8 - Helping & Harming Flashcards
What is the difference between prosocial behaviour and altruism?
altruism is prosocial behaviour, intended to help someone, but without any prospect of personal rewards (or clear costs to the helper).
How does ‘need’ & ambiguity play into help giving?
The helper needs to perceive the recipients’ need for help.
The ambiguity of the situation makes this ‘need’ unclear.
Describe Latané & Darley’s (1968) ‘Smoked filled room’ study.
Takeaway; when alone, 75% of pts act, when with two confeds who don’t act, only 10% pts act.
How does ‘deservingness’ play into help giving? What are the norms of helping?
The helper needs to believe the recipient deserves help.
- Social responsibility of helping the vulnerable.
- Relation models exchange norms.. need, reciprocity, equity etc.
- attributions of responsibility.. “brought it on themselves”
What is the identifiable victim effect? How did Small, Loewenstein & Slovic (2007) show this with their ‘save the children’ study?
The tendency to offer greater help to specific, over anonymous statistical, victims…
Study takeaway: pts more likely to give money to identifiable victim (7-year-old from Mali), over cause that lists stats in Zambia as victims.
Describe key points & takeaway of Greitemeyer & Osswald’s (2010) Lemings vs Tetris Accessibility of Prosocial Thoughts study.
Pts played either prosocial (lemings) or neutral (Tetris) video game as a prime for prosociality. Then reported prosocial thoughts. Experimenter tipped pencils over.
Type of video game + no. of reported prosocial thoughts correlated with no. of pencils picked up.
Describe the bystander effect, as studied by Darley & Latané (1968).
- Conditions are with 1, 2 or 5 ppl.
- Hear group member have a ‘seizure’.
Takeaway; more ppl, the less likely you are to help. Diffusion of responsibility.
How does the ‘norm of privacy’ counteract helping behaviours? Key points & takeaways from Shotland & Straw’s (1976) ‘Street attack’ experiment.
Staged attack of man on women.
Two conditions:
1. “I don’t know you” - 65% intervened.
2. “I don’t know why I ever married you” - 19% intervened.
Takeaway; ppl help when it doesn’t violate other social norms, such as privacy.
Describe the key points & takeaways of Darley & Batson’s (1973) ‘Good Samaritan’ study.
Seminary students asked to prepare a talk, on either jobs or the good samaritan parable. Three conditions: Hurry - 10% helped Intermediate-hurry - 45% helped Control - 10%
Content of talk made no difference.
Describe the key points & takeaways of Dunn et al.’s (2008) ‘Helping Feels Good’ study.
Spending money on others makes one happier than spending on the self.
What is the negative-state relief model (egoism)? How did Cialdini, Darby & Vincent (1973) offer evidence for it?
Most ppl don’t like watching others suffer, helping is aimed at reducing aversive state.
Researchers induced negative state across two conditions; causing or witnessing PhD students stack of papers to fall.
- Some pts have neg-state removed, others didn’t.
- When offered a chance to help someone, those who still had neg-state were more likely to offer help.
What is the empathy-altruism model? How did Batson et al.’s (1981) ‘Elaine the learner’ study offer evidence for this?
When we see someone suffer, we feel personal distress & empathy. Regardless of rewards, empathy drives helping.
- Elaine was described as same or different pts.
- Could leave exp now or had to watch 8 more trials.
- Elaine told story of fear of electricity.
- 2 x 2: empathy vs not / easy vs difficult.
- Pts with no empathy helped more when escape was difficult.
- Pts with empathy always helpe; took her place
Takeaway; those who feel empathy help, regardless of whether there is an easy alternative for reducing aversive state.
What are some ways of increasing helping?
- reduce ambiguity
- teach & activate prosocial norms.
- Infuse, not diffuse, responsibility.
- promote the identification of those in need.
What did Alvarez & Van Leeuwen (2011) show about dependency-oriented vs. autonomy-oriented help? And with peer vs. expert helpers?
Regardless of who it comes from, ppl feel more positive about autonomy-oriented help.
But for reactions to the helper, ppl prefer auto-oriented help from the expert. But less so from a peer.
Target autotomy-oriented helped from a legitimate source.
What is difference instrumental aggression and hostile aggression?
- Means to end vs aggression driven by anger.
