chap 10 proscoial behav Flashcards
prosocial behav
action w goal of benefiting other person
altruism
desire to help others even if it costs helper
what does evolutionary psych suggest how altruism evolved? even tho it contradicts survival
kin selection reciprocity norm social norms
how does kin selection play into how altruism evolved?
kin selection is a form of natural selection that helps favor genetic relative w purpose to increase chance that genes passed on
reciprocity norm
expectation that helping others will incr likelihood they’ll help us in future
how does ability to learn social norms influence origins of altruism?
adapt to learn social norms n value helping others - cooperative ppl more likely to survive
social xchange theory argues that prosocial behav: the costs n rewards of helping
based on self interest & stems from desire to maximize outcomes n minim costs ie benefit must be high otherwise seen as inconvenience and decr helping behav
define empathy
ability to experience events n emotions the way smne else does
empathy - altruism hypothesis : the pure motive of helping w/out gain
when empathetic for smne, we’ll attempt to help out of pure altruism
empathy altruism hyp illustrated
3 basic motives underlying prosocial behav:
1 evolutionary psych: help those genetically similar to us
2 social xhange theory: reward of helping outweigh costs
3 empathy-altruism hyp: feelings of empathy for others incr liklihood to help altruistically
- personal determinants of prosocial behav: individual differences
gender
culture
mood
altruistic personality
characteristic of person that incr their likelihood to help others in certain situations
gender difference sin prosocial behav: men
likely to perform acts of BRAVERY n HEROISM
gender diff in prosocial behav: women
more likely to give supportive long-term help
cultural diff in prosocial behav:
likely to help in group members more than out groups
and incr likelihood to help in collectivistic cultures
collectivistic cultures
more likely to help in group members than out groupies
effects of mood on prosocial behav: results on feel good, do good study
more likely to help if in good mood beforehand (find money before seeing smne in need of help)
why does good mood affect our likelihood to help?
allows us to look on bright side,
helping others prolongs our good mood,
incr self awareness - therefore try to match actions w values to attain ideal self
what else other than good mood affects likelihood of helping others?
we feel sad, guilty or distressed -> negative-state relief hypothesis
negative - state relief hypothesis:
intention of helping is to alleviate own sadness n distress
we think good deeds will cancel out our bad deeds to reduce sad feelings, related to soial xhange theory, help based on ur own self interest to reduce feelings of distress
situational /environmental determinants of prosocial behav:
rural vs urban
less stimulations vs more stimulation
if put in urbanites in rural and ruralites in urban, they’ll adapt to where they are.
DENSITy affects likelihood of helping others -> urban overolad hyp
in general rural areas help more
urban - overload hypothesis:
urbanites constantly bombarded w stimulation, they keep to themselves to aVOID OVERload
how does residential mobility affect prosocial behav?
longer u live in 1 place, more likely to help community bc:
1 greater attachment
2 mroe dependence on neighbors
3 greater concern w reputation amongst neighbors
bystander intervention:
latane n darley model
ie the bystander effect
greater # bystanders witnessing an emergency, less likely anyone will help bc responsibility is diffused
eg kitty murder appt building
study on bystander effect
confederate has seizure, more likely to help if less pple in room
if more pple, will wait longer n less likely to intervene bc diffusion of responsibility among bystanders
latane & darley showed what process?
pple go thru 5 decision - making steps before helping smne in emergency
if any one of the steps not taken by bystander, will not help
latane & darley’s 5 decision - making steps:
1 notice event
2 interpret event as emergency
3 assume responsability
4 know how to help
5 decide to help
what’ll decr likelihood of helping according to latane & darley model:
1 distracted, in a hurry
2 look to see if anyone else thinks it’s an emergency - seeks social info, if other r blank, wont help: pluralistic ignorance
3 more pple, likely to diffuse responsibility n not take initiative bc expect others to help
4 lack knowledge n competence of how to help
5 costs of helping too high - danger to self, embarrassment, legal concerns
prosocial behav in relationships:
communal vs exchange
xchange: concerned w EQUITy n keep track of who’s contributing what
communal: concerned w responding to their NEEDs that benefits in return
how to increase helping? instilling helpfulness w rewards n models
reward prosocial acts w praise, smiles hugs
or
be a model of prosocial behav to children
what to be careful about when rewarding for prosocial behav?
external reward may undermine intrinstic motivation therefore motivate by complimenting on actions n how it contributes to society despite no external rewards
how to incr likelihood bystanders will intervene by teaching bout bystander effect n determinants of prosocial behav”
incr self awareness of why they dont help leads to more help in future
&
reduces diffusion of responsibility by pointing to bystander n give SPECIFIC instructions
