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Social psychology > Lecture 12: Chapter 14: Helping and Cooperation > Flashcards

Lecture 12: Chapter 14: Helping and Cooperation Flashcards

1
Q

What is prosocial behavior? Give 4 examples

A

Voluntary behavior that’s beneficial to other people

  • Helping
  • Cooperating
  • Empathy/sympathy/compassion
  • Altruism
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2
Q

What is cooperation?

A

Two or more people working together toward a common goal that will benefit all involved

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3
Q

What is altruism?

A

Behavior intended to help someone else without any prospect of personal rewards for the helper

It’s the purest form of prosocial behavior

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4
Q

What is egoism?

A

Behavior motivated by the desire to obtain personal rewards

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5
Q

Name 4 ways to measure prosocial behavior

A
  1. Self-report questionnaires
  2. Experimental paradigms (roadside victim)
  3. Charitable donations
  4. Economic decision games
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6
Q

What are 4 problems with self-report questionnaires?

A
  1. Social desirable answering
  2. Ecological validity: can’t generalize to real world
  3. Specification of ingroup: most people answer with ingroup bias and have answers that put their group in a positive light
  4. Dissociation between self-report and behavioral measures
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7
Q

What is an old philosophical debate about why people help?

A

Hobbes: humans are intrinsically egoistic

Rousseau: humans are good by nature, but corrupted by civilization

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8
Q

What does biology/evolution say about if humans are just aggressive and competitive?

A

Thinking this easily about this overlooks our capacity for cooperation, empathy and prosocial behavior.
Also, killing others ain’t easy: mental suffering

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9
Q

When do people help? Give 5 important things to take into consideration

A
  1. Perception of need
  2. Deservingness
  3. Responsibility
  4. Norms that make helping inappropriate
  5. Norms that make helping appropriate
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10
Q

What is the perception of need before helping? What reduces the perception and what aids it?

A

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

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11
Q

What is the norm of social responsibility?

A

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

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12
Q

What is important for deservingness in individualist cultures?

A

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

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13
Q

What is the relation between helping and responsibility?

A

If we feel we are responsible for wellbeing of the other person, we’re more likely to help

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14
Q

What is diffusion of responsibility?

A

Process that happens when there are other people present in a situation, which diminishes each individual’s sense of responsibility

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15
Q

What is the bystander effect?

A

The presence of passive bystanders in a situation decreases the likelihood that an individual will intervene

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16
Q

What does it mean to have norms that make helping inappropriate and how are they created?

A

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

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17
Q

How are norms established that make helping appropriate?

A

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

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18
Q

What are 3 evolutionary theories that explain why prosocial acts increase fitness for survival?

A
  1. Helping kin
  2. Group selection
  3. Reciprocal helping
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19
Q

What is the kin selection theory? What is an important thing to consider with this theory? What does this theory not explain?

A

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

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20
Q

What is the idea of reciprocity?

A

Helping was beneficial for survival because people tend to return favors to those people who helped them in the past
= reciprocal altruism

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21
Q

What does group selection say about why we do prosocial behavior? How is the evidence on this theory?

A

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

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22
Q

In what 4 ways does helping depend on costs and rewards?

A
  1. Possessing necessary skills to reduce costs
  2. Costs and rewards are less relevant when emotionally aroused
  3. Rewards can also be emotional, such as feeling good
  4. Balance of costs and rewards is important
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23
Q

What is the negative state relief model?

A

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

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24
Q

What is empathy?

A

The ability and tendency to share and understand others’ internal states. It leads to prosocial behavior

