comportament prosocial 1 Flashcards
What is prosocial behaviour?
Actions that help others with no immediate benefit to the helper.
What is helping?
Acting on behalf of others in need or emergency.
What is altruism?
Helping someone when there is no expectation of a reward
Selfless
What is empathy?
Emotional reactions oriented towards other people - understanding emotions of others
What is compassion?
Carrying for others to ease their distress
When are people less likely to help?
The bystander effect - people are less likely to offer help when they are in a group than when they are alone
What is the decision-making perspective?
People decide whether or not to help based on a variety of perceptions and evaluations.
What are the 5 decision-making steps that people go through before they help someone in an emergency?
- Noticing or not that something unusual is happening
- Correctly interpreting an event as an emergency
- Deciding it is your responsibility to help
- Deciding you have the skills to help
- Making the final decision to help
- Research on noticing an event - stimuli overload
People more likely to help in rural setting than urban - suggests that in urban settings people might not notice because of the stimuli overload
When a man fell 50% helped in small towns. 15% helped in large cities
What is the urban overload hypothesis?
People in cities r constantly bombarded with stimulation
They keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed
- Research on noticing an event - time
Seminary students told to rush or take their time across campus
63% of those NOT in a hurry vs 10% of those in a hurry helped a groaning stranger they passed
Time pressure particularly affected those who believe their research participation was of vital importance
- What is the research on interpreting an event as emergency?
Pluralistic ignorance - bystander assumption that nothin is wrong because no one else looks concerned
Ppts put in a room alone or with 2 confederates
Room filled with smoke
Confederates kept working
75% of alone ppts vs 38% with confederates reported smoke
- What is the research on taking responsibility?
Ppl may look to people in authority positions or helping professions
Diffusion of responsibility - bystanders to an emergency share responsibility
The more bystanders, the less any one of them feels responsible to act.
Being given responsibility increases helping
More bystanders = less helping
- What is the research on knowledge of how to help?
More likely to help if u know how
Perceiving oneself as competent to help increases the likelihood of taking responsibility
- What is the research on making the decision to act?
Evaluation apprehension - ppl afraid of embarrassing themselves or doing something wrong
Audience inhibition - failure to help in front of others for fear of feeling like a fool
Weighting the costs and benefits - placing yourself in danger
- sometimes act impulsively based on things like emotions and values
When does helping increase?
When victim is:
- liked
- similar
- not responsible for their pain
When helper is:
- not in a hurry
- in a good mood
What is the bystander effect?
People are less likely to offer help when they are in a group than when they are alone
Meta analysis show that if 1 person helps, others will help more - argument against diffusion or responsibility
What is the effect of mood on helping?
More willing to help when in a good mood
84% helped after finding money
4% helped with no money
What reduces helping?
Social exclusion
Darkness
Putting monetary value on time
How does social exclusion reduce helping?
Feeling excluded or rejected reduces prosocial behaviour
Ppts were made to feel rejected - they were told in the future they will experience rejection
Those made smaller donations
Ppts who were told they will face misfortune gave as much as accepted condition
Excluded ppts report less empathy
How does darkness influence helping?
Participants in dark vs bright room and wearing sun glasses vs not were more likely to act in a selfish manner
How does putting economic value on time affect helping?
Billing for their time makes people less likely to volunteer
Why do people help in terms of evolutionary psychology?
Darwin’s theory of evolution
- natural selection favours genes that promote the survival of the individual
- genes that increase survival and probability of producing offspring are likely to be passed on
What is a problem with the evolutionary theory?
It can’t explain altruism if it assumes competition and survival of the fittest.
If people’s goal is to ensure their own survival, why would they help others at a cost to themselves
What is kin selection?
Behaviours that help a genetic relative are favoured by natural selection - increase likelihood of passing on our genes
More likely to help those with the closest genetic relationships and those likely to survive and reproduce - young
What is evidence to support kin selection?
People more likely to help relatives in death-life situations, like a house fire.
Animals help those genetically related
People reported they were more likely to help genetic relatives than non-relatives
What is reciprocal altruism?
Because helping is usually reciprocated people provide help to obtain help in the future.
What is the genetic determinism model?
Person observed emergency
Unconscious desire to help occurs if the person perceives the victim to be genetically similar to them
Person provides help in order to maximise the changes of survival of genes that are like those of the observer
What is competitive altruism?
People help others more when their actions are witnessed by someone and a possibility of building a reputation exists
This will bring benefits - more likely to be chosen for leadership
What is indirect reciprocity - the role of reputation?
Less littering and more donating when picture of eyes was on a poster.
What is the norm of reciprocity?
The expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future.
What is the social exchange - the costs and rewards of helping?
What we do stems from desire to maximise rewards and minimise costs
How can helping be rewarding?
The norm of reciprocity - increases likelihood of future help
Relief of bystander distress
Gain reward- social approval and increased feelings of self-worth
How can helping be costly?
Physical danger
Pain
Embarrassment
Time
What does social exchange theory argue?
True altruism doesn’t exist.
People help when the benefits outweigh the costs
