Final Exam Flashcards
prosocial behaviour:
any behaviour with the goal of helping another person
bystander effect:
individuals are less likely to receive help in an emergency the more people there are present compared to when there is just one person bc:
diffusion of responsibility
when each individual assumes that other people present for the situation will take responsibility and help
Five steps to helping in an emergency:
- noticing that something is unusual
- correctly interpreting the situation as an emergency
- Deciding it is up to you to help (personal responsibility)
- Deciding how to help
- carrying out the help
Barriers to step 2
the more ambiguous the situation, the more likely pluralistic ignorance is to occur
(each bystander thinks that no one is reacting bc it’s not an emergency but actually everyone is hesitant)
barriers to step 3
diffusion of responsibility
leaving it to authority figures
barriers to step 1
being in a hurry, busy, texting, distracted, drunk, etc
urban overload hypothesis: (ppl in big cities get used to blocking out all kinds of stimulus)
barriers to step 4
lacking the competence to actually help or not feeling competent to help
barriers to step 5
audience inhibition: failure to help in front of others for fear of looking foolish if the person doesn’t need/want help
+ fear of a negative outcome
tips for getting help
identify one person in the crowd (eliminate diffusion of responsibility)
- label situation as emergency
- give specific instructions
Other factors influencing helping
- physical attractiveness
*similarity
gender
*feeling guilty
*being in a good mood (but alters our perception + we don’t want to ruin it)
*rural vs urban
*feeling excluded - feeling awe
helpers tend to be
+ empathetic
+ in social responsibility (feelings that everyone should do what they can to help others)
- in geocentricism (not wrapped up own lives)
+ in internal locus of control, believe we can effect change + good
models of prosocial behaviour
- empathy-altruism hypothesis
- negative state-relief hypothesis
- empathic joy hypothesis
- kin selection.
- reciprocity
(+ competitive, defensive)
aggression:
any form of behaviour intended to harm another living being who does not want to be harmed
3 main theories for aggression:
- aggression is innate
- aggression occurs in response to situational/external cues
- learned behaviour by observing others
3 explanations for relationship between media violence and aggression
social learning theory
normative
desensitization
personality factors influencing aggression
narcissism, hostile attributional bias, type A personality pattern
group?
a collection of people who perceive themselves to be bonded together or connected to one another
common-bond groups vs common-identity groups
regular ftf interactions vs linked by category not through relationship to each other
entitativity
extent to which a group is perceived as being coherent unit
characteristics of group high in entativity
high interactions, group is important, common goals, perceive themselves as similar
social facilitation
ppl perform better on a task in the presence of others than when alone
BUT: social inhibition:
people perform work on some tasks than when they are alone eg learning nonsense syllables
3 explanations for facilitation/inhibition
Drive theory (mere presence explanation)
Evaluation Apprehension Theory
Distraction conflict theory
explain drive theory
even the mere presence increases arousal, increases likelihood of dominant response (helpful if easy/practiced, unhelpful if new/difficult see pool study)
explain evaluation apprehension theory
ppl expect that if audience is present, they will evaluate us, this thought process increases our arousal
- found no diff between alone and blindfold condition, so not mere presence that explains this
Distraction conflict theory
presence of other ppl is distracting, period. we have to divide our attention = conflict = inc arousal
we can handle this for practiced tasks but not new
social loafing:
reduction in effort when people work collectively in a group compared to working alone
free rider effect
contributing less when we think someone else will make up for it
sucker effect
contributing less when we think others are not putting in their fair share
deindividuation
a reduced sense of individual identity + diminished self-regulation in a group setting
Some factors contributing to deindividuation
energizing effect of others, stimulus overload, diffusion of responsibility, anonymity
THM about
when anonymous, we become less self-aware, more open to cues in the enviro which can prompt positive or negative behaviour
group polarization
tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than those made by individuals
groupthink:
decision making style characterized by excessive tendency to seek cohesion over and above best decision
some groupthink antecedents
highly cohesive group, isolation from outside influences, strong directive leader
symptoms
illusion of invulnerability, illusion of morality, stereotyped view of enemy, self-censorship, pressure on dissenters to conform = illusion of unanimity
mind guards
person whose role it is to protect leader from criticism or doubts
protection against groupthink
outside experts, have leader remain impartial, hold second meeting, appoint devil’s advocate, encourage objections