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25
What's the evidence that empathy is innate?
It's observed in babies and adults and also other animals
26
How do empathy and prosocial tendencies develop during life?
They're relatively stable across one's live, but increase slightly
27
What are the 2 dimensions associated with prosocial behaviors?
1. Prosocial thoughts and feelings: responsibility, cognitive and affective empathy (other-oriented) 2. Self-perception that one is a helpful and competent individual (helpfulness)
28
Which of the big 5 personality traits is most related to prosocial behavior?
Agreeableness
29
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
30
What are the 6 steps of the theory of emergency response? Where do pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility and evaluation apprehension fit in?
1. Emergency 2. Notice smth is wrong (2b: pluralistic ignorance: nobody seems worried) 3. Interpret situation as emergency (3b: diffusion of responsibility: someone else must've called 112) 4. Degree of responsibility felt 5. Form of assistance (5b: evaluation apprehension: I might look foolish) 6. Implement action of choice
31
Which 3 things weaken the bystander effect?
1. Situation is perceived as dangerous 2. Perpetrators are still present 3. Costs of intervention are physical (vs. e.g. financial)
32
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
33
What are some examples of rewards and costs for helping?
Rewards: mood, social appraisal, reputation Costs: time, effort, mood, money, safety
34
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
35
What is the effect of a good mood on helping? Give 2 paths
1. Increased attention to social environment raises likelihood of noticing needs --> more helping 2. Desire to remain in good mood --> More helping if it maintains mood --> Less helping if it would destroy mood Summary p. 94
36
What is the effect of a bad mood on helping? Give 2 paths
1. Self-focused attention reduces likelihood of noticing needs --> less helping 2. Desire to improve mood --> more helping
37
How is egoistic helping motivated? Name 3 ways
Motivated by preserving, maintaining or enhancing own welfare 1. Reward seeking 2. Punishment avoidance 3. Reduce bad feelings (aversive arousal) --> Cost-reward analysis
38
According to the empathy altruism hypothesis, which two types of emotions are there when witnessing need for help?
1. Personal distress: feelings of anxiety/fear/alarm or egoistic helping or escape 2. Empathic concern: feelings of compassion, sympathy, connectedness and is increased by perceived self-other similarities
39
How do you increase empathic concern?
By perceiving self-other similarities
40
What is the relation between high self-efficacy and helping?
They are more helpful, because they have the confidence their actions are likely to be successful It's also related to long-term volunteering
41
Why can helping motivated with empathy have a strange effect?
People focus on a specific individual, which leads us to ignore the number of people needing help. People show less compassion when they consider multiple victims E.g. one child in need generates the same amount of empathy as 20 children in need
42
What are social dilemmas? For what research goal can they be used?
Form of interdependence in which the most rewarding action for each individual will, if chosen by all individuals, produce a negative outcome for the entire group Can be used to study cooperation in a lab setting
43
Centralized structural solutions aren't the answer for many social dilemmas. In what 3 ways can structural solutions to social dilemmas produce problems? And what is effective for accepting solutions to dilemmas?
1. Who has the authority to make that decision --> acceptance 2. Resist externally imposed solutions 3. Members' resistance produces a need for a system for compliance, with no guarantee of successful enforcement Effective = rewards and punishment imposed by a group, not an authority
44
What is the relation between the group size and successful cooperation?
Smaller groups are easier to organize, but bigger groups have more resources
45
What is trust? What is the relation with cooperation?
The expectation that others will act prosocially during a social interaction Trust increases cooperation. The stronger someone's interests are in conflict, the more important trust becomes
46
How can you increase trust when cooperation is necessary?
1. Increase communication in group (group cohesion, cooperative group norms) 2. Ensuring equal opportunities and outcomes among group members
47
What is the relation between social identity and cooperation?
If there's a strong sense of social identification in the ingroup, trust is increased and cooperation is higher Working towards ultimate group goals is good and trustworth
48
What are the 3 changes that occur when individuals identify with groups?
1. Greater good of group is top priority 2. People are likely to trust that other group members will also be helping 3. Group norms favoring cooperation become salient guides for individual action
49
What is the social value orientation?
The different ways people act in social dilemmas (e.g. competitive, prosocial)
50
What are gender differences in the social value orientation? What is the explanation of the difference in cooperation in same-sex and mixed-sex interaction?
Find more cooperation in women, because of their greater emphasis on connectedness In same-sex interactions, men are more cooperative than women In mixed-sex interactions women cooperate more then men Explanation = gender stereotypes (women are more cooperative) are activated more strongly in women in mixed sex interaction
51
What are the 2 problems in solving social dilemmas? Give examples for each
1. Motivation problems: individuals seek personal rewards, undermining group benefits 2. Coordination problems: individuals can't trust others to cooperate
52
What are 2 soltutions for motivation problems in solving social dilemmas? What is the contribution of this?
Social interdependence: - Identify with group norms Task interdependence : - Change incentives for individuals: individuals seeking personal rewards now benefit group Individuals adopt group goals as their own (summary p 95)
53
What are 2 solutions for coordination problems in solving social dilemmas? What is the contribution of this?
Social interdependence: 1. Individuals communicate and agree on appropriate actions 2. People actually follow group norms (norm of commitment) Group exercises social influence over individuals (summary p. 95)
54
What is normative behavior?
Social norms guide our behavior
55
What are the 3 types of stigmas influencing prosocial behavior?
1. Abominations of the body: obese, handicapped people, HIV/aids patients 2. Moral character stigmas: homeless people, drug addicts, criminals 3. Tribal stigmas: people from devalued cultural/social group
56
What is a stigmatized person?
A person whose social identity or membership calls into question their full humanity Person is devalued, spoiled or flawed in eyes of others
57
What is the attribution of responsibility?
Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people
