Pro social behavior

Content/ Work Distribution:
 Pro-Social Behavior: Saneela Habiba
 Religiosity/ Spirituality: Saneela Habiba
 Purpose and Pathways to Spirituality: Saneela Habiba
 Research on Religiosity and Health: Ereej Fatima
 Altruism: Aiza Inayat
 Gratitude: Aiman Saeed
 Measuring Gratitude: Fariha Butt

Pro-Social
Behavior
 Behavior through which people benefit
others, including helping, cooperating,
comforting, sharing, and donating (Eisenberg
and Fabes, 1998; Greener and Crick, 1999).
Examples:
 Volunteer work, donating money, or helping
a neighbor move a heavy item of furniture.

Religiosity
 Religiosity is a term that is used to describe the
quality of an individual's religious beliefs and
experiences and the role that religion plays in
society. It has been likened to spirituality,
orthodoxy, piousness, and religious devotion.

Spirituality
 Spirituality is a broad concept with room for
many perspectives. In general, it includes a
sense of connection to something bigger than
ourselves, and it typically involves a search
for meaning in life.

Purpose
and
Pathways
to
Spirituality

Purpose
 Finding a spiritual purpose is not so much about
finding the meaning of life, but rather about
becoming your best self as you move through life.
 Spirituality is a way of gaining perspective.
 It can relieve you from dependence on material
things and help you to understand your life's
greater purpose.
 Spirituality can also be used as a way of coping
with change or uncertainty.
 We can find our higher purpose in life through
many different pathways, including meditation and
prayer, personal reflection and practicing spiritual
wellness.

Pathways
 A spiritual pathway is the way a person most
naturally connects to God and grows spiritually.

These people
enjoy
interacting
with other
people and feel
close to God
when doing so.
RELATIONAL
PATHWAY
INTELLECTUAL
PATHWAY
SERVING
PATHWAY
CONTEMPLATIVE
PATHWAY
CREATION
PATHWAY
These people
are the
thinkers.
These are people
who feel closest to
God when they
are serving him
and his people.
These people
like to spend
endless time
alone with
God.
These are the
people that
come alive and
feel close to God
when they are
out amongst
nature

Dimensions of health
The World Health Organization
(WHO) discover dimensions of
health:
1. Physical
2. Social
3. Mental
4. Spiritual
5. Emotional

How does religion influence health?
Religion helps regulate behavior and health habits.
Most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with
better health outcomes:
1. Greater longevity
2. Coping skills
3. lower smoking rates and reduced alcohol consumption
4. Health-related quality of life (even during terminal illness)

What is the relationship between
religiosity and mental health?
Studies report a positive association between religiosity and
spirituality (R/S) and aspects of mental health (MH):
 Higher life-satisfaction and meaning in life
 A lower prevalence of anxiety and depression
 Suicidal tendencies and better cognitive functioning

How does religiousness benefit
health?
Research has repeatedly shown that people of faith report feeling better and healthier.
 “Prayer is a lot like cognitive behavioral therapy,” Luhrmann said.
 “It’s a way you attend to your own inner experience, let go of distracting thoughts
and focus on more positive thoughts.
 By expressing gratitude, you shift attention from the way that things are going wrong
to the ways they are going right.”

Why we should Take Care of Our
Health?
The reason of taking care of our body and health is that we all
belong to Allah to whom we should return, and this body is
given to us by Allah and we should submit this body one day to
Allah.
Hence, it is our duty to take care of these bodies and we
should submit these bodies in better conditions to Allah.

Halal Foods in Islam:
Muslims are asked to eat only halal foods
and there is also a scientific logic behind this.
 For example: chicken and meat is halal
(permitted) which is highly rich in protein.
 On the other hand wine or whiskey or any
kind of alcohol is haram (prohibited) because
consumption of alcohol leads to major liver
and heart diseases.

