What is prosocial behavior theory?

Prosocial behavior is voluntary behavior intended to benefit another. Thus, it includes behaviors such as helping, sharing, or providing comfort to another. Prosocial behavior is evident in young children but changes in frequency and in its expression with age. Individual differences in prosocial behavior are caused by a combination of heredity, socialization, and situational factors. Prosocial behaviors can be preformed for a variety of reasons, ranging from selfish and manipulative reasons (e.g., helping get something in return) to moral and other-oriented reasons (e.g., helping because of moral principles or sympathy for another’s plight). Prosocial behavior that is not performed for material or social rewards (e.g., rewards, approval), but is based on concern for another or moral values, is usually labeled “altruism.”

A topic of attention in the social psychological literature is whether there is true altruism—that is, if people ever help others for reasons that are not really selfish. Although people sometimes assist others even when they receive no social or material benefits, some psychologists argue that there is always a selfish reason underlying altruistic motives. For example, they argue that people actually help because of the psychological merging of the self with another, the desire to elevate one’s own mood or to avoid negative feelings or a negative self-evaluation (for not helping). People sometimes help others to alleviate their own feelings of distress when dealing with someone else in distress or need, or primarily because of personal ties to needy others. Nonetheless, C. D. Batson has provided evidence that people often assist for other-oriented sympathy, and there is likely at least some selfless motivation for some types of prosocial actions.

Prosocial Behavior Importance

Prosocial behavior is relevant to both the quality of close interpersonal relationships and to interactions among individuals and groups without close ties. People, as individuals or as members of a group, often assist others in need or distress, as well as others whose needs are relatively trivial. Charities and societies depend on people helping one another. In addition, prosocial behavior has benefits for the benefactor. For example, children who are more prosocial tend to be better liked by peers, and adults who engage in helping activities tend to have better psychological health.

Personal Characteristics Associated with Prosocial Behavior

As is evident in everyday life, some people are more prosocial than others. Prosocial children and adults tend to be prone to sympathize with others. They also are more likely to understand others’ thoughts and feelings and to try to take others’ perspectives. In addition, people who tend to assist others often hold other-oriented values (e.g., value others’ well-being) and tend to assign the responsibility for actions such as helping to themselves. Prosocial children tend to be positive in their emotional expression, socially competent, well adjusted, well regulated, and have a positive self-concept. In both childhood and adulthood, people who reason about moral conflicts in more mature ways (e.g., use more abstract moral reasoning, with more sophisticated perspective taking and a greater emphasis on values) are also more likely than their peers are to help others. Of particular note, preschool children who engage in spontaneous, somewhat costly prosocial behaviors (e.g., sharing a toy they like) engage in more prosocial behavior as adolescents and tend to be sympathetic and prosocial as adults. Thus, there appears to be some continuity in prosocial responding from a fairly early age.

Situational Factors and Prosocial Behavior

Even though some people are more prone to help than are others, situational factors also can have a powerful effect on people’s willingness to help. For example, people are less likely to help when the cost of helping is high. They also are more likely to help attractive people and to help if they are the only ones available to help (e.g., there are no other people around who see an individual who needs assistance). People in good moods are likely to assist others more than are people in neutral moods, although sometimes people in bad moods seem to help others to raise their moods. People also are more likely to help if they are exposed to models of prosocial behavior. Moreover, the interaction of situational factors with personality characteristics of potential helpers is important; for example, sociable people seem more likely to provide types of helping that involve social interaction whereas shy individuals often may tend to help in situations in which they do not need to be outgoing or socially assertive.

Origins of Prosocial Behavior

Prosocial behavior is a complex behavior affected by numerous factors, both biological and environmental. Findings in twin studies support the view that heredity plays a role: Identical twins (who share 100% of their genes) are more similar to each other in prosocial behavior, as well as sympathetic concern, than are fraternal twins (who share only 50% of their genes). Heredity likely affects aspects of temperament or personality such as self-regulation, emotionality, and agreeableness, which contribute to people engaging in higher levels of prosocial behavior.

