Autor: Dr. Erick Roth
SUMMARY:
Prosociality refers to individuals tendencies to undertake voluntary actions aimed at benefiting others, such as sharing, donating, caring, comforting, and helping (Batson, 1998; Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006; Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroeder, 2005). Findings from developmental research have shown that prosocial responding becomes relatively stable during childhood and early adolescence and that it often arises from complex processes involving evaluative mechanisms, moral reasoning, perspective taking, and self-regulatory capacities (Caprara & Pastorelli, 1993; Eisenberg et al., 2006; Eisenberg et al., 1999; Krebs & Van Hesteren, 1994). In addition, prosocial
tendencies are correlated with psychosocial adjustment in children and adolescents (see Eisenberg et al., 2006, for a review). Hence, prosociality may represent a protective factor that fosters self-enhancement, self-acceptance and successful psychosocial adaptation, as it is associated with one’s own integration in the community, positive mood, health, and life satisfaction (Caprara & Steca, 2005; Keyes, 1998; Piliavin, 2003; Van Willigen, 2000).
