Definition
- Prosocial Behavior: Voluntary actions done with the aim of benefitting other people. This is also known as altruism.
- Promoting Prosocial Behavior: Strategies aimed at encouraging individuals to engage in behaviors that benefit others and society.
Key Ideas
When people see that helping is a common or expected behaviour within their community, they may be more likely to engage in it themselves.
Social psychologist Robert Cialdini has outlined six principles of persuasion that can be applied to gain compliance. One relevant principle is:
- Consensus (Social Proof): People tend to look to others for cues about how to act, assuming that if many people behave in a certain way, it must be correct or desirable.
- By highlighting that others are already following a prosocial norm, individuals feel increased pressure (or motivation) to comply and do the same.
- Normative Social Influence: Decades of social psychology research show that humans have a strong desire to belong to groups and align with group norms. Emphasizing that “everyone is doing it” can promote prosocial behavior by leveraging this need for social acceptance.
Using this principal, we can develop practical ways to promote prosocial behavior:
- Teaching prosocial behavior in schools.
- Building empathy for social issues.
- Creating bystander intervention programs.
- Using digital media to promote prosocial behavior.
Key Studies
1. Social Cognitive Theory (Observational Learning)
