5: Are we selfish helpers? Flashcards
What is the difference between prosocial behaviour and altruism?
Prosocial behaviour
- doing something to benefit others but also expecting something back/ greater for society
Altruism
- doing something for the sake of helping
If you want to be helped, what 9 things should be in your favour?
- Make sure it’s a nice day
- environment - Have people round you who are in a good mood
- feel good do good effect - Gender
- in an emergency vs social support - Be somewhere nice (SPAIN, RIO)
- Simpatia - Ask one person, not many
- diffusion of responsibility
- pluralistic ignorance - Choose someone similar to yourself
- Make sure they have just seen someone being helped
- make sure to have nice music playing or play a social game
- Make sure you have a relative near
- Kin selection
Why is the weather important to consider if you want to be helped?
Cunningham 1979
- helping behaviour increases on sunny days
- too hot/ cold is not good
what is the feel good do good effect?
- Goldman +Fordyce, 1983
- smiling at someone, eye contact + touch = more likely to help
What does Ilsen + levin’s dime study 1972 support?
- feel good do good effect
- dime vs no dime
- dime group more likely to help someone
- 84%!!! vs 4%
* *Pay phone - time validity
What did Dolinsiki + Nawrat 1998 find about advertisements which supported the feel good do good effect?
- Car has sign similar to a penalty notice but was just ad group VS no ticket + ad
- discovering ad vs ticket = positive mood
- positive group = 62% would help vs 30%
What explanations are there for why people are more pro-social when they are in a good mood?
- Carlson et al, 1988
- good mood = see good side of others - Clark and Isen, 1982
- not helping = deflating good mood - Berkowitz, 1987
- makes us attend to ourselves + values
Other than the positive moods from being pro-social, what evidence is there to suggest GUILT is a motivator for being helpful?
- Harris et al, 1975
- Church goers more like to donate before going to confess sins (attempt to reduce guilt) vs after confession - McMillen + Austin, 1971
- student cheaters = more likely to volunteering
- 63 min vs 2 min by non-cheaters - Clary + Synder, 1999
- guilt thought to be 1/6 motive behind volunteering
What evidence is there to suggest gender matters when you are looking for help from someone?
- Carnegie medals - for extraordinary helping
- 90% receivers of medal = men - men more likely to help is its a women + if considered attractive + if emergency
What evidence is there to suggest it’s not just men who are more helpful?
Depends on the situation
- Eagly + Crowley, 1986
- meta-analysis
- males more helpful = dramatic situations
- women more helpful = social support situations - Eagly + Koenig, 2006
- women more likely to volunteer in situations that involve helping others
What is simpatia and why is it important to consider if you want help?
= cultural value of being helpful, polite, pleasant etc
- Levine, 2003
- 23 countries
- those countries who valued simpatia = 83% more likely to help a blind man cross road vs 66% other countries
What did the yahoo study suggest about how many people you should ask help for?
- asked for help to a group vs direct single individual
- how look at someone’s profile
- individual responded much quickly vs group chatroom of 2-19 people
What evidence is there to suggest it may be better to ask help from one person or someone in a small group?
- Cubicle study
- heard someone saying their will have a stroke
= chances of helping decreased as the number of people around increased
1/2, 1/6, 1/9 - Metal filing cabinet
- I’m hurt!
- 75% alone vs 38% w/ 2+ people
What is pluralistic ignorance?
People think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way, in fact they are not
- exp for why you would want to ask help form one person vs group
What was the smoke room attention study?
- Ppt put in room alone vs confeds
- smoke released from door
- alone = quick response to smoke
- group = slow response
- explanation = diffusion of responsibility
What is diffusion of responsibility?
Each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses decreases
- exp for why people act less pro-socially when there are loads of people around
What theories are there for explaining why people behaviour or don’t behave pro-socially?
- Social exchange theory
- The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
C. Daniel Basteson, 1991 - Kin selection
What is the social exchange theory?
- Cook + Rice, 2003
- incentive to maximise rewards + minimise costs - Dovidio et al, 1991
- help sometimes to relive stress - Piliavain et al, 1981
- but if helping is at a cost, nah mate
= no true altruism
What did Levine at al 2005 find suggesting we like to help people who are similar to us?
- ppt sees a person who trips
- same team shirt, different team, citizen
= more likely to help those in the same shirt, then citizen then different team
In terms of similarity, when are we more likely to help a person?
- Emswiller et al, 1971
- dressed same way = matching social identity - DeBruine, 2002
- gamer with actual face morphed into it - Burger et al, 2004
- same birthday - Burger et al, 2004
- same first name
What is the empathy-altruism theory proposed by C Daniel Bateson 1991?
- Altruism does exist
- More likely to help if helper can empathise with the person needing help regardless of rewards
- Toi + Batson’s Radio interview study 1982
What did Toi + Batson find from their radio interview study 1982 which supported the empathy-altruism theory?
- Interview with carol who needed help
- high vs low empathy group + High vs low cost group
= costs only became relevant is student’s didn’t empathise w/ carol
What evidence is there showing people are more helpful after they have seen someone get helped?
- Bryan + Test, 1967
- more likely to help women change tyres if they saw someone earlier being helped (quater of a mile) - Bryan + test, 1967
- more likely to donate - Rushton + Campbell, 1977
- more willing to donate blood if just seen someone consenting to it
What was found when people were given lemmings task (helping game) vs Tetris?
Lemmings task = more prosocial behaviour
= picking up cup of pencils
= volunteering
= helping female being harassed
- thinking about being pro-social = makes you want to help
What did Greitmyer 2009, 2011 find about the influence music can have on making them want to help people?
- Heal the world vs Octopus Garden song
= Heal the world = more likely to help someone
What is the evolutionary explanation of altruism?
Kin selection
West + Gardner, 2010
- behaviours that help a genetic relative favoured by natural selection
What evidence is there for kin selection ?
- Burnstein, Crandall + Kitayama, 1994
- more likely to help genetic relatives in life + death situations - Sime, 1983
- surviors of fire at a resort more likely to search for family vs friends
Why is kin selection the enemy of civilisation according to E.O. Wilson 1978?
only favour of relatives = limited global harmony possible
What are some myths about what motivates us to help others?
- being religious
2. helps to be in a city
What did Darley + Batson 1973 find about Samaritans that suggests being religious doesn’t make you more helping necessarily?
- Samaritans told they need to hurry up for their speech vs no rush
- En route man slumped on doorway
= 10% helped vs 63%
= being primed to help didn’t effect their behaviour
What did Paul Amato 1983 find about people being helpful in cities?
As population size rose = acts of helping decreased - donating - helping stranger with bad leg @ 55 Australian cities + towns EXPLANATION= Urban overload??
What is Urban overload?
So many opportunities to be pro-social that we become immune to it and just don’t respond
