Prosocial Behavior: Actions for benefitting others, motivated by selfish or selfless reasons

• Altruism: Motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s own (e.g. Rohan Wilson - rushing into a burning building)

Reason for Prosocial Behavior

Kin Selection: Helping a genetic relative is favored by natural selection (evidence: more likely to help similar people like our children, but children not as likely to help their parents)

• Relatedness Cues: Physical characteristics, proximity. (experiment: generate face with more vs less similar features)

Reciprocity-based Helping: Help others expecting help in return (e.g. rats with a history of helping others are more likely to receive help in return)

• Works best in small isolated groups (know others’ helping history, likely to meet them later)

Group Selection: Helping group members increase group’s survival (evidence: More likely to help or make sacrifices for in-group than out-group)

Learning Social Norms: Norms promote pro-social behavior

Norm of Reciprocity / “Golden Rule”: Universal norm of “treat others how you want to be treated” - Help define “social capital”: supportive connections

• Experiment: E helps group A, doesn’t help group B → E asks both groups to donate money later → A are more likely to donate.
• Most effective as people respond publicly to deeds earlier done to them.
• Unsolicited help can threaten self-esteem when we cannot reciprocate (e.g. helping a very proud person → the person might get angry at you)

Norm of Social Responsibility: Expectation of helping those who can’t help themselves

• Applied selectively depending on attributions we make for people’s circumstances. (e.g. controllable vs uncontrollable circumstances - more likely to help children than homeless adults)
• Explains why some pro-social behavior are anonymous and non-targeted. (e.g. donating a kidney)

Social Exchange: Help maximize rewards and minimize costs

• Altruism based on self-interest (people will help when rewards are high and costs are low)
• Egoism: Self-interest motivate all human behavior
  • Problem: explaining-by-naming - this explains everything
• Costs: Physically dangerous, painful, embarrassing