Figure 1.

A Conceptual Model of Prosociality and Population Health

The model describes upstream macro- and individual-level factors that shape the distribution of prosociality (either by promoting or impeding levels) among individuals in the population and the downstream effects of prosociality on health-relevant processes that influence morbidity and mortality over the life course. Note that structural, community, and individual conditions all interact with each other and have direct and indirect effects on pathways to health. The inset provides more specific examples of ways structural, community, and individual conditions could promote higher prevalence of prosociality in the population. This model is not designed to include all relevant factors in each category but rather to provide examples for each. Also, in this model dispositional factors include individual level factors that promote prosocial behaviors, whereas psychological factors refer solely to downstream individual-level factors that are influenced by prosociality and also affect health-related processes. Examples of each element in the model are as follows. Structural conditions: socioeconomic factors – inequality, social welfare, systemic racism; culture – norms, values, competition/cooperation, independence/interdependence; social/environmental change – war/civil unrest, climate change; politics – laws/public policy, level of trust in leaders, human rights. Community conditions: social networks – size, density, diversity; built environment – safe communal spaces, barriers to integration. Individual conditions: disposition – motivation, compassion; demographics – sex, majority group status; resources – time, money. Pathways to health: physiological factors – immune function, brain neuroplasticity; psychological factors – stress buffering, sense of purpose; health behaviors – exercise, smoking.