This chapter outlines key foci for future research on prosociality and its development. It seeks to identify challenges and priorities and to delineate exciting possibilities for moving the field forward. These include the need for a useful taxonomy to help map the different dimensions and forms of prosociality across development; a call to extend the construct of prosociality by incorporating the perspectives of children and individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds; the need to integrate knowledge from different levels of analysis; the notion that for a more complete understanding of prosociality in humans, both specificities and commonalities in processes of prosocial development must be addressed; and the need to understand major obstacles to prosocial development – how is it that, despite the human potential for prosociality, some individuals do not become prosocial? – and how to transcend such barriers. Addressing these issues, using rigorous and innovative work, will promote a new era of prosociality science.

This chapter provides an introduction to the topic of this handbook: prosociality and its development across the first two decades of life, as well as causes, correlates, and consequences across the lifespan. We begin by providing conceptualizations of prosociality and derive an understanding of what prosociality is, and how it is different from related constructs. We then describe core theoretical accounts on prosocial development. Selected historical attempts to understand prosociality in humans are reviewed, along with historical turning points in early theorizing on prosocial development. Last, a brief summary of select mechanisms underlying the development of prosociality is presented.

Broad constructs of positive parenting (e.g., sensitivity, warmth) have been shown to contribute to children’s prosociality across a variety of ages and cultures. However, because both prosociality and parent-child relationships are complex, multifaceted constructs, a more fine-grained analysis is needed in order to understand the different pathways by which parents can facilitate children’s prosocial development. This chapter offers such an analysis, by reviewing work on how distinct features, or domains, of parenting can promote different motivations and skills that support prosocial action. Bidirectional effects and cultural influences are also considered, and implications for research and practice are outlined.