Considerable evidence also indicates that individual differences in prosocial behavior also are linked to socialization. For example, adults are more likely to help others if, as children, their parents were models of prosocial behavior. Warm, supportive parenting, especially if combined with the use of positive discipline (e.g., the use of reasoning with children about wrongdoing), has also been linked to prosocial tendencies in children, whereas punitive parenting (e.g., parenting involving physical punishment, the deprivation of privileges, or threats thereof) has been inversely related. Parents who help their children to attend to and understand others’ feelings tend to foster prosocial tendencies in their offspring. Appropriate levels of parental control, when combined with parental support, prosocial values, and behaviors that help children to attend to and care about others’ needs, seem to foster prosocial responding.

Age and Sex Differences in Prosocial Behavior

Even very young children, for example, 1-year-olds, sometimes help or comfort others. However, the frequencies of most types of prosocial behavior increase during childhood until adolescence. It currently is unclear if prosocial tendencies increase or not in adulthood. This increase in prosocial behavior with age in childhood is likely caused by a number of factors, including increased perspective-taking skills and sympathy, internalization of other-oriented, prosocial values, greater awareness of the social desirability of helping, and greater competence to help others.

There also are sex differences in sympathy and prosocial behavior. In childhood, girls tend to be somewhat, but not greatly, more likely to engage in prosocial behavior. Girls also are more empathic or sympathetic, albeit this sex difference is small and depends on the method of assessing empathy or sympathy. Women are perceived as more nurturant and prosocial, although they likely help more only in certain kinds of circumstances. Indeed, men are more likely to help when there is some risk involved (e.g., interactions with a stranger on the street) or if chivalry might be involved.

References:

Eisenberg, N. (1992). The caring child. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Eisenberg, N., & Mussen, P. (1989). The roots of prosocial behavior in children. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365-392.
Schroeder, D. A., Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., & Piliavin, J. A. (1995). The psychology of helping and altruism: Problems and puzzles. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Have you ever done something for someone with no thought of a reward? Or, has someone helped you without asking for anything in return? These kinds of behaviors can often be described as selfless acts or even altruistic behavior. More examples include volunteering, donating your time, sharing, and overall thinking less of yourself and more of others. While these are all selfless acts, they are more than that...

You Can Develop The Skills To Give To Others

Our Therapists Can Provide Useful Tools

... these are examples of prosocial behavior. Here’s a look at what it means to behave in prosocial ways.

The prosocial behavior definition psychology theorists created started as the opposite of antisocial behavior. While people engage in antisocial behavior with the intent to hurt someone, people engage in prosocial behavior to help. However, understanding prosocial behavior involves digging deeper than this, such as understanding the role of empathy and moral reasoning. You can learn more about your own prosocial behaviors in online therapy.

Prosocial behavior is a form of positive psychology that focuses on how people help each other out and do things for the greater good. It explores why some people feel a sense of personal responsibility to engage in prosocial behavior and how others use such behaviors to serve themselves.

Prosocial behaviors are often divided into three categories: proactive, reactive, and altruistic. Proactive prosocial actions usually come out of self-interest. They tend to be status linked and enhance the popularity of the person within a particular group. Reactive prosocial actions are performed in response to a situation. Altruistic prosocial actions are actions that are meant to help others without asking for anything in return.

However, many psychologists question whether true pure altruism exists. It may be that there are other reasons people help each other in a seemingly unselfish way. Prosocial behaviors may go back to our evolutionary past when reciprocity and kin selection (helping raise a relative’s children for the good of the group) were essential for survival. In other words, when you behave altruistically, you may simply be doing what humans have learned to do for survival throughout millennia.

Furthermore, prosocial tendencies may be linked to genetics. For example, some people may have prosocial personality traits such as agreeableness and honesty, which make them more inclined towards prosocial behaviors. Also, there may be sex differences in how people exhibit prosocial behaviors or why they engage in those behaviors at all.

