Exam 3- Chapter 12: Helping Flashcards
5 Stage Decision Tree (Latnae and Darley- 1970)
Step 1) Notice Event: context, tunnel vision
Step 2) Interpret event as emergency
Step 3) Assume Responsibility: diffusion of responsibility, bystander effect
Step 4) Decide form of assistance
Step 5) Decide to implement decision
Pluralistic Ignorance
In ambiguous situations, people look to others for cues as to how to behave
Diffusion of Responsibility
See others as equally responsible to act
Bystander Effect
The more bystanders present at an emergency situation, the less likely anyone is to help
Latane & Rodin (1971)
Confederate takes money
Student subjects paid $10 in singles, money is pulled out of full envelope by secretary.
Secretary leaves, confederate takes money.
3 conditions:
1) 1 subject, 1 confederate
2) 2 subjects, 1 confederate
3) 3 subjects, 1 confederate
% of subjects that report confederate:
1) 76% 2) 24% 3) 0%
Showed bystander effect & diffusion of responsibility
Decision Paralysis
Too much time spent thinking about helping/how to help, so then no help is given.
Altruism
Rendering assistance to another person without concern for one’s own benefit.
“Selfishness in reverse.”
Social Exchange Theory
Theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s rewards and minimize one’s costs.
Egoism
The idea that self interest motivates all behavior, opposite of altruism.
Reciprocity Norm
An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.
Social Responsibility Norm
An expectation that people will help those needing help.
Kin Selection
The idea that evolution has selected altruism toward one’s close relatives to enhance the survival of mutually shared genes.
Empathy
The vicarious experience of another’s feelings, putting oneself in another’s shoes.
When do we help?
- 1: If we’ve been rewarded in the past for helping.
- 2: Important for young model. Role Models. If you see someone else in heroic action(celebrity etc), younger people more likely to follow role models action of help.
- 3:We have the time. Busy people = less likely to help.
- 4: Good mood: Feel good-do good phenomenon.
- 5: Feeling guilty: being more likely to help
Latane & Elman (1971) “Smoking Room” Study
Subjects in 3 different conditions given questionnaire to fill out in classroom. Experimenter feeds steam into subjects' room and times how long it will take subject to get up. 3 Conditions & Results: 1) Alone- 6 min 2) 3 subjects- 23 min 3) 1 subject, 2 confed- 32 min
Study showed Pluralistic Ignorance
Latane and Darley (1970)- Altruism/Kitty Genovese
Proposed theory of altruism & created 5-stage decision tree.
Kitty Genovese case: 38 witnesses as she was stabbed at night it NY, & no one came to assist her/call police.
Latane & Darley proposed this was due to the bystander effect, and conducted further studies to prove this.
Frustration-Aggression
For every frustration we experience, there will be an equal increase in need to aggress
Aggression
Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm.
Frustration Residue & Catharsis
Build up of frustration, that can cause one to “blow up.”
Can be released with Catharsis- Emotional release. Aggressive drive is reduced when one “releases” aggressive energy or fantasizes aggression.
Examples: hitting a punching bag, exercise
Displacement
When one cannot agrees towards the source of frustration, they aggress towards a smaller/safer source.
Examples: domestic violence, child abuse, out groups
Relative Deprivation
The perception that one is less well off than others with whom one one compares oneself.
Explains why happiness tends to be lower and crime rates higher in communities and nations with large income inequality, TV contributes to this.
Bandura (1973) “Bobo Doll” Study
Experimental group: Kids watched adult hit & insult bobo doll. Kids were left alone in the room and did the same thing they saw the adults do.
Control group: Kids did not see adult hit bobo doll, and were left alone in room. Did not harm bobo doll when alone.
Study supported the Social Learning Theory.
Modeling (Social Learning)
Proposed by Albert Bandura, theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and punished. We learn aggression by watching others.
Influences on Aggression
- Aversive experiences (pain, heat, attacks)
- Arousal (from any source, even exercise or sexual stimulation)
- Aggression cues (i.e. presence of a gun)
- Viewing violence
- Television & Videogames
- Being in a group (increased diffusion of responsibility & polarizing actions)
Excitation Transfer
If one is aroused by some other means, then he or she becomes frustrated and frustration/anger would be greater than if there was no previous frustration. Arousal may come from any stimulus. (Zilman study).
Aggressive Cue Theory
Presence of weapons brings out peoples’ violent nature.
“Guns not only permit violence, they can stimulate it as well.”
TV Studies
The more violent the content of a child’s TV viewing, the more aggressive the child.
Reasons why TV Viewing Affects Aggression
1) Arousal it produces. Arousal tends to spill over.
2) Dishinbition. Viewing violence primes aggressive behavior by activating violence-related thoughts.
3) Imitation.
Instinct Theory
All animals have the instinct to aggress (Lorenz). All animals have natural tools of aggression, unlike humans; humans have guns, knives, etc. and have never developed ritualistic signals.
Biological Theories of Aggression
- Brain and CNS: Amygdala is part of the brain responsible for processing emotions.
- Genetic: sex differences > Hormonal; kids who get testosterone injections are more aggressive.
23rd Chromosome: can be XYY by mutation “Super Male.” These men tend to have a protruding eyebrow bone, perceived as more intimidating and therefore act in this way.
Hostile vs Instrumental Aggression
Hostile: Aggression that springs from anger. Its goal is to injure. (social aggr- characterized by displays of rage, i.e. murder)
Instrumental: Aggression that aims to injure, but only as means to some other end. (silent aggr. i.e. predator stalking a prey, terrorism, wars.)
Adaptation Level
Then tendency to adapt to a given level of stimulation and thus to notice and react to changes at that level.
Doob & Wood (1971) “Word Pairs & Shocks”
Measured shocks administered by subjects before the experiment (as an example), under two conditions, insult or no insult by confederate.
Insult:
No sample shock at beginning, higher shock administered later
Watches Experimenter shock, medium shock given later
Subject directly shocks, lower shock later
(Opposite results for no-insult group)
When there’s frustration, catharsis can reduce the associated need to aggress. However, if there’s no frustration, then acts of catharsis can actually escalate aggressive behavior.
Berkowitz (1967)
- Revised FA Theory, realized the original theory overstated the FA connection. He said frustration produces ANGER, an emotional readiness to aggress.
- Revised Frustration-Aggression Theory: Unjustified Frustration -> Anger + Aggression Cues -> Aggression.
Zillman (1970s) Excitation Transfer
3 groups watched different movies to stimulate arousal:
1) “The Couch”- woman goes to therapy session and has sex with her therapist.
2) “Body & Soul”- Boxing movie, very gory
3) “Marco Polo’s Travels”- minimal arousal
Results: Subjects previously aroused by movies 1 and 2 gave a significantly greater shock. Nature of arousal does NOT change intensity.
Pornography Studies
Viewing fictional scenes of a man overpowering and arousing a woman can distort one’s perception of how women actually respond to sexual coercion and increase men’s aggression against women.
General Work on TV
- Rape myth: some women would welcome sexual assault and that “no doesn’t really mean no”
- Researchers found a correlation between the amount of sexual-TV viewing and rape myth acceptance.
- Experiment: men who saw the sexual violence were more accepting of violence against women when later surveyed.
