What is Altruism?

a motivational state with the goal of increasing anothers welfare. selfless helping.
Ex. Risking or losing ones life to save another.

Social psychologists are interested in understanding why it occurs.

What inspires these acts of kindness? What motivates people to risk their own lives to save a complete stranger?
.

Four major motives for Altruism:

altruism to ultimately benefit the self (egoism) to ultimately benefit the other person (altruism) to benefit a group (collectivism) to uphold a moral principle (principalism).

Prosocial Behavior
Behaviors that can be described as prosocial include feelings of empathy and concern for others and behaving in ways to help or benefit other people. Helping others Donating time, effort, or money Volunteering Cooperating rather than competing

Why Prosocial Behavior exists:

Biological Reasons: Kin selection - We may be more altruistic towards those we are related to because it increases the odds that our blood relations will survives and transmit their genes to future generations.

Why Prosocial Behavior exists:

Neurological Reasons: Altruism activates reward centers in the brain. Neurobiologists have found that when engaged in an altruistic act, the pleasure centers of the brain become active.
Cognitive Reasons: We might help others to relieve out own distress or because being kind to others upholds our view of ourselves as kind, empathetic people.

Differences
Prosocial behaviors Are actions or patterns of behavior rather than motivations. Altruism Is the motivation to do charitable acts

A person gives an unmarked box of clothing to a shelter anonymously. The action of giving the box is the prosocial behavior. The person's motivation to give the box would be altruism.

Theory of Psychological Egoism

suggests that no act of sharing, helping or sacrificing can be described as truly altruistic, as the actor may receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification.

Social Exchange Theory

Postulates that altruism only exists when benefits outweigh costs. Daniel Batson is a psychologist who examined this question and argues against the social exchange theory.

The Bystander Effect

refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present.

Reference
http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/g/w hat-is-altruism.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism#Psyc hology http://psychology.about.com/od/pindex/g/p rosocial-behavior.htm http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definiti on.php?term=Prosocial%20Behavior