The EUNSA publishing house has just published the book “Diez fundamentos psicológicos de la conducta de ayuda” [Ten psychological foundations of helping behavior], by Belén Mesurado, researcher at the Institute of Philosophy.

This book arises from the need to give an academic explanation of different types of behavior or expressions of generosity that human beings are capable of expressing. The main objective is to present a description and classification of the different manifestations of generosity or types of prosocial behavior, and then to focus on ten different psychological aspects that constitute the foundation of the formation and development of human generosity. Each chapter will report empirical investigations that show the relationship between different social virtues or psychological traits that favor the emergence of generosity behaviors, thus allowing a positive psychosocial development of the person.

As previous studies show, the roots of generosity or prosocial behavior are multiple and can be found in biological, cultural, family factors and in individual psychological characteristics. However, in this work we will focus only on certain intrapsychic aspects such as social virtues or traits that can be promoted through education or different promotion strategies. It is important to highlight that this work does not intend to exhaust all the individual characteristics related to prosociality, but instead chose those ten pathways that so far proved to be a solid foundation for the emergence of generous or prosocial behavior.

The book is available on the website of EUNSA.