative factor but a mediator. Thus, the level of dispositional empathy, the bond established with the maternal figure, the type of specific situation in which empathic behavior occurs, the age of the children (in preschoolers the association between empathy and behavioral prosocial is weaker than in older children), the intensity and nature of the emotion aroused, etc.
Even so, it seems clear that the implementation of programs to promote the capacity for empathy during child and adolescent development can be a protective factor for personal and social well-being in the future.
Cooperation vs. Competition in socio-emotional development
It is also learning theories that in the last century have placed more emphasis on delimiting the relationship between the manifestation of cooperative behavior vs. competitive with respect to the type of psychological and social development experienced by people exposed to one or another model.
By cooperative behavior It is understood as the set of behaviors that are expressed in a given situation when those involved in it work to achieve shared group objectives as a priority, this point acting as a requirement to achieve the individual objective. On the contrary, in the competitive situation each individual is oriented towards achieving his or her own goals and prevents others from having the possibility of achieving them.
Research carried out by Deutsch at MIT They found greater communicative effectiveness, more communicative interactions in terms of proposing their own ideas and accepting others’ ideas higher level of effort and coordination in the tasks to be performed, greater productivity and greater confidence in the contributions of the group members in cooperative groups than in competitive ones.
In other subsequent works, although without a sufficiently empirically contrasted validation that allows a generalization of the results, individuals have been associated with characteristic cooperative behaviors such as greater interdependence for the achievement of goals, there are more helping behaviors between the different subjects. , a higher frequency of satisfying mutual needs and a greater proportion of positive evaluations of the other and a greater promotion of other people’s behaviors.
On the other hand, Grossack concluded that Cooperation is positively related to greater group cohesion greater uniformity and the quality of communications between members, similar to what Deutsch pointed out.
Sherif confirmed that communication patterns are more honest in cooperative groups, that an increase in mutual trust and favorable disposition is observed between the different members of the group, as well as a greater probability of normative organization. Finally, a greater power of cooperative situations to reduce situations of intergroup conflict was observed. Subsequently, other authors have associated the appearance of feelings of counter-empathy, higher rates of anxiety and lower levels of tolerant behaviors in competitive groups of schoolchildren.
Cooperation in education
In the educational field, the multiple positive effects derived from the use of methodologies that encourage cooperative work have been demonstrated, in turn promoting greater academic performance (in skills such as assimilation of concepts, problem solving or development of cognitive products, mathematics and linguistic), greater self-esteem, better predisposition to learning, greater intrinsic motivation and more effective performance of certain social skills (understanding others, helping behavior, sharing, respect, tolerance and concern among equals or tendency to cooperate outside of learning situations).
In conclusion
Throughout the text, the benefits obtained in the personal psychological state have been verified when the learning of prosocial behavior is enhanced during the development stage. These skills are essential, as they help you connect with the rest of society and benefit from the advantages that come with being an active member of it.
Thus, the advantages not only have an impact on optimizing the emotional state of the individual but also cooperative behavior is associated with greater academic competence, where the assumption of cognitive abilities such as reasoning and mastery of instrumental knowledge addressed during school time is facilitated.
It could be said therefore that The promotion of prosocial behavior becomes a great psychological protective factor for the subject in the future, making him individually and socially more competent, as his maturation into adulthood takes place. Although it may seem paradoxical, growing, maturing and gaining autonomy involves knowing how to fit in with others and enjoy their protection in some aspects.
Roche, R., and Sol, N. (1998). Prosocial education of emotions, values and attitudes. Barcelona: Art Blume.
