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Humans are more prosocial in poor foraging environments
Todd A Vogel1,2,3, Luke Priestley4, Jo Cutler5,6,7
1Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. t.vogel@bham.ac.uk.
Nature Communications
|February 9, 2026
Summary
Environmental factors significantly influence prosocial behavior. People are more likely to help others in low-reward environments, demonstrating that the context of opportunities shapes altruistic decisions.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Environmental Psychology
Background:
- Prosocial behaviors are crucial for societal well-being and addressing global issues.
- Traditional measures often use simplified economic games, not reflecting real-world complexity.
- Everyday decisions involve navigating competing opportunities with varying rewards.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how environmental context influences prosocial decision-making.
- To examine the role of opportunity cost in prosocial behavior across different environments.
- To understand the factors driving decisions to help others.
Main Methods:
- Three independent studies with a total of 510 participants.
- Participants encountered opportunities to benefit themselves or others while watching a movie.
- Decisions were analyzed across varying 'poor' and 'rich' foraging environments with different reward values.
Main Results:
- Environmental quality significantly impacts prosocial behavior.
- Participants were more willing to help others in low-reward ('poor') environments.
- Computational modeling indicated distinct valuations of opportunity costs for others, influenced by utilitarianism and empathy.
Conclusions:
- The decision to engage in prosocial behavior is context-dependent, influenced by environmental opportunity quality.
- Environmental changes critically affect the likelihood of individuals acting prosocially.
- Understanding environmental influences is key to promoting prosociality in a changing world.
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