58
What are the 3 main predictors of interpersonal helping? Give an example of each
1. Characteristics of helper --> E.g. similarity between helper and helped 2. Characteristics of the help --> E.g. alignment with values and goals 3. Characteristics of recipient --> E.g. self-esteem
59
Do people help members in ingroup more often than members of outgroup?
Depends on context and relative power between groups. Evidence is mixed
60
What is reverse discrimination in helping?
More help to out-group than in-group members
61
What are the 3 strategic motives for out-group helping?
1. Power and autonomy 2. Meaning and existence 3. Impression formation
62
What is the strategic motive of power and autonomy?
Exert power over another group through helping and staying autonomous by rejecting help --> it implies unequal status relation where one group is dependent on another
63
Why is receiving help not always positively experienced by the helped? (2) When is it positively experienced?
1. Can elicit feeling of owing a favor in return, which is difficult if there's nothing to give 2. Can send mixed messages (positive = caring, negative = power imbalance) Positive experience when helped has partial sense of control of own outcomes
64
What are the 2 types of helping?
Dependency-oriented help and autonomy oriented help
65
What is dependency oriented help? What type of dependency fits with this?
Provides a full solution and doesn't rely on skills of helped. It will be given again when the need arises --> Chronic dependency
66
What is autonomy oriented help? What type of dependency fits with this?
It's limited in degree and duration to the transfer of specific tools or instructions from helper to helped, who then uses this to regain self-reliance --> Transient dependency
67
What is the strategic motive for out group helping of meaning and existance?
- Help is used to restore meaningfulness and purpose of ingroup after group identity threat - Scrooge effect: mortality salience increased contributions to charity
68
What is the scrooge effect?
Mortality salience increases contributions to charity
69
What did research from Van Leeuwen show for the scrooge effect?
It investigated Dutch help after a threat. If we'd be under threat, we'd help more for example tsunami victims. This reduces threat
70
What is the strategic motive of impression formation for outgroup helping?
Use helping to create/maintain a positive impression of the group as kind/generous/capable Groups can demonstrate their qualities
71
What is volunteering? Why is it different from interpersonal helping?
Volunteering = prosocial action in an organizational context, which is planned and continues for an extended period Different because volunteering less likely results from a sense of personal obligation --> Volunteering = nonobligated help
72
What are 2 good predictors of more volunteering?
More education and more income
73
What are 5 motives of why people volunteer?
1. Family/religious organizations 2. More education/income 3. Attitudes, identity, ideals: feel good about the self 4. Social networks 5. Resume building
74
What are 3 positive outcomes of volunteering?
1. Higher self-esteem 2. Improved life satisfaction 3. Lower mortality rate
75
What is the effect of different social roles and multiple group memberships on health?
More different roles/membership is positive for this More different kind of activities in midlife lead to less Alzheimer in 70s
76
How does volunteering have such positive results?
1. Improves self-evaluations and sense of self 2. Stimulates sense of control and efficacy 3. Increases positive moods 4. Refocusing attention 5. Stimulates social integration 6. Improves health and reduces mortality
77
For which people does volunteering have the strongest health effect?
For socially isolated individuals
78
What is the difference between eudaimonic and hedonic wellbeing? To what type of wellbeing does volunteering lead?
Hedonic = immediate joy, happiness Eudaimonic = consequences of self-growth and self-actualization Volunteering leads to eudaimonic wellbeing, because we feel we matter in the world
79
What is the difference between cooperation and helping/volunteering?
In cooperation the status relations are equal
80
What is the collective action problem? Give an example of a real life problem that fits this model
It's a model that indicates what the possible outcomes are for social dilemmas If A and B both ignore --> bad outcome for all If A ignores, B cooperates --> advantage for A If A cooperates, B ignores --> advantage for B If A and B cooperate --> good outcome for all Climate mitigation problem
81
Give an example of global bystanding
Tuvalu is disappearing as a consequence of climate change and nobody helps
82
What is superficial processing for helping? Why is this type of processing very common in situations where help is needed?
When there's no possibility to think systematically, people most often act in accordance with the most accessible norm. Helping is often spontaneous, because emergencies are situations in which it's not possible to take time to think systematically and strong arousal inhibits systematic thinking
83
What is systematic processing in helping?
Sometimes help can process systematically and this may reverse the initial quick reaction. Helping through systematic processing increases commitment
84
What leads to more helping, superficial or systematic processing? Why?
Superficial, because often the most accessible norm is helping
85
What are 6 strategies to increase prosocial behavior?
1. Reducing ambiguity and making it obvious that help or cooperation is needed 2. Increasing internal attributions for helping/cooperation 3. Develop norms of helping/cooperation 4. Activate norms of helping and cooperation 5. Reduce diffusion of responsibility 6. Promote empathy through identification with those in need
86
What is the connection between perception of helped in collecitivist cultures?
People in collectivist cultures are sensitive to the norm of reciprocity, so they will avoid receiving a favor in the first place
87
How does reducing ambiguity increase prosocial behavior?
Make the need for help clear by asking for help. Asking for help increases chances of receiving aid
88
How does increasing internal attributions for helping increase prosocial behavior?
People doing good deeds for their own sake, rather than for external rewards, are likely to see themselves as genuinely altruistic people and help more. E.g. saying: he really needs help (compassion) instead of we have no choice (external factors)
89
How can you activate prosocial norms?
By communicating about it (he needs help)
90
Why does a virtual flying game activate helping norms in children?
Because it's associated with well-known superheroes
91
How can you prevent diffusion of responsibility?
By focusing responsibility on specific people, which makes normative pressure to help more insistent
92
How can you promote identification with those who need help?
Increase feeing of connectedness with the person in need. Training people to feel compassion increases helping behavior

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