The ability to behave in ways that benefit other individuals' well-being is among the most
celebrated human characteristics crucial for social cohesiveness. Across mammalian …

We propose that human social cognition is structured around a basic understanding of
ourselves and others as intuitive utility maximizers: from a young age, humans implicitly …

Winner of the William James Book Award “Magisterial... Makes an impressive argument that
most distinctly human traits are established early in childhood and that the general …

Michael Tomasello offers the most detailed account to date of the evolution of human moral
psychology. Based on experimental data comparing great apes and human children, he …

It has been argued that children who possess an advanced theory of mind (ToM) are more
likely to act prosocially, yet the empirical findings are mixed. To address this issue …

Developmental psychologists coined the term" theory of mind" to describe how we
understand our shifting mental states in daily life. Over the past twenty years researchers …

In evolutionary perspective, what is most remarkable about human sociality is its many and
diverse forms of cooperation. Here, I provide an overview of some recent research, mostly …

Highlights•Positive feelings reinforce prosocial behavior.•Positive feelings, such as
happiness, predict prosocial behavior.•Engaging in prosocial behavior leads to positive …

The development and maintenance of prosocial, other-oriented behaviors has been of
considerable recent interest. Though it is clear that prosocial behaviors emerge early and …

Transactive goal dynamics (TGD) theory conceptualizes 2 or more interdependent people
as 1 single self-regulating system. Six tenets describe the nature of goal interdependence …