Based On The Intuitive Prosocial Research From The Perspective Of The Interaction Between Human And Context

Prosocial behavior is a central feature of human life and there is an ongoing debate whether individuals have,therefore,developed a general intuitive tendency to act prosocially or not.The reflective model of prosociality holds that humans are born as creatures with non-moral and purely egoistic tendencies,and prosocial behavior requires exerting reflective control over this egoistic instinct.However,in contrast to the reflective model,Zaki and Mitchell(2013)have proposed an intuitive model of prosociality,which suggests that prosocial behavior often arises from intuitive,hot,or system 1 preferences,representing an impulse of its own.The intuitive model of prosociality is supported by at least three markers: behavioral signs of automaticity,neural signatures of reward seeking,and early development.The idea that prosociality can be intuitive in no way implies that it always is and there are some conflicting evidences.The social heuristics hypothesis(SHH)has therefore been proposed as a theoretical framework to addressing conflicting evidences.The SHH posits that associations between processing mode and prosocial behavior are complex and multifaceted,prone to shifting according to individual variability and the contexts in which it occurs.In the current study,we were interested in three questions: a)under what circumstances will intuition promate prosocial behavior,b)what are the psychological mechanism and brain activity underlying intuitive prosocial behavior,and c)whether positive interactions can promote intuitive prosocial choices.In part one,we showed that prosocial behavior is better described as person × situation interaction.In two experiments(total N = 170),we tested the influence of processing mode on helping behavior in emergency and non-emergency situations and the moderating effect of prosocial traits(i.e.,Honesty-Humility and Social Value Orientation),using different experimental manipulations.Consistent with the existing experimental literature on spontaneous cooperation,we consistently found intuitive processing increases helping behavior.Moreover,this intuitive prosociality is context-dependent,moderated by the emergency and prosocial traits.Overall,we find clear evidence that the role of intuition and deliberation varies across both situations and individuals as predicted by the social heuristics hypothesis(SHH).Our findings reconcile previous diverging results by demonstrating these moderators,and extend our understanding of the model of intuitive prosociality based on social heuristics.In part two,we investigated the psychological mechanism and dynamic neural activity during prosocial decision-making by using behavioral measure and electroencephalogram.Specifically,in experiment 3 and 4,our aim was to investigate the effect of empathy in promoting prosocial decision.We used the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale(C-IRI)and 11 emotional vocabulary to measure participants' trait empathy and state empathy respectively.In experiment 5,we aimed at identifying the neural activity involved in intuitive prosocial behavior using event-related potentials(ERPs).The results showed that empathy is an important factor to promote intuitive prosocial choices.The associations between trait empathy and intuitive prosocial behavior are complex and multifaceted,prone to shifting according to the urgency of situations.The differences in personal distress may be a main reason for this complex result.Moreover,in non-emergency situations,trait empathy could affect helping behavior through sympathy,and this path only exists in intuition condition.These findings suggest that empathy and related emotional reactions has a vital role in motivating helping behavior,and that reflection can undermine this emotional impulse.In experiment 5,our results provide empirical evidence that when making prosocial decision;the temporal dynamics of neural activity depend on processing mode and the urgency of events.In the early stages,the stimuli in intuition condition and emergency events could capture more attention;in the later stages,the reflection processing of non-emergency events involves more decision conflicts.Our work offers initial evidence that there are different neural processes at work when individuals are involved in intuitive or reflective prosocial decision.In part three,we explored the impact of helping experience on intuitive prosocial behavior and the potential mediating factors from a perspective of preferences remodeling.In three experiments,we induced participants' helping experiences directly or indirectly through online interaction,recall,and news reports about helping.Consistent with our predictions,positive helping interactions could promote helping choice.This effect existed in the intuitive processing that relies on heuristics and virtually disappear in deliberative processing.Moreover,we also present evidence that our treatment effects could be explained by the change in views of humanity.Taken together,our findings suggest that the power of previous experience for shaping our behavior in a virtual help settings.In conclusion,the present study more directly link SHH to the intuitive model of prosociality.We explore the boundary conditions for the occurrence of intuitive prosocial behavior from a perspective of person-situation interaction,and the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying intuitive prosocial behavior.Moreover,we extend social preference models to incorporate heuristic processing and preference change,and explore the impact of helping experience on intuitive prosocial behavior from a perspective of preferences remodeling.Taken together,the experiments we present here demonstrate open the door for institutions interested in increasing the incidence of prosocial behavior: Prosocial empathic norms,internalization of social norms,environmental constraints,and interactive experiences can have a dramatic influence on prosocial behavior.