Chapter 13 Flashcards
What is Prosocial behavior?
Action by an individual intended to benefit other(s)
This can include art, scientific discoveries, social changes
What is the functional approach?
To some degree our action (helping others) is motivated by self-interest
What is another term for self-interest of helping others?
egoistic
Being social animals, we ____ care only about ourselves. We also ___ ____ about those with whom we form _____ attachments.
don’t
genuinely care
emotional
Altruistic motivation/altruism?
Helping someone for their benefit even if there is no benefit for us. This often happens when we feel empathy.
Kin selection?
When we help those that are kin than other because of natural selection
Norm of reciprocity
Why we help others: If we help them they will be more likely to help us later on.
4 reasons for helping others
Kin
Social, attachment, helping
reciprocal helping
biological bases
Prosocial development based off the learning-theory suggest that?
Learning to help happens in stages:
- To get things we want
- To gain social rewards
- Adhere to internalized values
Emotionally warm parents lead to children that are?
Better able to empathize with other and are seen as more socially competent
Cues about how to behave and be comes from
Family, teachers, role models, media
Playing video games can help increase prosocial behavior. True or False
Why?
True.
Games that reward prosocial behavior
Social exchange theory
Idea that people provide help to someone else when the benefits of helping and the costs of not helping outweigh the potential costs of helping and the benefits of not helping. (p. 479)
Empathy-altruism model
People helping others depends on how much empathy they have for that individual. Empathy is low, help when benefits outweigh the cost; empathy is high, help even at cost to ourselves.
Batson has argued that the road to — —- is paved with —.
-Research on emotions
True Altruism
Empathy
-The brain area activated when you feel another individuals emotion is the same as when you feel the same emotion.
Negative stated relief hypothesis
People help to reduce their own distress
With empathy their pain becomes your pain
Is there true altruism?
????? (p. 483)
Who are we less likely to help?
Those dissimilar to us, those we are prejudiced against
Empathy gap
Fail to give help when need because we underestimate physical pain and social rejection
How do we close the empathy gap
Have others feel pain
Take perspective of person in need
Better when you focus on individual compared to large group
Causal attributions and helping others
We will help others or not depending on if we think others deserve their situation or not. Because we believe in a just world. Is it because of who they are or is it the situation?
Same for groups: more likely to help those where the situation is not in their control. Cancer patients vs obesity/drug abuse
Those that need the most help: we dehumanize and feel less empathy toward them. Ex: homeless, drug addicts
4 other prosocial feelings that motivate us to help
Guilt
Communal feeling
Recipients gratitude
Feeling socially secure
Guilt and helping others
Tend to help when we feel personally responsible. Have internalized morals/its the right thing to do. Helping boosters our self-esteem and not helping brings guilt.
Collective guilt
Are not responsible for the harm to others but still feel guilty.
Problem with helping others when there is guilt
Idea of negative state relief. We help to get rid of negative feelings we help. Can lead to being less likely to help later on.
Communal orinetation
Don’t distinguish between what is theirs and what is someone else. “you and I” become a “we.” Often help even where the other will not always reciprocate the help. Often get the biggest boost from this and biggest drop in mood: When we help or don’t help that person.
Recipients gratitude
Likely to help again because we feel good, there reciprocity, we feel more communal, and enhances feeling of social value.
Feeling socially secure
Reminds us we are part of an ecosystem when we help others, which helps with mental health.
Priming prosocial feelings and behaviors: Positive Affect
Positive mood increases willingness to help. To avoid guilt and you tend to see the best in people.
Priming prosocial feelings and behaviors: Prosocial methaphors
We use metaphors such as “that person is taking a moral high ground.”
Priming prosocial feelings and behaviors: Priming Prosocial Roles
Social roles tell us how to behave. How to act with friends, professions that require helping. Thinking about friendships can prime you to be more helpful.
Priming prosocial feelings and behaviors: Priming Mortality
Culture worldview usually prompts helping others as being a good valued person. Terror Management Theory also primes prosocial behavior.
Priming prosocial feelings and behaviors: Priming Religious Values
Gives us rules and regulations about our behavior. What is needed to be a good person. It is usually, kindness and compassion.
Bystander effect
A person witnesses another in need is less likely to help when there are other bystanders present to witness the event.
Steps to helping
- Notice the situation
- Interpret the situation as an emergency: If ambiguous we use informational social influence. This leads to pluralistic ignorance.
- Take responsibility: To help someone has to decide they will be responsible for acting. However, presence of other leads to diffusion of responsibility.
- Decide how to help: Help yourself or get someone trained
- Decide whether to give help
Pluralistic ignorance
Individuals rely on others to identify a norm but falsely interpret others’ beliefs and feelings, resulting in inaction.
Diffusion of responsibility
Situation in which the presence of others prevents any one person from taking responsibility.
Urban overload hypothesis
Those that live in the city avoid being overwhelmed by stimulation by narrowing their attention, making it more likely that they overlook legitimate situations where help is needed.
Altruistic personality
Collection of personality trains, such as empathy, that render some people more helpful than others.
Individual differences in motivation for helping
On a spectrum from completely external to completely internal
Those more oriented toward others
Those with agreeableness
Politics
Liberals are more likely to help the disadvantaged with social programs. Conservatives are less likely.
Gender
Men are more likely to help in a physical way (like fixing a car). Men are more likely to help the opposite gender. Women are more likely to help in emotional situations.
