Prosocial Behaviour and Altruism: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

Prosocial behaviour encompasses voluntary actions that are intended to improve the welfare of other people, groups, or communities. Altruism is a narrower psychological concept because it concerns the motive behind such behaviour, particularly situations in which the welfare of another person becomes an end in itself. The two concepts overlap, but they should not be treated as identical: the same act of helping may be guided by empathy, moral duty, reciprocity, social approval, guilt reduction, reputation, emotional relief, or genuine concern for another person. This theoretical paper reviews major psychological accounts of prosocial behaviour and altruism, including the empathy-altruism hypothesis, negative-state relief theory, social-exchange and cost-reward explanations, social norms, developmental and social-learning perspectives, evolutionary approaches, personality factors, situational influences, and research on intuitive cooperation. It also considers the long-standing question of whether apparently selfless action can reflect genuinely other-oriented motivation. Taken together, the literature indicates that no single theory can explain the diversity of helping behaviour. Prosocial action emerges from the combined influence of emotion, personal values, developmental history, social expectations, individual differences, and immediate situational demands. Altruism remains psychologically plausible when another person’s welfare functions as the primary motivational goal, even if the act also produces secondary benefits for the helper.