Culture, Prosocial Behavior, and Health
Rodolfo Cortes Barragan studies prosocial behavior, which refers to actions that benefit other people, such as sharing valuable items and helping others to stay healthy. What aspects of culture promote prosocial behavior? What can this teach us more generally about human social life?
"This research examines how specific everyday aspects of children's social experience can shape altruism. The findings promise to have impact on developmental theory as well as educational practice, and NSF is committed to supporting promising early career scientists."
"The researchers in this study asked the parents about their infant’s siblings and cultural background, and examined whether these factors could account for some of the variance in the infants’ tendency to help strangers. It turned out they could, which suggests that children’s altruistic behavior is malleable."
“We think certain family and social experiences make a difference, and continued research would be desirable to more fully understand what maximizes the expression of altruism in young children,” Barragan said in the press release. “If we can discover how to promote altruism our kids, this could move us toward a more caring society.”
Spanish media coverage
prosociality during covid-19: linked to specific beliefs
the Environment, Human emotion, and scientific behavior
Social interactions are important for prosocial behavior