Examples Of Kinds Of Prosocial Behavior In Action

Once you can define it in an abstract way, the next step to understanding is to recognize examples of prosocial behavior. Here are some of the general types and specific examples of each: as identified in the social psychology volume “Handbook of Social Psychology”:

Helping

Helping behaviors are a type of prosocial behavior that benefits both individuals and society as a whole. Some ways to help others include:

Stopping to help a stranded motorist change a tire
Carrying someone’s heavy groceries to their car
Helping a new neighbor move in and unpack
Doing errands for someone who is too sick to manage them
Helping someone do needed repairs on their house

Sharing

Most parents teach their children early on that they should share with their siblings and other children. But you can benefit society long after you’ve grown up by sharing what you have with others. Some prosocial behavior sharing examples are:

Paying for someone’s bus fare
Bringing vegetables from your garden and sharing them at work
Making cookies and sharing with a friend
Sharing your best ideas online for free
Letting someone borrow your books, games, or videos

Donating

Charitable giving is a wonderful form of prosocial behavior. You can donate a wide variety of things to charities or people in your community who are less fortunate than you are. Here are some ways to donate:

Give nice clothing you no longer wear to a community clothes closet or homeless shelter
Send money to the Red Cross or another disaster relief organization
Give household goods to someone just starting on their own
Give books or blankets to residents of a nursing home

Volunteering

Volunteering is almost like donating, but instead of giving physical items, you’re offering your time, abilities, and talents to benefit someone. Here are some ways to volunteer:

Read to children who are in the hospital
Help with community cleanup after a flood
Help organize a community event
Sew quilts for police officers, firefighters, or veterans who were hurt on the job

Co-Operating

Cooperating is simply working together with one or more people to accomplish a common goal. When people work together well, they can get more done than each could ever achieve on their own. Here are some specific ways to be cooperative:

Washing dishes while someone else dries
Working together to paint a mural
Doing your part in a community project

Being Emotionally Supportive

Being emotionally supportive is a prosocial behavior that might not be as easy as it sounds. It can be distressing to listen to someone’s troubles, and it can take some time to let them talk it out. But people do offer each other emotional support by engaging in prosocial behaviors like:

Listening actively and empathetically while someone talks about a recent loss or challenge
Offering a hug when someone is sad or upset
Being available for to talk when someone is lonely
Giving compliments when someone needs a boost to their self-esteem
Encouraging someone who feels like giving up

However, there are sex differences in how people engage in this form of prosocial behavior. Traditionally, women are more inclined to offer emotional support than men, who may help out with a different form of prosocial behavior. However, as the stigma of toxic masculinity declines, more men may be open to offering emotional support. As this stigma and traditional gender roles disintegrate, sex differences in other prosocial behaviors may decrease as well.

When you follow the rules, you benefit both yourself and society as a whole. What makes this prosocial behavior is that you do it willingly for the good of everyone. Here are some of the rules you probably follow:

Stopping at a stoplight
Filing your tax return
Paying at a store rather than shoplifting

Aside from the hard and fast written rules in society, there are also social conventions that most people follow most of the time. Some of these social customs include:

Tipping a server at a restaurant
Greeting people when they arrive and saying goodbye when they leave
Returning favors
Using good etiquette (table manners, saying please and thanks, etc.)

The Psychology Of Prosocial Behavior

Several factors may influence whether you engage in prosocial behaviors or not. Some have to do with the situation while others depend on the individuals involved.

The Bystander Effect

One example of a situational factor in prosocial behavior is the bystander effect. If someone needs help, and many people are standing around doing nothing, individuals are less likely to help. But why is that? Usually, it’s because:

They don’t notice what’s happening.
They don’t see it as an emergency.
They don’t feel responsible because there are so many others there who could help.
They don’t think they have the skills needed to help properly.
They remain undecided about whether to help.

Unfortunately, the bystander effect can have some practical concerns and devastating consequences. For example, the bystander effect is common in toxic workplaces, where employees do little to help those who are being abused or harassed by coworkers or superiors. Even worse, there have been murder cases where there have been many bystanders and witnesses, but none did anything to intervene or prevent the crime. However, as stated above, this is not out of self-importance or selfishness. The bystander effect occurs simply because the witnesses don't know what to do.

Individual factors

What you learned about prosocial behaviors as a child. (Were you taught to share and cooperate? Did your parents donate or volunteer?)
Your cognitive, physical, and social capabilities
Your standards and ideals
Whether you practice empathy in your communication with others
Whether you have an agreeable disposition

Does It Matter If Someone’s Watching?

Would you do a good deed if no one knew you did it? You might, but you’d be more likely to do prosocial behaviors if someone was there to see. Despite the anonymous donors and secret Santas in the world, most people want others to know they’ve done something good. They want recognition for their positive behaviors. They want the social status that comes when people know they’ve done something for the community. They want the perks of being well-liked for their generosity.

