Altruism and Helping Flashcards
THREE THEORIES OF ALTRUISM
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1) Social exchange theory: Our brains are calculated in the costs and benefits of helping and not helping.
2) Norm theory: Social rules we internalise that influence our helping behaviour.
- Reciprocity norm: If someone helps you, you help them.
- Social responsibility: if someone’s in need of help then its a social obligation to help them.
3) Evolutionary Psychology:
- Kin selection: We are more likely to help people who are genetically closer to us and depends on the degree of genetic relation (i.e. more likely to help offsprings and parents than cousins and uncles/aunts)
- Reciprocity: Idea that we cannot exist and evolve without one and another hence it being a built-in pre-disposition.
- All three work together and are complementary to each other rather than it being a debate on one being right.
VARIABLES INFLUENCING THE GIVING OF HELP
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- The Bystander Effect: We are less likely to offer help in the presence of others.
Study: Darley and Latane (1968) : Participants were seated in a room with smoke coming out the vent. DV was the time taken to ask help and IV was the number of people. Results showed that more participants in the room meant more time taken to help. - Darley and Latane’s ‘‘Decision tree” model of situational influence:
- Noticing the problem
- Interpret the situation as a need for help: Especially in ambiguous situations, we think are they really in need for help?/is this a ruse?/ will i be in danger?.
- Assuming responsibility for giving help: More presence of people = people psychologically don’t feel the obligation to help, almost like social loafing. We feel less pressured unlike when you’re alone/in a smaller crowd.
Epileptic Seizure Study: Participants were made to believe confederates were bystanders. Results found that higher number of perceived bystanders = lesser percentage seeking help.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES UNDERLYING THE BYSTANDER EFFECT
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- Pluralistic Ignorance: Belief that help is not appropriate or necessary when others are not responding. Assuming only you think it is a problem as no one else responds.
- Diffusion of responsibility: The feeling that other bystanders will take responsibility in an emergency. More people —> more diffusion.
BYSTANDER EFFECT IS PRONOUNCED WHEN
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- Situation is ambiguous
- Bystanders are strangers (as they are harder to read)
- Other reactions are difficult to interpret
- Number of bystanders increases
OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING HELPING BEHAVIOUR
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- Time pressure: People who are in a hurry are less likely to stop and help, The Darley and Batson’s “good Samaritan” study showed that those who were told they had time were more likely to help compared to the people who were told to rush (only 10% stopped).
- Affective state of helper: Refers to the experience of feeling or emotion.
- Guilt: McMillen & Austin’s “liars” study: Participants took a test in a lab along with confederates. Those who were prompted to cheat on the test were more likely to help the experimenter with correcting the paper. more guilt—> more likely to help.
- Sadness or reduced SE = more helping —> negative state relief hypothesis (helping other people elevates mood and makes you feel better about yourself).
- Positive affect also increases likelihood of helping behaviour.
OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING HELPING BEHAVIOUR 2
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- Religiosity: The extent to which they are committed to religion and it’s importance to them.
- Public context = more likely when high in religiosity.
- Private context = no difference
- Gender of Helper: Men are more helpful in experimental studies that involve temporary and stereotypically “masculine” tasks for strangers, etc. (Chivalric helping).
Women are more helpful in long-term help with people they know. (Committed helping).
PERSONALITY AND HELPING BEHAVIOUR (EMPATHY)
Empathy is the ability to experience emotions in a way that the other person experiences them.
- It is said that having true empathy would mean that it overrides the cost considerations of helping.
- Batson study: A class was told that their classmate, Carol, had been in a car accident. Two conditions: low empathy and high empathy (induced by giving a high description of her accident). Cost consideration was manipulated by Carol being wheeled into class in one condition and not in the other. Results showed that the low empathy condition was more likely to help when they see carol (cost). In high empathy condition, there was no difference, showing high empathy overriding low cost.
TARGET VARIABLES INFLUENCING HELPING BEHAVIOUR
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- Gender: women are more likely to be helped than men
- Similarity to potential helper: greater similarity = increased likelihood of helping
SOCIAL COGNITIVE LEARNING AND HELPING BEHAVIOUR
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like Bandura’s aggression, helping behaviour can also be learned by watching others engage in it.
- Study: Children were divided into three conditions based on what they were going to watch: Lassie with helping example, Lassie without helping example and Brady Bunch (Lassie being a show about a helping dog). Results showed that the first condition was much more likely to help the experimenter and also help them for longer time.
- Study 2: Schnall, Roper, & Fessler (2010): Seeing good —-> Doing good?
Induced different types of “good moods” in its effect on helping behaviour. Three conditions: watching a serene documentary on nature, watching a comedy and watching Oprah Winfrey helping.
Showed that Oprah condition helped the longest, suggesting that there is a specific type of mood elevation involved in influence of helping behaviour.
WHY DOES WATCHING PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR INCREASE HELPING?
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Cognitive Factors:
- Observational learning (SCT)
- Priming pro-social schemas
Affective Factors:
- “Moral elevation” of mood
Neurobiological factors:
- Activation of mirror neuron’s (mirroring mechanism accounting for the behaviour of empathy).
- Increase in “tending and befriending” hormones (such as oxytocin)
