Prosocial behavior emotions are influenced by how events are interpreted. Studies have shown that the attribution of incontrolabitily to one's behavior is associated with the production of sympathy emotions. This theoretical assertion has been corroborated with experimental scenarios. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of variations of the scenarios, such as the social proximity of the protagonist and social norms have over prosocial behavior intentions. An experimental study with 24 scenarios was conducted and 547 university students took part. The results indicate that regardless of the scenario content perceived misfortune leads to sympathy or pity emotions which, in turn, are associated with greater helping intention. Reciprocity norm scenarios were associated with greater helping intentions
prosocial behavior; sympathy; experimental simulation