Do People Perform These Behaviors Because Of Guilt?

Many people believe that prosocial behaviors only happen when someone feels guilty. If this is true, it could be that doing something kind and considerate diminishes their feelings of guilt for harming someone. However, research suggests that when someone else does something to make up for the damage, the person who caused the harm is less likely to act in prosocial ways to the victim.

There’s also the issue of a broader kind of guilt. If you see an ad from a world hunger charity where people look sad and starving, you may feel guilty for having what you need while others don’t. Whether this guilt is behind your prosocial behaviors or not, the bottom line is that by contributing you are helping the less fortunate.

Yet, having generalized guilt may not be the healthiest attitude to have toward life. And, if you feel guilty for things you had no control over, it can cause you unnecessary emotional distress. That’s why it’s important to deal with your excessive feelings of guilt. This is something you can talk to a therapist about; a licensed, qualified mental health professional can help you set boundaries so that you do not feel an excessive amount of guilt or shame.

Prosocial Behaviors In Children

There are two major questions that social scientists who are studying prosocial behavior wish to answer. The first is how early does this behavior show up in child development? And the second is why these behaviors develop early in life? Is this just learned behavior or is it a part of human nature?

The Timeline Of Prosocial Development

The answer to the first question is surprising. To date, many research findings point to the development of these behaviors in infants as young as twelve months old. During their first year, infants show great empathy for their parents and as a result may engage in prosocial behavior with their family members and close relatives.

However, infants under the age of twenty-four months are limited in their prosocial development. Though they have developed great empathy and have a genuine interest in helping others, they typically only demonstrate one form of prosocial behavior. For example, a toddler may use helping behaviors whenever they see someone in distress but may struggle with sharing or comforting. Furthermore, infants and toddlers tend to only exhibit prosocial behaviors in limited situations, such as when someone is expressing obvious distress.

However, research suggests that the second year of life is when prosocial behavior truly blossoms. This is when toddlers begin to develop cognitive empathy and emotional empathy, inferring the wants and needs of those around them and taking prosocial actions to meet those needs. Of course, there are individual differences when it comes to prosocial and moral development, but generally, this is the age when most toddlers experience significant prosocial development.

Why Does Prosocial Behavior Form Early In Development?

So how do social scientists explain prosocial behavior developing at such a young age? One explanation is that infants have specialized cognitive and social capacities that encourage prosocial action. It also could be that infants have a desire to share attention, perception, emotion, and information with others which may motivate prosocial behavior in certain scenarios. Some evolutionary psychologists have shown through research and study that infants already have the capacity for prosocial behavior and therefore it is a distinct part of human nature.

Another hypothesis is that prosocial behavior is learned and positively reinforced. When socializing with their parents or other children, the caregivers may positively encourage any behaviors that are seen as prosocial.

Researchers disagree as to which hypothesis is correct. However, neither should be fully excluded. The truth could contain both, as some prosocial acts may stem from early child development, while others are learned and reinforced. There is no definite answer to this question though, but much future research is devoted to it.

Prosocial Behavior In Middle Childhood And Early Adolescence

But prosocial behavior studies in child psychology do not stop at infancy and toddlerhood. It is important to understand how prosocial behavior continues to develop in middle childhood and early adolescence.

Experimental research suggests that friendship and connection motivate prosocial behavior more as we age. This was exemplified in many behavioral experiments, such as one in The Journal Of Early Adolescence that paired children with a close friend or a random classmate. The children selected for this experiment were all in middle childhood, either in grades four, six, or eight.

Once paired, the children were given two tasks to complete. The first task allowed the pairs of children to split rewards equally and the second task allowed the children to share rewards when their partner was given a disadvantage. The results showed that eighth-graders were far more generous and helpful to their friends than random classmates, while fourth and sixth graders treated both groups similarly. This study implies that people are more motivated to engage in prosocial behaviors when they are closely linked to the other person. However, young children are more likely to exhibit prosocial acts to friends and acquaintances equally.

This phenomenon may be due to our evolutionary history, where it was more beneficial to survival to exhibit prosocial behaviors towards your tribe or kin and not so much towards strangers. Perhaps, future research will be able to confirm this for certain.

