Helping Behaviour Flashcards
Bystander effect
more people present, less likely individuals are to help. If they do help, it’ll take them longer to do so
Bystander effect: when we can see other’s responses (ex. Smoky Room study)
People conform to what they wrongly believe is others’ unconcerned reaction (pluralistic ignorance: people are all following a norm that nobody really believes in) - people tend to have blank faces in an emergency situation because they don’t know what to do, so when others look around to try and figure out what to do, they misinterpret blank faces as indication that it’s not an emergency
Bystander effect: when we can’t see other’s responses (ex. Kitty Genovese murder)
Everyone assumes someone else will take care of it (diffusion of responsibility)
Bystander intervention decision tree
- 5 steps you have to go through in order to help:
- Notice
- Interpret as emergency
- Assume responsibility
- Know what to do
- Decide to help
Decision tree: noticing need for help
- If you’re rushed, you’re less likely to notice and less likely to help
- ex. Good Samaritan study: students (half of whom asked to discuss parable of good Samaritan) need to walk to a building, experimenters manipulated how rushed they’d be, wanted to see if they’d notice/help someone slumped over in a doorway on their way
- No rush: 60% helped; very rushed: 10% helped
Decision tree: interpreting as emergency
- More bystanders = pluralistic ignorance
- Ambiguity of situation (ex. Guy with a dog)
Decision tree: assume responsibility
- More bystanders = diffusion of responsibility
- Ex. Drunk pedestrian on Sea to Sky
Decision tree: know what to do
expertise
decision tree: decide to help
weigh costs (ex. fear of embarrassment)
Individual differences in helping: gender
- Men more likely to help in a single act of heroism in emergencies
- Women are more likely to help in long-term nurturing situations (ie. Spending one hour a week helping Big Sisters)
- Women receive more help (especially when dressed femininely)
Individual differences in helping: relationships
- In exchange relationships (strangers, acquaintances), cost of helping & likelihood of payback are very important
- In communal relationships (close others), costs & payback are unimportant, but need is critical
how to increase helping
- positive models
- education
positive models
Helpful models increase chances of helping if a similar opportunity presents itself
education
- Beauman et al. Study:
- Randomly assigned to lecture topic (either bystander intervention or unrelated topic)
- Two weeks later in a “separate study”, they’re with a confederate in a different building and see student lying on the floor
- People who heard bystander lecture are more likely to help
Latane and Darley emergency situation study: what did they do?
Undergraduates put in smoke-filling room either alone, with 2 nonreacting others, or in groups of 3
