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Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Assessment of Social Interaction Behaviors
Published on: February 25, 2011
Searching for the Prosocial Personality: A Big Five Approach to Linking Personality and Prosocial Behavior
Meara M Habashi1, William G Graziano2, Ann E Hoover3
1University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA meara-habashi@uiowa.edu.
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.
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