Entire Quran is a source of healing:
‫اء‬َ‫ف‬ِ‫ش‬َ‫و‬ ‫ًى‬‫د‬ُ‫ه‬ ‫وا‬ُ‫ن‬َ‫م‬‫آ‬ َ‫ين‬ِ‫ذ‬َّ‫ل‬ِ‫ل‬ َ‫و‬ُ‫ه‬ ْ‫ل‬ُ‫ق‬
And declare (O Muhammad) that [the Quran] is a guidance and healing for
the believers.
(al-Fussilat, 41:44)

Altruism
• Altruism is the unselfish concern for other people—doing things simply out of a desire to help, not
because you feel obligated to out of duty, loyalty, or religious reasons. It involves acting out of
concern for the well-being of other people.
• Altruism activates reward centers in the brain. Neurobiologists have found that when a person
behaves altruistically, the pleasure centers of their brain become more active.
• Engaging in compassionate actions activates the areas of the brain associated with the reward
system. The positive feelings created by compassionate actions then reinforce altruistic behaviors.

Types
• Genetic altruism
• Reciprocal altruism
• Group-selected altruism
• Pure altruism

Cont..
• Genetic altruism:
As the name suggests, this type of altruism involves engaging in altruistic acts that benefit
close family members. For example, parents and other family members often engage in
acts of sacrifice in order to provide for the needs of family members.
• Reciprocal altruism:
This type of altruism is based on a mutual give-and-take relationship. It involves helping
another person now because they may one day be able to return the favor.

• Group-selected altruism:
This involves engaging in altruistic acts for people based upon their group affiliation.
People might direct their efforts toward helping people who are part of their social group or
supporting social causes that benefit a specific group.
• Pure altruism:
Also known as moral altruism, this form involves helping someone else, even when it is
risky, without any reward. It is motivated by internalized values and morals.

Genetic and Neural Foundations of
Empathy:
• twin studies prefrontal and parietal cortex
• Empathy is the ability to understand how others are feeling and show compassion
towards them.
• People are more likely to engage in altruistic behavior when they feel empathy for the
person in distress, a suggestion known as the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Children also
tend to become more altruistic as their sense of empathy develops.
• Empathy has two parts: the ability to recognize another person’s thoughts and feelings,
and the ability to respond with an appropriate emotion to someone else’s thoughts and
feelings. The first part is called ‘cognitive empathy’ and the second part ‘affective
empathy’.

The Empathy- Altruism Hypothesis:
Empathy-Altruism:
• It feels good to help others
• Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis (Batson et al., 1981)—pro social behavior is motivated
solely by the desire to help someone in need. People are more likely to help others for
whom they feel much empathy.

Cultivating Altruism:
• frequent interactions with those who need help increase empathy for others
• legitimate to feel good about helping

Gratitude
Latin term gratia meaning “favor”, gratus meaning “pleasing”. It is defined as the state of
being appreciative of blessings received and the quality of being thankful.
Gratitude is one of many positive emotions. It's about focusing on what's good in our lives
and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the
things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends,
family, even computer access.

Gratitude according to positive
psychology
• Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps
people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal
with adversity, and build strong relationships. Gratitude is the emotion that arises when
we recognize and appreciate the good things in our lives. It is a positive emotion that
helps us focus on the positive aspects of our lives, rather than dwelling on negative
experiences.

Benefits of gratitude
o Recognize and appreciate the blessings of Allah
o Mental and physical well-being
o Improves self esteem
o To maintain a positive outlook
o Cope with difficult situations
o It can increase happiness
o Life satisfaction
o Reduce stress and anxiety
o Improve relationships
o To grow spiritually
o To lead more fulfilling life
o To stronger immune system and lower blood pressure.

Gratitude as viewed in Islam
Gratitude is termed as (shukr) in Arabic (to be thankful) to Allah and to a person. It is an
important virtue in Islam and is seen as a way to show appreciation and thankfulness to
God for his blessings. In Islam, gratitude is expressed through prayer, charity, and good
deeds, as well as through words and actions.
Way to expression gratitude in Islam
Muslims express gratitude is through the practice of
prayers
by helping others
good deeds
charity

Cont..
• Practicing gratitude is not only good for your mental and physical health, but it's good for
your soul – it gives you the opportunity to reflect on your blessings, reconnect with your
faith and strengthen your relationship with Allah. Expression of gratitude is a part of the
test by Allah.
• Considered to be one of the highly esteemed virtues, gratitude is admired and praised in
both the Holy Quran and Sunnah (sayings from Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon
him).