What’s The Role Of Therapy

Therapy helps with prosocial behaviors in a few ways, many of them identified first in social psychology and in what many consider an essential volume in prosocial research: the Handbook of Social Psychology. First, when you deal with your guilt appropriately through therapy, you can find more positive reasons to be a giving person. Second, your counselor can help and support you as you practice. That’s important to your mental health because these behaviors can lead to decreased anxiety and improved mood.

Also, cultivating positive emotions makes you more likely to act in prosocial ways. If you develop your sense of gratitude, you’re more likely to help. And, when you help, the experience may generate a “helper’s high” and bring more positive emotions afterward. In fact, some communities offer helper therapy, where prosocial behavior is a part of the treatment for a variety of mental health disorders.

If you want to increase your feelings of personal well-being and self-worth, develop better relationships, and help others in your community, therapy can help you achieve your goals. And, if you believe a mental health disorder is keeping you from doing the good things you want to do, getting therapy can help you manage that disorder, so you’re at your best.

You can talk to a counselor about guilty feelings, lack of prosocial behavior, and mood problems, either in your community or online at BetterHelp. When you deal with your mental health issues, you may feel more positive about helping the individuals in your life. You’ll learn to value your abilities and characteristics so that you feel confident in using them to help your community. And in the process, you can build a better, happier, more fulfilling life.

Below are some commonly asked questions around this topic:

What are 3 benefits of prosocial behaviors?

What are the characteristics of prosocial Behaviour?

What is a pro social skill?

How do you improve behavior?

What is another word for prosocial behavior?

What Is An Example Of Prosocial Behavior?

It is a type of behavior that benefits others, and has a broad range of examples and applications. Although it is thoroughly examined and encouraged in social psychology, the helping behaviors associated with this definition include all aspects of helping, sharing, and exhibiting kindness or generosity toward others. This, then, could include donating one’s time and money to organizations designed to feed the hungry, or clothe needy people in a given community, but could also include smaller behaviors, such as opening doors for people, encouraging a struggling mother shopping with a sobbing child, or offering to share lunch with a coworker. Although altruism and empathy play a role in social psychology, they are also visible outside of psychological intervention and assistance and can be seen in countless interactions between strangers and friends, alike.

What Are Three Types Of Prosocial Behaviors?

Social scientists can identify a massive array of actions that fit within the broad topic of prosocial behavior, but most of these fit under the umbrella of three different types of action: sharing, helping, and comforting. These types are important, because they help break down the different ways to engage, and can offer a starting point for those studying the field, and those wishing to improve their own prosocial behavior, or those looking to move away from antisocial tendencies.

Sharing is considered a prosocial behavior, because virtually all forms of sharing improve human relationships. Whether sharing means sharing one’s wealth, via donating to charity, or sharing one’s innermost thoughts with a trusted friend, sharing your experiences, resources, and struggles can all benefit the people around you. Sharing wealth or resources allows those resources to be distributed in a more even division than can be replicated by a capitalistic society, and sharing your beliefs, experiences, or struggles can help bridge communication gaps and let others know that they are not alone in their own struggles, fears, and pain. Because isolation is one of the greatest predictors of ill mental health, sharing is vital to prosocial behavior.

Helping behavior is also an essential part of prosocial behavior, because it demonstrates a belief that there are people outside of oneself. Self-focused, egotistic action furthers feelings of isolation (in oneself and in others), while helping behavior broadens the scope of someone’s vision, allows them to see and recognize that people need each other, and helping benefits the person helping just as much as it benefits the person being helped. Helping behaviors can be done through sharing resources or may be done by offering a listening ear. Helping behavior can mean offering a one-time intervention for a sick friend, or continually making time for volunteer opportunities in the community.

Comforting is the final of the three types of prosocial behavior, and also comes in a variety of flavors, so to speak. Comforting someone can mean speaking truth and kindness into a difficult situation, offering monetary intervention when they have lost a job, or simply providing a judgment free space in which to vent or air their pain. Comforting is the final piece of the prosocial behavior puzzle, as sharing and helping without comforting can still feel sterile, impersonal, and unemotional, all of which can increase feelings of distance, discomfort, and fear.

What Causes Prosocial Behavior?

