Lecture 12: Chapter 14: Helping and Cooperation Flashcards
What is prosocial behavior? Give 4 examples
Voluntary behavior that’s beneficial to other people
- Helping
- Cooperating
- Empathy/sympathy/compassion
- Altruism
What is cooperation?
Two or more people working together toward a common goal that will benefit all involved
What is altruism?
Behavior intended to help someone else without any prospect of personal rewards for the helper
It’s the purest form of prosocial behavior
What is egoism?
Behavior motivated by the desire to obtain personal rewards
Name 4 ways to measure prosocial behavior
- Self-report questionnaires
- Experimental paradigms (roadside victim)
- Charitable donations
- Economic decision games
What are 4 problems with self-report questionnaires?
- Social desirable answering
- Ecological validity: can’t generalize to real world
- Specification of ingroup: most people answer with ingroup bias and have answers that put their group in a positive light
- Dissociation between self-report and behavioral measures
What is an old philosophical debate about why people help?
Hobbes: humans are intrinsically egoistic
Rousseau: humans are good by nature, but corrupted by civilization
What does biology/evolution say about if humans are just aggressive and competitive?
Thinking this easily about this overlooks our capacity for cooperation, empathy and prosocial behavior.
Also, killing others ain’t easy: mental suffering
When do people help? Give 5 important things to take into consideration
- Perception of need
- Deservingness
- Responsibility
- Norms that make helping inappropriate
- Norms that make helping appropriate
What is the perception of need before helping? What reduces the perception and what aids it?
Judging if someone needs help
If many distractions, people are less likely to notice that someone is in need
If people are in a good mood, they’re more likely to pay attention to others and are more likely to help
What is the norm of social responsibility?
Norm that those able to take care of themselves have a duty and obligation to assist those who can’t
It dictates who does and doesn’t deserve help
What is important for deservingness in individualist cultures?
Deservingness depends on the attributions we make about controllability.
–> E.g. if we think people are in need through their own fault, we aren’t very motivated to help
What is the relation between helping and responsibility?
If we feel we are responsible for wellbeing of the other person, we’re more likely to help
What is diffusion of responsibility?
Process that happens when there are other people present in a situation, which diminishes each individual’s sense of responsibility
What is the bystander effect?
The presence of passive bystanders in a situation decreases the likelihood that an individual will intervene
What does it mean to have norms that make helping inappropriate and how are they created?
When there are many people present in an emergency and none of them is doing anything to help, a norm of not helping is established and other people are also likely to abide by this norm
How are norms established that make helping appropriate?
Once people start reacting to an emergency situation, a norm of helping is established and other people are also likely to try to help
Parents and teachers can provide examples for how to behave and establish prosocial norms
What are 3 evolutionary theories that explain why prosocial acts increase fitness for survival?
- Helping kin
- Group selection
- Reciprocal helping
What is the kin selection theory? What is an important thing to consider with this theory? What does this theory not explain?
People have evolved helping behavior because helping those in your family group increases the chances that your genes will be passed on
Consider: the theory says inclusive fitness is more important than personal fitness
Doesn’t explain why we help non-kin/friends as well
What is the idea of reciprocity?
Helping was beneficial for survival because people tend to return favors to those people who helped them in the past
= reciprocal altruism
What does group selection say about why we do prosocial behavior? How is the evidence on this theory?
A group with altruists have an advantage over a group with selfish individuals
–> Has reproductive advantage
Theory is controversial and evidence is mixed. At population level, this would result in more altruists relative to selfish people, and we know that’s not the case now
In what 4 ways does helping depend on costs and rewards?
- Possessing necessary skills to reduce costs
- Costs and rewards are less relevant when emotionally aroused
- Rewards can also be emotional, such as feeling good
- Balance of costs and rewards is important
What is the negative state relief model?
It argues that people are likely to help in a situation in order to reduce their own negative feelings caused by it. People hate to watch others suffer, so their ultimate goal is not to help them, but to reduce own distress
When people can easily escape the situation, they’re not likely to help
What is empathy?
The ability and tendency to share and understand others’ internal states. It leads to prosocial behavior
What’s the evidence that empathy is innate?
It’s observed in babies and adults and also other animals
How do empathy and prosocial tendencies develop during life?
They’re relatively stable across one’s live, but increase slightly
What are the 2 dimensions associated with prosocial behaviors?
- Prosocial thoughts and feelings: responsibility, cognitive and affective empathy (other-oriented)
- Self-perception that one is a helpful and competent individual (helpfulness)
Which of the big 5 personality traits is most related to prosocial behavior?
Agreeableness
What is the empathy altruism model?
People help out of genuine concern for the wellbeing of others, which is driven by their feelings of empathy
What are the 6 steps of the theory of emergency response? Where do pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility and evaluation apprehension fit in?
- Emergency
- Notice smth is wrong
(2b: pluralistic ignorance: nobody seems worried) - Interpret situation as emergency
(3b: diffusion of responsibility: someone else must’ve called 112) - Degree of responsibility felt
- Form of assistance
(5b: evaluation apprehension: I might look foolish) - Implement action of choice
Which 3 things weaken the bystander effect?
- Situation is perceived as dangerous
- Perpetrators are still present
- Costs of intervention are physical (vs. e.g. financial)
What is the arousal: cost-reward model?
Decision to help based on cost-reward weigh-off
If perception of consequences of helping outweigh the rewards, giving help is unlikely
–> exception: high emotional arousal
What are some examples of rewards and costs for helping?
Rewards: mood, social appraisal, reputation
Costs: time, effort, mood, money, safety
How was the empathy altruism model tested?
Participants level of empathy was manipulated to be either low or high and they were told they could leave the situation easily or not.
The participants were asked to help another person by receiving harmless electric shocks instead of them
Persons in high empathy condition were very likely to help both when escape was easy and when it was difficult
Those in low empathy condition were only likely to help when they couldn’t escape the situation
What is the effect of a good mood on helping? Give 2 paths
- Increased attention to social environment raises likelihood of noticing needs –> more helping
- Desire to remain in good mood
–> More helping if it maintains mood
–> Less helping if it would destroy mood
Summary p. 94
What is the effect of a bad mood on helping? Give 2 paths
- Self-focused attention reduces likelihood of noticing needs –> less helping
- Desire to improve mood –> more helping
