Psychological Essence and Motives of Prosocial Behavior of Personality

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29038/2227-1376-2020-35-43-55

Keywords:

prosociality,, help,, altruism, motives,, society.

Abstract

The article analyzes the main theoretical approaches to understanding prosocial behavior. The author analyzes the theoretical and empirical researches of the problem and considers the main motives of prosocial action.

The purpose of the article is to carry out a theoretical analysis of the essence and motives of prosocial behavior of the individual.

Research Methods. The following theoretical methods of scientific research were used in the research: analysis, generalization, systematization of scientific literature on the study of prosocial behavior and motivation to perform prosocial actions.

Results. Prosociality involves any kind of assistance for the benefit of another person or social community. It presupposes social interaction and characterizes the individual as a social slice capable of acting in the public interest. In psychological theory, there are several theories that explain what types of motives influence the commission of prosocial actions. These are the negative relief model, the cost-reward model, and the empathic-altruistic model.

Conclusions. The main characteristic of prosocial behavior is its social adaptability, which is manifested in actions for the benefit of others. Prosocial behavior ensures the development of society, and is also an effective way to influence and manage the social masses. One of the most unresolved problems of prosocial behavior is the study of motives that motivate individuals to take helpful actions.

The author identifies three groups of motives for prosocial behavior. The first group includes altruistic motives (the implementation of prosocial action for the benefit of others without benefit, the so-called «pure help»). The second group includes selfish motives, the motives that provide benefits for the helper. They can be internal motives: the motive of eliminating psychological discomfort, the motive of receiving positive emotions, the motive of self-encouragement and self-respect, etc.; and external motives, such as the motive of social recognition. The third group includes social motives,  those that are generally accepted in society and in some way create a certain social pressure to carry out prosocial actions. These are religious and moral-ethical (mercy, patriotism) motives.

