Prosocial behaviour in Adolescence
, PSB – any act performed with a goal of benefitting anpther person. Volunatry actions that are
intended to help or benefit another individual or group.
• Includes:
• Helping others
• Obeying rules
• Conforming to socially acceptable
behaviour
• Cooperating with others
El Mallah paper – argues that a key problem with the lit on prosocial behaviour in adolescence is
that there are dozens of definitions of prosocial behaviour. Author does a systematic review of how
PSB measures are operationalised. 4 methods have been used: self-report questionnaires,
behavioural ratings, observational methods and experimental design. Each type of method has
strengths and limitations. Created a guide to prosocial behaviour. You need to carefully define the
measurement purpose, have a clear understanding of the characteristics of the sample, you need to
consider the theoretical and conceptual issues, you need to think about the psychometric properties
of the measures and also pragmatic issues (how you are going to administer it, do you need training
etc)
Dunfield
• Within the general domain of prosocial behavior, other-oriented actions can be categorized
into three distinct types (helping, sharing, and comforting)
• And each of those prosocial behaviours reflect responses to three distinct negative states
(instrumental need, unmet material desire, and emotional distress)
• prosocial behaviors can be thought to require three components: (1) the ability to take the
perspective of another person and recognize that they are having a problem; (2) the ability
to determine the cause of that problem; and (3) the motivation to help them overcome the
problem.
Put a framework together. Each type of motivation (helping, sharing and comforting) have their own
motivations, solutions and representations of the problem for each negative state.
Predictors of prosocial behaviour
• Socio-cognitive processes: Theory of Mind
• Socio-affective processes: Empathy and compassion is thought to provide the motivation to
express helping behaviour
• Both the understanding of others’ inner states (i.e., perspective taking) and the experience
of feelings of concern for others (i.e., empathic concern) are believed to facilitate prosocial
behaviour (Batson 1991; Hoffman 2000).
, PSB – any act performed with a goal of benefitting anpther person. Volunatry actions that are
intended to help or benefit another individual or group.
• Includes:
• Helping others
• Obeying rules
• Conforming to socially acceptable
behaviour
• Cooperating with others
El Mallah paper – argues that a key problem with the lit on prosocial behaviour in adolescence is
that there are dozens of definitions of prosocial behaviour. Author does a systematic review of how
PSB measures are operationalised. 4 methods have been used: self-report questionnaires,
behavioural ratings, observational methods and experimental design. Each type of method has
strengths and limitations. Created a guide to prosocial behaviour. You need to carefully define the
measurement purpose, have a clear understanding of the characteristics of the sample, you need to
consider the theoretical and conceptual issues, you need to think about the psychometric properties
of the measures and also pragmatic issues (how you are going to administer it, do you need training
etc)
Dunfield
• Within the general domain of prosocial behavior, other-oriented actions can be categorized
into three distinct types (helping, sharing, and comforting)
• And each of those prosocial behaviours reflect responses to three distinct negative states
(instrumental need, unmet material desire, and emotional distress)
• prosocial behaviors can be thought to require three components: (1) the ability to take the
perspective of another person and recognize that they are having a problem; (2) the ability
to determine the cause of that problem; and (3) the motivation to help them overcome the
problem.
Put a framework together. Each type of motivation (helping, sharing and comforting) have their own
motivations, solutions and representations of the problem for each negative state.
Predictors of prosocial behaviour
• Socio-cognitive processes: Theory of Mind
• Socio-affective processes: Empathy and compassion is thought to provide the motivation to
express helping behaviour
• Both the understanding of others’ inner states (i.e., perspective taking) and the experience
of feelings of concern for others (i.e., empathic concern) are believed to facilitate prosocial
behaviour (Batson 1991; Hoffman 2000).
