helping behavior

Question 1

what is pro social behavior?

Answer 1

behavior that helps others & is viewed positively by society

Question 2

the bystander effect

Answer 2

• the presence of other people inhibits helping
• the greater the number of people, the less likely you are to help
• caused by diffusion of responsibility, rational or irrational fears

Question 3

what are the 5 steps to helping? (latane & darley)

Answer 3

1. noticing - prevented by distractions or self concerns
2. interpreting event as emergency - prevented by ambiguity, pluralistic ignorance & relationship between victim & attacker
3. taking responsibility - prevented by diffusion of responsibility
4. deciding how to help - prevented by lack of competence
5. providing help - prevented by audience inhibition & costs exceeding rewards

Question 4

what is diffusion of responsibility

Answer 4

• the belief that others will or should take the responsibility for providing assistance to a person in need
• individuals are less likely to help/intervene
• also causes diffusion of blame for not taking action
• does not occur if individual believes they are the only one aware of victims needs

Question 5

what factors affect helping behavior? (9)

Answer 5

1. kin selection: we tend to help genetic relatives
2. reciprocal altruism: helping someone so they will help you
3. mood: good = less preoccupied with themselves = more likely to help
4. time pressure
5. costs/benefits: less likely to help if costs outweigh benefits
6. culture: collectivist = more likely
7. social influence: help bcuz you believe u will be shamed for not
8. characteristics of victims: attractiveness, relationship, identification
9. competence

Question 6

what is the just-world hypothesis?

Answer 6

when evaluating a situation, we take into account who caused it

less likely to help if we believe the victim deserves it or put themselves in that situation

Question 7

Darley & Latane 1968 (seizure)

Answer 7

• p’s overheard a seizure over an intercom
• 3 conditions: p’s believed they were alone, in a group of 3 or group of 6
• the bigger the group of believed bystanders, the less likely they were to report seizure
• p’s could have been worried about embarrassment of overreacting/ruining experiment

Question 8

Liebst et al 2018 (CCTV)

Answer 8

• reviewed surveillance footage of 81 police-reported public violent assaults
• at least 1 bystander intervened in majority of videos
• found that the number of bystanders in negatively associated with likelihood of intervention
• found that having a social relationship tie to a conflict party increased intervention
• social relation predictor is more strongly associated with intervention that number of bystanders

Question 9

what is altruism

Answer 9

a form of helping behavior that shows concern for fellow humans and is performed without expectation of personal gain

Question 10

bystander-calculus model

Answer 10

in attending to an emergency, we calculate the perceived costs & benefits of providing vs not providing help

1. physiological arousal - greater the arousal, greater likelihood of helping
2. labeling arousal as an emotion
3. evaluating consequences

Question 11

what is pluralistic ignorance

Answer 11

when ppl in a group mistakenly think that their own thoughts, feelings or behaviors are different from others in the group - rely on others to identify a norm