title: Searching for the Prosocial Personality: A Big Five Approach to Linking Personality and Prosocial Behavior.
abstract: The search for the prosocial personality has been long and controversial. The current research explores the general patterns underlying prosocial decisions, linking personality, emotion, and overt prosocial behavior. Using a multimethod approach, we explored the links between the Big Five dimensions of personality and prosocial responding. Across three studies, we found that agreeableness was the dimension of personality most closely associated with emotional reactions to victims in need of help, and subsequent decisions to help those individuals. Results suggest that prosocial processes, including emotions, cognitions, and behaviors, may be part of a more general motivational process linked to personality.
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA meara-habashi@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Meara M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Habashi
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Graziano
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, USA.
authors.forename: Ann E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Hoover
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals; D009042:Motivation; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment
keywords: agreeableness; emotion; empathy; personality; prosocial