Abstract
Within the large literature dealing with prosocial behavior in children and adults the same few key concepts are often employed in radically different ways. The term prosocial behavior is sometimes meant in a narrow or restricted sense to include only such behaviors as helping and/or altruistic behavior (cf. Bar-Tal, Raviv, and Leiser, 1980), being kind or helpful or reacting empathically (cf. Chandler & Helm, 1980), and also in a much wider sense that includes such behaviors as “sharing, helping, defending, sympathy, rescuing, Cooperation, and others” (Yarrow & Waxler, 1976, p. 118). The ränge of subtopics treated within this literature is equally wide and, among other things, deals with (1) the development of prosocial behavior (cf. Bar-Tal et al., 1980; Mussen and Eisenberg-Berg, 1977); (2) the conditions under which it is evidenced (cf. Pearl, 1979; Yarrow and Waxler, 1976); (3) the types of helping behavior judged to be required by the Situation (Chandler & Helm, 1980); and (4) even with whether altruism is an integral part of human nature (Hoffman, 1981).
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Oppenheimer, L., Heller, J. (1984). Development of Cooperation and Help-Seeking Activities. In: Staub, E., Bar-Tal, D., Karylowski, J., Reykowski, J. (eds) Development and Maintenance of Prosocial Behavior. Critical Issues in Social Justice, vol 31. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2645-8_11
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