Prosocial behaviors, sometimes called altruistic behaviors, are actions that people exhibit that do not immediately serve their own self-interests but rather the interests of others or a collective. I displayed prosocial behavior this weekend when I washed dishes for my family and my dad saw me and decided to join me. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Being a college student I don't wash dishes or prepare my own food, but escaping the hurricane gave me the opportunity to be with my family and wash some dishes. Now, washing the dishes doesn't really benefit me, someone else in the house could do them and I could do something else that I enjoy much more. So when I decided to start loading the dishwasher on my own initiative the other day, I was exhibiting prosocial behavior. I didn't get an immediate benefit from doing housework, but I wanted to help my family. Shortly after I started working, my father joined us and we worked together to clear the table and prepare all the cups, plates and silverware to be washed. This action, although not learned - my father already knew how to wash dishes - could be considered a model of prosocial behavior. My father saw me washing the dishes and decided to do the same thing. It is very difficult to say why exactly my father helped me wash the dishes. I should ask him very detailed questions or be able to discern his thoughts. It could be that he perceived a more personal benefit to doing the dishes, it could be that he was already planning on doing the dishes after dinner and I started before him. It's also very likely that he saw me doing something positive and helpful for our family and wanted to participate. In reality, it was most likely a combination of all the reasons mentioned above. My dad doesn't see me often, much less see me do chores, so the event was rare and probably deserved some attention. He probably started helping without even realizing it, he wanted to continue the good deeds. This phenomenon of doing good deeds after someone else is related to the prosocial model and is called the norm of reciprocity. People who do nice things for others tend to believe that the nice thing will happen to them later or that the person they helped will continue to help others on their own, paying it forward. I started washing dishes subconsciously believing that maybe if I got caught doing this good deed someone else might see me and help me later, and I was right. I was helped for helping out. Prosocial behaviors are so common in today's society that we often don't even realize they exist. People want good things to happen and good things to be done, without even realizing it. Good deeds can be as significant as donating to charity or as small as doing household chores, but no matter what someone chooses to do, they are likely to see their neighbor doing the same thing. Works Cited Eisenberg, N., & Mussen, P. H. (1989). The roots of prosocial behavior in children. Cambridge University Press.Fultz, J., Batson, C. D., Fortenbach, V. A., McCarthy, P. M., & Varney, L. L. (1986). Social evaluation and the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(4), 761-769.Grant, A. M. (2012). Giving time gives you time. Harvard Business Review, 90(6), 54-61.Heinrichs, K., & Jensen, M. (2019). Prosocial behavior. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior:, 109(2), 337-361.