Final answer:
Prosocial behavior is voluntary action intended to help others and includes forms of behavior like altruism, where individuals help others selflessly, even at a personal cost. Altruism is evident in human actions and across the animal kingdom, and while often altruistic, some behaviors may have indirect benefits as per evolutionary game theory.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prosocial behavior is defined as voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people. This form of behavior aims to benefit others and promote positive social interactions. It's often distinguished by selflessness and the lack of direct personal gain. A specific form of prosocial behavior is altruism, which is motivated by the selfless helping of others, even if there are significant costs to the individual providing help. Altruism can be witnessed across the animal kingdom, where behaviors that might reduce an individual's personal fitness are performed to increase the fitness of others within the social group.
An example of human altruistic behavior can be seen in individuals who risked their lives during the 9/11 attacks to help others escape, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. In contrast, within certain animal societies, such as bees or meerkats, individuals perform roles that support the group despite potential risks to themselves. However, evolutionary game theory suggests that many behaviors deemed altruistic may still have a component of self-benefit that isn't immediately apparent, as they can contribute to the survival and replication of the genes of the individual exhibiting the behavior.