Social Class And Prosocial Behavior By Michael W. Krause And Bennet Callaghan

968 Words2 Pages

In the article Social Class and Prosocial Behavior by Michael W. Krause and Bennet Callaghan, they speak on the behavior patterns of high and low class individual’s prosocial behavior in private versus in public context. Prosocial behavior is voluntary behavior with the intent to be the benefit another. Prosocial behavior is found in both upper class and lower class communities but is displayed differently in both. Public prosocial behavior is the display of being prosocial in a public setting. In studies it was found that people higher on the social and economic ladder participated in public prosocial behavior than lower class individuals. Public prosocial behavior is learned from young though and is important to an individual’s success. …show more content…

Most of the prosocial activity within the low class community happens privately and the reward of reputation is not the motive of actions. Generally lower class people engage in more prosocial behavior than individuals of higher class because of the cooperative tendencies instilled in low class individuals at a young age. Displaying prosocial behavior in private is less rewarding than that same display in public. Public prosocial behavior is the most relevant in feeling the emotion of pride and this is where low class individuals lack. Without pride or values to want to live up to reputation is not as important in low class individuals as upper class individuals. Pride is the motivator to become more comfortable displaying public prosocial behavior. When one becomes more comfortable engaging in prosocial behavior in a public context they tend to gain respect and grow positive relationships with their peers. On a small scale prosocial behavior in a classroom could be considered public. Students end up in college where there is a chance for many different backgrounds to meet under one roof. It can be determined that the values of upper and lower class individuals are different and notable in prosocial behavior and operant versus respondent

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