Abstract: According to the social cognitive theory of social class and relevant research,people of low social class tend to be more prosocial than their upper class counterparts,while the resource and cost theory of prosocial behavior supports that people of high social class are of higher capability and possibility to engage in prosocial behavior.As empiricalstudies increased,researchers began to realize that the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior can be better understood from the perspectivethat various factors jointly influence people's behavior,including micro variables of individual level (such as personality factors),meso variables of situational level (such as the specific social interaction situation),macro variables of social and cultural level (such as social structure and cultural factors). Recent studies reveal that the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior is influenced by thereciprocity belief, the publicity of prosocial contextand relative deprivation on the micro individual level,and altruism level of partner,charity appealing type andthe publicity context on the meso situational level,and income inequality and cultural on the macro social level. Future research should explore how prosocial context,social and cultural factors interact with an individual's social class to influence prosocial behavior,as well as investigatethe effect of recipient's social class in eliciting people's prosocial behavior, and the effect of actor's social class in people's paying the prosociality torward.

Key words: social class, social cognitive perspective on social class, prosocial behavior, social context