Resource Type: Social Science Research

Highlight people engaging in advocacy actions, to encourage others to do the same. People who see someone else engage in a “prosocial” behavior (helping or benefiting others) are more likely to do the same. This is called prosocial modeling. Witnessing prosocial behavior can have cascading consequences – including encouraging prosocial behaviors that were not explicitly modeled and engaging in prosocial behavior towards additional groups of people. Importantly, however, the potential impact of seeing prosocial behavior diminishes over time. Therefore, organizations interested in encouraging prosocial behavior should consider quick turnaround interventions that involve witnessing prosocial behavior. These interventions can be successful no matter the medium (i.e., live and in person versus a video or recording).