Prosocial Behavior and Helping Others

Flashcards covering the key concepts and terms related to prosocial behavior and the various factors that influence helping others.

Prosocial Behavior

Voluntary behavior intended to benefit another person.

Egoistic Helping

Helping behavior aimed at increasing one's own welfare.

Altruism Helping

Helping behavior aimed at increasing another’s welfare without expecting anything in return.

Kin Selection

A principle suggesting that individuals are more likely to help blood relatives to increase gene survival.

Reciprocal Helping

A principle stating that helping others will result in being helped in return.

Norm of Reciprocity

The expectation that people should help those who have helped them.

Norm of Social Responsibility

The expectation to help others when they are in need and dependent.

Norm of Social Justice

The guideline that we should help only when we believe that others deserve our assistance.

Empathy

The feeling of compassion and tenderness towards someone else's distress.

Personal Distress

An unpleasant state of anxiety experienced when witnessing others in distress.

Modeling

The process of learning prosocial behavior by observing others.

Social Rewards

Positive consequences such as praise and gratitude that reinforce helping behavior.

Naturalistic Reward Study

An experiment demonstrating that social rewards increase helping behavior compared to punitive responses.