References

1. Aknin, L. B., Van de Vondervoort, J. W., & Hamlin, J. K. (2018). Positive feelings reward and promote prosocial behavior. Current opinion in psychology, 20, 55-59.
2. Batson, C. D. (2011). Altruism in humans. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
3. Batson, C. D., & Powell, A. A. (2003). Altruism and prosocial beha¬vior. Handbook of psychology, 463484.
4. Bénabou, R., & Tirole, J. (2006). Incentives and prosocial behavior. American economic review, 96(5), 16521678.
5. Cialdini, R. B., Darby, B. K. & Vincent, J. E. (1973). Transgression and altru¬ism: A case for hedonism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 9, 502–516.
6. Cialdini, R. B., Kenrick, D. T., & Baumann, D. J. (1982). Effects of mood on prosocial behavior in children and adults. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), The development of prosocial behavior. New York, NY: Academic Press, 339–359.
7. Ding, W., Shao, Y., Sun, B., Xie, R., Li, W. and Wang, X. (2018). How Can Prosocial Behavior Be Motivated? The Different Roles of Moral Judgment, Moral Elevation, and Moral Identity Among the Young Chinese. Front. Psychol., 9, 814 р. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00814
8. Eisenberg, N., & Spinrad, T. L. (2014). Multidimensionality of prosocial behavior: Rethinking the conceptualization and development of prosocial behavior. In L. M. Padilla-Walker & G. Carlo (Eds.), Prosocial development: A multidimensional approach . Oxford University Press, 17–39. https://doi.org/ 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199964772.003.0002
9. Klein, N. (2017). Prosocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(4), 354361.
10. Knickerbocker, R. L. (2003). Prosocial behavior. Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 13.
11. Piliavin, J. A., Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., & Clark, R. D., III (1981). Emergency intervention. New York, NY: Academic Press.
12. Poepsel, D. L., & Schroeder, D. A. (2018). Helping and Prosocial Behavior. HKU PSYC2020, 140. Available at: https://opentextbc.ca/introduction¬topsychology/
13. Roche-Olivar, R. (1997). Optimizatione prosociale: basi teoriche, obiettivi e strumenti. La condotta prosociale: basi teoriche e metodologie d’intervento. Bulzoni Editore, 15-37.
14. Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., DeWall, C. N., Ciarocco, N. J., & Bartels, J. M. (2007). Social exclusion decreases prosocial behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(1), 56 р.
15. Vieweg, J. C. (2018). Prosocial behaviors: Their motivations and impacts on organizational culture. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 11(2), 12.
16. Zanden, V. & James, W. (1987). Social psychology. 4 th ed. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Inc., 646 p.
17. Bizin, P. S. (2019). Prosotsialnist: poniattia ta istoriia doslidzhen [Pro¬sociality: the concept and history of research]. Aktualni problemy osobystisnoho zrostannia. Zbirnyk naukovykh prats [za materialamy Vseukrainskoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii dlia molodykh uchenykh (m. Zhytomyr, 19 kvitnia 2019 roku)]. Zhytomyr, Vyd-vo ZhDU imeni Ivana Franka.URL: http://eprints.zu. edu.ua/29372/1/%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%20%D 0%91%D1%96%D0%B7%D1%96%D0%BD.pdf (in Ukrainian).
18. Boiko, O. P. (2016). Prosotsialnist: sut i potentsial u sotsialno-pedahohichnii diialnosti [Prosociality: the essence and potential in socio-pedagogical activities]. Sotsialna robota v Ukraini: teoriia i praktyka, 1–2, 140-149. URL: http://nbuv.gov. ua/UJRN/srutip_2016_1-2_17 (in Ukrainian).
19. Valosa, M. P. (2017). Psykholohichna sutnist prosotsialnoi povedinky osobystosti [Psychological essence of prosocial behavior of the individual]. Ekonomika innovatsiinoi diialnosti pidpryiemstv. Pedahohika ta psykholohiia, mova ta kultura, 737-738. URL: https://er.knutd.edu.ua/bitstream/123456789/8513/ 1/NRMSE2017_V3_P737-738.pdf (in Ukrainian].
20. Voitko, V. I. (Red.). (1982). Psykholohichnyi slovnyk [Psychological dictionary]. Kyiv: Vyshcha shkola, 215 р. (in Ukrainian).
21. Hirchenko, O. L. & Bukovska, O. O. (2019). Prosotsialna spriamovanist ta povedinka osobystosti [Prosocial orientation and personality behavior]. Aktualni problemy psykholohii, 7 (47),120-129 (in Ukrainian).
22. Ivashhenko, G. M. (2002). Vosstanovlenie social’nogo statusa beznadzornyh detej [Restoration of the social status of neglected children]. Moskva: GosNII sem’i i vospitanija, 128 p. (in Russian).
23. Ignackaja, O. (2008). Osobennosti izuchenija komponentov prosocial’noj napravlennosti lichnosti starsheklassnikov [Features of the study of the components of the prosocial orientation of the personality of high school students]. Psihologicheskij zhurnal, 4, 68–73 (in Russian).
24. Kim, V. E. (1984). Diagnostika al’truisticheskih ustanovok lichnosti [Diagnosis of altruistic personality attitudes]. (Avtoref. dis. kand. psihol. nauk: 19.00.01). Moskva, 20 p. (in Russian).
25. Kondakov, I. M. (2007). Psihologicheskij slovar’ [Psychological dictionary]. Moskva: «OLMA Media Grupp», «OLMA Press Obrazovanie», 512 p. (in Russian).
26. Piplo, L., Tejlor, Sh., & Sire, D. (2003). Social’naja psihologija [Social Psychology]. 10-e izd. SP b: Piter, 786 p. (in Russian).

Published

2020-08-03

How to Cite

Derevyanko, N. (2020). Psychological Essence and Motives of Prosocial Behavior of Personality. Psychological Prospects Journal, 35, 43-55. https://doi.org/10.29038/2227-1376-2020-35-43-55

Similar Articles

1-10 of 91

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.