The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research
Abstract Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here,...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01846-w |
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| _version_ | 1832585474799042560 |
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| author | Kathrin S. Kopp Patricia Kanngiesser Rahel K. Brügger Moritz M. Daum Anja Gampe Moritz Köster Carel P. van Schaik Katja Liebal Judith M. Burkart |
| author_facet | Kathrin S. Kopp Patricia Kanngiesser Rahel K. Brügger Moritz M. Daum Anja Gampe Moritz Köster Carel P. van Schaik Katja Liebal Judith M. Burkart |
| author_sort | Kathrin S. Kopp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour in humans, non-human primates and potentially other animals. We build on psychological definitions of prosociality and spell out three key features that need to be in place for behaviour to count as prosocial: benefitting others, intentionality, and voluntariness. We then apply this framework to review observational and experimental studies on sharing behaviour and targeted helping in human children and non-human primates. We show that behaviours that are usually subsumed under the same terminology (e.g. helping) can differ substantially across and within species and that some of them do not fulfil our criteria for prosociality. Our framework allows for precise mapping of prosocial behaviours when retrospectively evaluating studies and offers guidelines for future comparative work. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-111c1b6310c04afd8eb9a8f975bc2171 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-111c1b6310c04afd8eb9a8f975bc21712025-01-26T12:44:03ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562024-03-0127111510.1007/s10071-024-01846-wThe proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative researchKathrin S. Kopp0Patricia Kanngiesser1Rahel K. Brügger2Moritz M. Daum3Anja Gampe4Moritz Köster5Carel P. van Schaik6Katja Liebal7Judith M. Burkart8Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyDepartment of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität BerlinDepartment of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of ZurichDepartment of Psychology, University of ZurichInstitute of Socio-Economics, University of Duisburg-EssenDepartment of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität BerlinDepartment of Evolutionary Biology & Environmental Studies, University of ZurichLife Sciences, Institute of Biology, Leipzig UniversityDepartment of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of ZurichAbstract Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour in humans, non-human primates and potentially other animals. We build on psychological definitions of prosociality and spell out three key features that need to be in place for behaviour to count as prosocial: benefitting others, intentionality, and voluntariness. We then apply this framework to review observational and experimental studies on sharing behaviour and targeted helping in human children and non-human primates. We show that behaviours that are usually subsumed under the same terminology (e.g. helping) can differ substantially across and within species and that some of them do not fulfil our criteria for prosociality. Our framework allows for precise mapping of prosocial behaviours when retrospectively evaluating studies and offers guidelines for future comparative work.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01846-wProsocial behaviourComparative researchPrimatesHuman childrenSharingHelping |
| spellingShingle | Kathrin S. Kopp Patricia Kanngiesser Rahel K. Brügger Moritz M. Daum Anja Gampe Moritz Köster Carel P. van Schaik Katja Liebal Judith M. Burkart The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research Animal Cognition Prosocial behaviour Comparative research Primates Human children Sharing Helping |
| title | The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research |
| title_full | The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research |
| title_fullStr | The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research |
| title_full_unstemmed | The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research |
| title_short | The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research |
| title_sort | proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour towards a conceptual framework for comparative research |
| topic | Prosocial behaviour Comparative research Primates Human children Sharing Helping |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01846-w |
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