Gratitude according to Prophet
(PBUH)
• “Muslims believe it to be recognition of Allah’s blessings in any situation whether
desirable or undesirable”
• “He who does not thank people, does not thank Allah.”

Gratitude according to Quran
• “If you give thanks I will give you more”
• “And Allah will give reward to those who are grateful”
• “O you who believe, eat of the good things we are provided for you and give thanks
to Allah if it is Him that you serve”
• “And if you should count the favors of the Almighty”, so says the Almighty, “you
would not be to enumerate them; indeed, He is oft forgiving and Merciful” (Quran
16: 18).

Cultivating gratitude
The simplest way to start developing an attitude of gratitude is to choose to appreciate
things in life. It's never too late to start. It takes a bit of work but having an attitude of
gratitude is one of the healthiest habits to cultivating a fulfilling and happy life. Give thanks
every single day.
• Take notice. Get aware of your negativity, complaining or gossiping.
• Keep a gratitude journal. Spend a few minutes each day writing down or noting what you
are grateful for.
• Pay attention to those good things
• Switch your point of view.
• Be humble.
• Share your appreciation.
• Donate.
• Practice gratitude rituals.

Measuring gratitude the psychological
underpinnings of gratitude
The effects of gratitude:
•In a study by McCraty and colleagues (1998), 45 adults were taught to “cultivate
appreciation and other positive emotions”. The result of this study showed that there was a
mean 23% reduction in the stress hormone cortisol after the intervention period.
•In another study by Seligman, Steen and Peterson (2005), participants were given one
week to write and then deliver a letter of thanks in person to someone who had been
especially kind to them, but who had never been properly thanked. The gratitude visit
involves these basic steps:
1) First think of someone who has done something important and wonderful for you, yet
who you feel you have not properly thanked.
2) Next, reflect on the benefits you received from this person, and write a letter expressing
your gratitude for all they have done for you.
3) Finally, arrange to deliver the letter personally and spend some time with this person.

Scales of gratitude
Multidimensional prayer Inventory by laird and his
colleagues 2004
3 Thanksgiving items are:
• I offered thanks for specific things
• I expressed my appreciation for my circumstances and
• I thanked God for things occurring in my life

Cont..
• The GQ-6 is a brief, six item , self report measure that assess one's disposition to
experience gratitude
• With Likert style response options
• Positively related to optimism, life satisfaction, hope, spirituality/ religiousness,
forgiveness, empathy and pro social behavior and negatively related to depression,
anxiety and materialism.

Gratitude resentment and appreciation
test GRAT
By Watkins P.C Woodward K Stone T and Kolts R.L
Three factors
• Abundance
• Simple appreciation
• Appreciation of others

Gratitude interventions and psychological
and physical well being
• Studies conducted by Dr Frah
• Another leading researcher in this field by Dr Martin E.P Seligman's study Personal goal
attainment Self guided exercise
• In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease

Modern psychological perspectives on
gratitude:
• Here is an overview of the recent research findings related to the study of gratitude:
• Well being: grateful people are more agreeable, more open and less neurotic.
• Relationships: it is also a powerful tool for strengthening interpersonal relationships.
• Optimism: in one study 2003 they found that after 10 weeks, the people who had
focused on gratitude in their lives, showed significantly more optimism in many areas of
their lives, including health and exercise

• Happiness: Toefer, Cichy and Peters (2011) conducted a study where people were
asked to write and deliver a letter to someone for whom they were grateful. Right after the
task their the happiness levels and life satisfaction were dramatically impacted even
weeks later. In the pursuit of happiness and life satisfaction gratitude is showing a direct
and long lasting effect thus the more gratitude we experience the happier our lives be.
• Stronger self control: Self control helps us to be disciplined and focused and to
persist with what is subjectively the most important for our long term wellbeing. Self
control comes into play in these moments and hopefully we make the better choice for our
long term health, financial future and wellbeing.

Pro social behavior

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to Pro social behavior (20)

More from AQSA SHAHID (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Pro social behavior