The exact cause is nuanced; some people seem to be naturally predisposed toward prosocial behavior, while others seem to have a predilection toward antisocial tendencies. Fortunately, because it is integral to a healthy individual and a healthy society, the basis of these actions (empathy) can be taught. Whether through therapeutic intervention, at home in everyday life and examples, or through inpatient settings, empathy can be taught and learned, in order to promote a more just society.

Outside of intentional instruction, prosocial behavior is most often indulged in because it is a way of life seen in childhood, modeled by parents, grandparents, or other trusted adults, such as teachers. Prosocial behavior may also be encouraged in settings that praise regular engagement in the practice, such as school, church, or community programs designed to support and educate children and youth. Teaching children to share between siblings, for instance, can cause the practice to flourish, as can encouraging social engagement in high school through after-school volunteer programs. Community toy drives, local volunteer opportunities, and national social education programs can all further encourage the practice.

Perhaps some of the most notable instances of these actions come on the heels of disaster. In New York, for instance, it was seen in spades in the aftermath of September 11th. In natural disasters, too, it is often seen, whether that comes in the form of neighbors comforting one another following a devastating tornado, or volunteers coming from all over the world to rebuild after a devastating pandemic has wrought havoc on a country’s infrastructure.

Why Is Prosocial Behavior So Important?

It is important because it is the cornerstone of a healthy, well-functioning society. Identified in New York-educated Daniel Batson’s research found in “Handbook of Social Psychology,” prosocial behavior is said to be vital because it describes any action that is completed with the intention of benefitting others—and not oneself. The “Handbook of Social Psychology” acknowledges that this is an important part of healthy functioning because it demonstrates an individual’s ability to recognize others, apart from oneself. In childhood, behavior is largely self-focused: children take the blame for events outside of their control, feel as though they are being singled out and ignored when others are praised, and generally struggle to recognize the presence and importance of others until they have grown older. If this egocentric type of thinking is not grown out of, individuals can take on antisocial tendencies, which can lead to erratic, compulsive, impulsive actions, and can precede any number of mental health maladies and disorders.

These behaviors are important, too, because it plays a significant role in redistributing wealth, and making sure societies function as well-oiled machines; after all, if people are not willing to look out for one another and show one another kindness, the world would quickly and easily descend into a “dog-eat-dog” dystopia, characterized by egoism and self-focus. Social psychology dictates that such a society is not a healthy one, and that societies and people that thrive do so, in part, due to the domino effect of this behavior, or the willingness to “return the favor” after someone has shown them kindness.

This idea is even important in law and technology; from creating a privacy policy contract to creating and implementing laws, people must consider how others may benefit from or be harmed by business practices and lawmaking practices. Creating a privacy policy contract, in keeping with healthy business practices and social psychology, benefits others, as it ensures that all information gathered is kept private and is not delivered to others. In many cases, this demonstrates altruism on the part of a company, as the company could certainly benefit from selling client or patron information, but refuse to do so out of respect for the individual and a recognition of the individual’s right to privacy, dignity, and consideration.

How Do You Promote Prosocial Behaviors?

If you’re a parent, you’re probably wondering about the best ways to promote prosocial behaviors in children. Well, luckily there are many things you can do to encourage your children to engage in prosocial actions that will benefit them and their friends and peers.

Research suggests that people engage in prosocial behaviors when they receive some form of encouragement to do so. Therefore, whenever you see an opportunity, encourage your child to help, share, or comfort someone in need. This will help them learn the behaviors themselves and create a habit of taking prosocial actions in the future without prompting.

You should also encourage any sign or cause of prosocial behavior such as emotional empathy or perspective-taking. If you see your child showing concern for another or making an effort to see the world through their perspective, then praise them for this behavior so that it continues in the future.

As mentioned in the article, young children tend to focus on only one or two prosocial actions early in life. For example, they may see someone in distress and may choose to help but don’t know how to comfort the person. To encourage other prosocial behaviors, you can exemplify them yourself when situations call for it or suggest they try a different action if they show a genuine desire to be helpful.

If your child is not showing prosocial tendencies, then you may just need to have a discussion on the importance of prosocial behavior. Don’t be quick to think that your child is growing up to be antisocial. There are many children who want to be helpful, but don’t always know how. Therefore, aim to explain prosocial behaviors and moral reasoning to them, so they know how to act when they have a desire to help. Furthermore, help them gain moral understanding so they know which actions are right and wrong when they witness someone who needs help or is in distress.