This study explores the process of the influence of social reward on cooperation at the individual level. Firstly, according to self- and reward-processing theories of neuropsychology, we follow the idea of ‘stimuli-psychological process-behavioural response’ to clarify the stimuli of social reward on individuals. In addition, we analyse the psychological process of individual self-processing and reward processing triggered by external stimuli. We also deduce the theoretical framework of the impact of social reward on individual cooperative behaviour under this psychological process. Secondly, we infer the influence mode and effect of social reward from individuals’ possible reactions under this psychological process. Finally, we design a team cooperation environment using the public goods game experiment, where members can observe and impose rewards on each other. We also restore the occurrence process of social reward in the laboratory by obtaining real and dynamic interactive data of subjects to test the theoretical framework and research hypotheses proposed in this study.