What is prosocial behavior and how does it develop?

If the human being has become such a particular species, it is, in part, because he has been able to create great social networks of mutual care and transmission of knowledge. That is, we are very given to relating to each other in many different ways, a tendency that can be summarized in one concept: prosocial behavior.

Next we will see what exactly prosocial behavior is, in what ways it is expressed and how it is related to the phenomena of empathy and cooperation.

What is prosocial behavior?

Although there is no universal definition of the concept of prosocial behavior, there is a high consensus in defining it as a repertoire of behaviors of a social and positive nature.

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 report a benefit for both parties involved and behaviors that only benefit one of the parties.

A definition proposal that integrates both the behavioral and motivational aspects, affirms 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, comforting, etc. For his part, Strayer proposes a classification of four types of activities to clarify the phenomenon of prosocial behavior:

1. Give, share, exchange activities or trade objects with other individuals.
2. Cooperative activities.
3. Help games and tasks.
4. Empathic activities towards the other.

According to this proposal, in prosocial behavior the benefit falls on 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. After all, the willingness to help someone and the satisfaction of having done so are in themselves factors that speak of a reward for the altruistic individual.

Research carried out on the subject

Prosocial behavior is a not at all recent concept in the field of psychopedagogy. However, the greatest boom in research in this field of knowledge corresponds to the final stage of the last century. From that point on, the way this phenomenon influences the emotional well-being of the individual has been studied more extensively (obtaining a correlation intensely positive between the two) and what methodology should be followed to implement programs that enhance this type of beneficial functioning in the population childish.

Thus, it seems that it is during the social-emotional development of the human being that the promotion of prosocial behavior can produce the greatest incidence, it is that is, the internalization of a set of values ​​such as dialogue, tolerance, equality or solidarity that are behaviorally reflected through starting from acts such as helping the other, respect and acceptance of the other, cooperation, consolation or generosity when sharing an object determined.

Prosocial behavior from learning theories

One of the main explanations of the concept of prosocial behavior has been proposed by the learning theories, although there are also other theoretical models such as the ethological and sociobiological perspective, the cognitive-evolutionary approach or the psychoanalytic perspective.

Theories of learning, of high empirical consideration, defend that prosocial behavior derives from the influence of external or environmental factors. Thus, these types of behaviors are learned through procedures such as classical and operant conditioning, from which they remain actions emitted are associated with stimuli and pleasant consequences for the individual (positive reinforcement) and, therefore, they tend to be repeated in the future. More often, the type of reinforcement provided is social (a gesture, a smile, a show of affection), rather than material.

The fact of receiving an affective reward, according to the research carried out, seems to encourage in the individual the desire to emit helpful behavior to the other. That is, there is an internal motivation to carry out said behavior, unlike what happens when the reward is material, where the behavior is performed to achieve that reward concrete.

On the other hand, other studies propose the relevance of observational learning through imitation of prosocial models. Some authors highlight a greater influence of internal factors such as the cognitive styles used in moral reasoning, while others emphasize that the factors external (socializing agents -family and school- and environment) are modified until they become internal controls by internalizing the regulation of their own behavior (Bandura, 1977 and 1987).

These contributions are classified within interactionist perspectives, since consider the interaction of the individual with the situation as a determining factor of behavior.

Empathy, an essential component

The capacity for empathy it constitutes one of the causative factors of prosocial behavior, although research should shed more light on the concrete relationship between the two phenomena.

Some proposals advocate defining empathy as an interactive process between affective, motivational and cognitive aspects that take place during the 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 the understanding of the meaning of certain non-verbal cues such as facial expressions 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 to some personality types 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 behavior prosocial.

The facets of empathy

Empathic capacity can be understood from three different perspectives. Taking into account each one of them, the mediating role of this phenomenon can be differentiated in terms of behavior. prosocial refers to: empathy as affect, as a cognitive process or as the result of the interaction between the two first.

The findings show that the first case is more closely related to the behavior of helping the other, although it has not been concluded that it is a causative factor but a mediator. Thus, the level of dispositional empathy, the link established with the mother figure, the type of concrete situation in which the behavior occurs, also plays an important role. empathic, the age of the children (in preschoolers the association between empathy and prosocial behavior is weaker than in older children), the intensity and nature of the emotion raised, etc.

Even so, it seems clear that the implementation of programs to build the capacity for empathy during the child-adolescent development can be a protective factor of 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 the other model.

For cooperative behavior It is understood the set of behaviors that are expressed in a given situation when those involved in it work to achieve the shared group objectives as a priority, this point acting as a requirement to achieve the objective individual. On the contrary, in the competitive situation each individual is oriented to achieve his own goals and prevents others from having the possibility of achieving them.

Research conducted by Deutsch at MIT found greater communicative effectiveness, more communicative interactions in terms of proposing their own ideas and accepting others from others, higher level of effort and coordination in the tasks to be performed, higher productivity and higher trust in the contributions of the group members in the cooperative collectives that in the competitive.

In other subsequent works, although without a sufficiently empirically contrasted validation to allow a generalization of the results, he has been associated with the individuals with characteristic cooperative behaviors such as greater interdependence to achieve goals, there are more helpful behaviors among the different subjects, a higher frequency in the satisfaction of mutual needs and a higher proportion of positive evaluations of the other and a greater promotion of behaviors foreign.

Cooperation and social cohesion

On the other hand, Grossack concluded that cooperation is positively related to greater group cohesion, greater uniformity and 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 trust is observed mutual and favorable disposition among the different members of the group, as well as a greater probability of organization normative. Finally, a greater power of cooperative situations was observed to reduce situations of intergroup conflict. Subsequently, other authors have associated the appearance of feelings of counter-empathy, higher rates of anxiety and a lower level 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 promote cooperative work have been evidenced, empowering turn higher academic performance (in skills such as assimilation of concepts, problem solving or elaboration of cognitive products, mathematics and linguistics), higher self-esteem, better predisposition to learning, greater intrinsic motivation and a more effective performance of certain social skills (understanding the other, helpful behavior, sharing, respect, tolerance and concern among equals or the tendency to cooperate outside of situations of learning).

In conclusion

Throughout the text, it has been possible to verify the benefits obtained in the personal psychological state when the learning of prosocial behavior is promoted during the development stage. These skills are essential, as they help to connect with the rest of society and benefit from the advantages of being an active member of it.

Thus, the advantages not only have an impact on optimizing the emotional state of the individual, but cooperative behavior is associated with greater competition academic, where the assumption of cognitive capacities such as reasoning and mastery of the instrumental knowledge approached during the time is facilitated. school.

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 he matures into adulthood. Although it seems paradoxical, growing, maturing and gaining autonomy involves knowing how to fit in with the rest and enjoy their protection in some aspects.

Bibliographic references:

• Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Review of Psychology, 84, 191-215.

• Calvo, A.J., González, R., and Martorell, M.C. (2001). Variables related to prosocial behavior in childhood and adolescence: personality, self-concept and gender. Childhood and Learning, 24 (1), 95-111.

• Ortega, P., Minguez, R., and Gil, R. (1997). Cooperative learning and moral development. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 206, 33-51.

• Ortiz, M.J., Apodaka, P., Etxeberrria, I., et al. (1993). Some predictors of prosocial altruistic behavior in childhood: empathy, perspective taking, attachment, parental models, family discipline and image of the human being. Journal of Social Psychology, 8 (1), 83-98.

• Roberts, W., and Strayer, J. (1996). Empathy, emotional expressiveness, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 67 (2), 449-470.

• Roche, R., and Sol, N. (1998). Prosocial education of emotions, values ​​and attitudes. Barcelona: Art Blume.