Prosocial Development across the Lifespan

In this chapter, we review existing literature on the development of prosociality throughout the lifespan by highlighting the different factors/motives underlying individuals’ prosocial actions and their beneficial effects across time. First, we define the concept of prosociality and discuss the main theoretical issues related to its study from a lifespan perspective. Next, we review key empirical findings on prosociality by considering three main developmental phases (infancy and childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, adulthood and older adults) and we underline how an analysis of the main motives/factors operating in each phase can help explain the variability in prosocial development. Based on our review, we also offer some guidelines for the design of intervention actions that are developmentally appropriate and meaningful for the targeted age groups. Finally, we conclude by identifying potential gaps in the literature and we indicate promising directions for future studies.