PROPOSED TOPIC IN

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

Santos, Margaret Emily Ann C.

301P. AB-Psychology.
Proposed Topic: Prosocial Behaviour of Filipinos Adults at the Time of a Pandemic

Prosocial behaviour is the expansive scope of activities planned to profit at least

one individual other than oneself - practices, for example, helping, soothing, sharing and
participation (C. D. Batson, 2014); also created as an antonym for Antisocial. Meaning,
it is an intent that would benefit others or society as a whole. Conveying this particular
behaviour may be a result of empathy, concern about the well-being of other people or
the need for altruism. Even though the term "prosocial behaviour" is mostly correlated
with the development of desirable characteristics in children, research on the subject
has expanded to include adult behaviours since the late 1980s.

So if I were asked as to why I chose this particular topic, it is because Prosocial

Behaviour at a time of a pandemic is extremely challenging. Imagine this, would you still
help other people if your family alone is getting hungry? The Covid-19 pandemic made
us see the worst case scenario for everyone and that is when one-by-one, people
started to lose their jobs resulting for them to loan as they do not have any money to
fend their family anymore and if prolonged quarantine continues, not only will the
Philippine economy crash but the Filipino family as well. Not only that, the risk of having
the said virus is also high. Hence the reason as to why most people are staying indoors
and trying to protect themselves.

Prosocial Behaviour at a time of a pandemic is not an obligation nor a

responsibility, but it is a rare trait that only a few people have. It is a matter of life-and-
death for most of us, so why would one practice such behaviour? But despite this
particular reasoning, there are still people who choose to help, to give a hand on those
who need it as well. So how come these people prioritize others first? This is an answer
that I want to find out if given an opportunity.
 References:

Bavel, J.J.V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P.S. et al. Using social and behavioural science to
support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nat Hum Behav 4, 460–471 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z

Kaur, R. A Review in Prosocial Behavior: Social Psychology. International Journal of

Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, ISSN 2250-0588, Impact Factor:
6.565, Volume 09 Issue 01, January 2019, Page 227-22.

Manesi, Zoi & Van Doesum, Niels & Lange, P.. (2017). Prosocial Behavior.
10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1894-1.