#Altruism & Prosocial Behavior

[socpsych]

Prosocial Behavior

All of us engage in this type of behavior at some point in life, some more often than others. As I read the Batson article I thought about things I've done or often do that can be deemed prosocial behavior. One thing we talked about in class last week involved holding doors for others. I always try to hold the door if I know someone is behind me, and sometimes, like we talked about in class, I stand there for a awkward amount of time waiting for a person to catch up. It's those times I think to myself, "Wow, I clearly need to work on judging distances." Then there are times where I hold the door for a person that never intended on entering the building in the first place. That happens to me at gas stations where newspaper machines sit outside the door. A person will trail me on my way in as he needs to pay the clerk for gas, and when I hold the door he vears at the last second to the machine beside the entrance. Sometimes I get a "Thanks anyway," but sometimes I get notta.

In some cases when a person actually takes advantage of my small effort I get a thanks, but, just like the other situation, there are times I don't hear a thing. No "thanks," no "gracias," no "preciate it." Nothing. The article would suggest that after a few times of not receiving grattitude I should be inclined to stop helping, but I still hold doors. I think I still do because I appreciate it when others do so for me. I appreciate it when someone helps me in any way, so I think I demonstrate behavior as a way of reciprocating to the universe, since I can't exactly repay every single door holder I come across.

In my life, I guess it comes down to the old elementary school lesson, "Treat others how you want to be treated."