Prosocial behaviour, explained simply
Launch library · evergreen read
Prosocial behaviour is the general term for actions intended to benefit others: sharing, helping, cooperating, comforting, or simply making room for someone else's needs ahead of your own convenience. It covers everything from a grand act of generosity to the small, barely noticed courtesy of holding a lift door a second longer.
What researchers find consistently is that prosocial behaviour tends to benefit the person doing it almost as much as the person receiving it, through improved mood, stronger relationships, and a clearer sense of purpose. This is not the reason most people help, but it does appear to be a reliable side effect.
It also appears to be somewhat contagious: watching someone else act generously seems to make the observer slightly more likely to act generously too, which suggests that prosocial behaviour spreads less like an isolated choice and more like a habit that a community can gradually normalise.