Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Methodological and theoretical considerations in the study of prosocial behavior
- 3 Biology and prosocial behavior
- 4 Culture and prosocial behavior
- 5 “Person” variables and prosocial behavior
- 6 Socialization in the family
- 7 Socialization by agents outside the family
- 8 Cognition, role taking, interpersonal problem solving, and moral judgment
- 9 Emotional factors in prosocial behavior
- 10 Situational determinants
- 11 Conclusions
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
3 - Biology and prosocial behavior
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Methodological and theoretical considerations in the study of prosocial behavior
- 3 Biology and prosocial behavior
- 4 Culture and prosocial behavior
- 5 “Person” variables and prosocial behavior
- 6 Socialization in the family
- 7 Socialization by agents outside the family
- 8 Cognition, role taking, interpersonal problem solving, and moral judgment
- 9 Emotional factors in prosocial behavior
- 10 Situational determinants
- 11 Conclusions
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
Summary
Sharing, helping, and self-sacrifice - behaviors that benefit another - are not exclusively human. Many animals below humans on the phylogenetic scale, ranging from social insects (ants, termites, bees, and wasps) through such mammals as hunting dogs and dolphins and up to the higher primates, act in ways that at least superficially resemble human prosocial behavior. In 1975, Edward O. Wilson, a prominent biologist at Harvard University, published the stimulating and controversial book Sociobiology (1975b). It was essentially the founding work in a new scientific field dedicated to the systematic study of the biological basis of social behavior, and it was rich in examples of actions by animals that appear to be prosocial. We shall sample a few of these.
Some social insects are suicidally self-sacrificing. Honeybee workers attack other insects attempting to intrude into their hive, embedding their barbed stingers in their victims. When this occurs, the bee's venom gland is pulled out, along with much of its viscera, so that it soon dies. Its attack is successful, however, because the venom gland continues to secrete poison into the intruder's wounds, and the odor coming from the sting excites other members of the hive to make further attacks on the intruders. Certain ants and wasps perform similar self-sacrificing defensive acts: “The fearsome reputation of social bees and wasps is due to their general readiness to throw away their lives upon slight provocation” in defense of their colonies (Wilson, 1975b, p. 121).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Roots of Prosocial Behavior in Children , pp. 35 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989