The Need for Semantical Understanding of Prosocial Behavior in the Workplace

Within the domain of prosocial behavior, the most intense debate centers on the degree to which behavior is the result of an altruistic personality in combination with situational, cultural, gender, and contextual factors. In the recent years, attempts to narrow the parameters of this discussion have focused on subsets of prosocial behavior such as: altruism versus self-interest, helping behaviors sustained over time versus one-time events, personality variables versus situational context, the origins of empathy, as well as others related topics. Prosocial behavior is not an organized topic confined within one discipline. A review of the literature reveals that psychologists, philosophers, economists, sociologists, and others all have distinct and often conflicting points of view. More conceptual work on social competence and the development of interpersonal competence in peer relationships is relevant to better understanding of prosocial development. It would benefit the broader field of developmental sciences, if the boundaries among content areas had more fluidity. Keywords—Altruism, Empathy, Poignancy, Predisposition, Prosocial Behavior, Tempered Radical.