2- Why are people prosocial? Flashcards
What category are personal factors and situational factors in?
Specific factors that may determine prosocial behaviour
What is the helping reason leading to empathy based altruism?
Feeling sorry for someone
What type of factor is empathy based altruism?
Social
How is empathy based altruism motivated?
By an emotional response
What are the helping reasons for the nature of the need?
Problems being uncontrollable, genuine, or clear (unambiguous)
What is the nature of the need?
We are more likely to help if the perceived need is clear and unambiguous, legitimate and uncontrollable
What type of factor is the nature of the need?
Situational
How does perception of the victim influence helping behaviour?
We are more likely to help if the victim is similar to you, someone you have a relationship with, or you perceive as attractive
What type of factor is perception of the victim?
Situational
How does a good mood influence helping behaviour?
We are more likely to help if we are in a good mood
How might prosocialness and bad mood interact?
Being prosocial may help alleviate our bad mood
What type of factor is mood?
Personal
How might competence influence helping behaviour?
We are more likely to help if you perceive yourself to be competent or have the skills to help
What type of factor is competence?
Personal
What is diffusion of responsibility?
Believing that someone else would help- reducing responsibility feeling
What type of factor is diffusion of responsibility?
Social
What is audience inhibition?
Having the fear of looking foolish or incompetent in front of others so not helping
What type of factor is audience inhibition?
Social/situational
How does how well we know someone influence helping behaviour?
If we know someone then we are more likely to help them
What type of factor is knowing someone?
Situational
Why is evidence mixed for how a bad mood may influence helping behaviour?
We may not help as we are more preoccupied with ourselves, however being prosocial may alleviate bad mood
What is social influence regarding helping behaviour?
If other onlookers seem to be unworried by the situation then we may be less likely to help
What type of factor is social influence?
Social
What characterises a personal factor?
What a person brings to the situation
What characterises a situational factor?
Things to do with the situation that can’t be controlled
What characterises a social factor?
How other people influence the reason to help/not
5 additional personal factors
- Feeling guilt
- Considering self as a ‘helpful person’
- Feeling in control
- Feeling like the leader
- Gender
Why might feeling like the leader mean that we are more likely to help?
Less diffusion of responsibility
3 additional situational factors
- Number of other bystanders
- Rural vs city location
- “Scrooge” effect
What 3 things does the bystander effect depend on?
- Nature of the group (reduced effect for ‘connected’ groups)
- Relationship with the victim (effect reduced for kinship)
- Seriousness of the situation (effect reduced for high-risk situations)
What is the “scrooge” effect?
We are more likely to help when confronted about own mortality
What does the evolutionary account suggest that we have?
A biological predisposition to help others
What is the communicative gene (evolutionary account)?
Programmed to recognise emotional signals + programmed to want social bonds= prosocial behaviour
3 pieces of evidence supporting evolutionary accounts
- Evidence for helping behaviour in animals
- More likely to help those related to us (kin selection)
- More likely to help the young than the old
What is a problem with biological accounts?
They can’t explain all behaviour
What is reciprocal altruism?
Helping because this person may help in the future
What is the condition needed for reciprocal altruism?
Costs for the helper must be lower than benefits for the recipient
What 2 ways can we learn according to social accounts?
Direct and indirect
2 direct ways of social learning
Instructions and reinforcements
How is behaviour indirectly learnt?
Modelling/vicarious learning
What is the reciprocity norm?
A norm to reciprocate behaviour
What is the social responsibility norm?
Deciding whether we should help someone in need or not
What is an attribution?
Way that we think about ourselves is going to determine whether we want to behave prosocially
What is a self-attribution?
Internalising helpful behaviour
What is the benefit of a self-attribution?
We can use it as a guide in future situations, and thinking of oneself as a ‘helpful person’ has greater longevity
What is a victim attribution?
Judgment about whether the victim deserved their fate
What is the ‘just world hypothesis’?
We need to believe that the world is a fair and just place
What 2 conditions does helping depend on with a victim attribution?
Belief that:
1- victim is a special case
2- need is temporary, not persistent
What is empathy?
Recognising emotional state of others
What kind of response does empathy produce?
An arousal response in the self
2 consequences of attribution of the state to the other
Empathetic response and prosocial behaviour
2 consequences of misattribution of the state
Personal distress and withdrawal
What is the bystander-calculus model?
Physiological arousal causes us to label the arousal and we evaluate consequences of helping/not helping
Why does the evolutionary account say that we are prosocial?
Survival of kin and reciprocal altruism
Why do social accounts say that we are prosocial?
Because we have been told to be, it may be rewarding, social norms dictate it, helps our own egos
Why does the bystander-calculus model say we are prosocial?
Benefits outweigh costs
What is true empathy-based altruism?
People help even when they are no longer troubled by observing another’s suffering
Is receiving help always a positive thing?
No
What are 5 risks of receiving help?
- Gratitude expected
- Threatens self-esteem
- Reliance on others
- Feeling inferior
- Pressure to reciprocate
