Midterm 2 Flashcards
Prosocial behaviour
positive social behaviour
Altruism
selfless helping; helping others, behaving prosocially, when there is no possible benefit to the self by doing so
Evolutionary account
the survival of our own selfish genes; altruism only puts genes at risk so there must be a genetic benefit
2 evolutionary theories
Kin Selection
Reciprocation
Kin Selection theory
we want to help our kin (genetically related to); by helping them we are helping our own genes (just in someone else’s body)
whose genes should we preserve?
relatedness/kinship, age, gender
Burnstein, Crandall & Kitayama - Scenario Study
Tests who others choose to save in everyday and life or death scenarios
IV: type of scenario; kinship, age, gender
DV: scores on a liklihood of helping index
Scenario Study - Relatedness
everyday - the more related you are, the more likely you are to help them
life/death - the same is true and the slope deepens
Scenario Study - Age
everyday - more likely to help those who are helpless
life/death - helping those who are genetically viable (youngest > oldest)
Scenario Study - Gender
everyday - usually women because they appear more helpless
life/death - same holds true
Scenario Study - During a famine (who do you feed)
preferentially help the most reproductively viable; old people are at the end and babies wont survive anyways
Scenario Study - Cross-culturally
there is no difference across cultures
Reciprocal Altruism Perspective
by helping others, they now have to help us when we need it; when the benefit of helping to the recipient outweighs the cost to the actor
Helping in Big Cities vs. Small towns
helping is more likely to occur in small towns than big cities because there is a higher chance of reciprocation (more likely to be known in a small town); the person is more likely to inform others of your help
Helping in Big Cities vs. Small towns - lost letters
higher portions of lost letters get sent back in small towns
Helping in Big Cities vs. Small towns - Surveys
more people from small towns are liklely to complete surveys
Social Exchange Theory
cost-benefit analysis - help only if it will get you more than you give; do not help if the cost is higher than the benefit
Allen (1971) - NYC Subway Experiment
a large, muscular confederate goes onto a subway platform and finds a male sitting alone on a bench and sits next to him and begins to read muscle magazine. Along comes another confederate and trips over the big guy’s feet. He reacts in 1 of 3 ways: shrugs it off (low cost), insults the guy who trips (medium cost), and threatens the guy who trips (high cost). 3rd guy goes up to muscle guy and asks if the train is going north or south and muscle guy gives wrong answer. Who will correct the guy?
NYC Subway Experiment - Results
50% help in low cost condition
25% help with medium cost
12% help with high cost
The Altruism Debate
can ‘pure’ altruism exist? can people truly be entirely selfless?
Empathy-Altruism Model (EAM)
Altruism exists; people help people because they are good people and can empathize with the sufferer
Empathy
other-oriented emotional response elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of another
Eisenburg & Miller - Empathy
in situations where empathy was a factor, there was increased helping, more thoughtful helping and help was less fickle (amount and type of help given)
Sibucky et al. - learning/shock paradigm
We help to Improve our mood
Subject is connected to learner via computer where the learner can ask for a hint and the observer can choose whether or not to give it. Subject is told either that the hints help and increase in helpfulness when they increase in number, or that giving too many hints can penalize the learner later on (helping in the short term may hurt them in the long term). Subject is also told to take notes on either how they think the learner must be feeling on how they go through the experiment (high empathy condition) or on procedures and mechanics of what is going on (low empathy condition).
IVs: Empathy, quality of help
Learning/shock paradigm - Results
quality of help does not matter for low empathy people; high empathy people help when quality is high and decrease helpfulness when it is low quality.
Batson et al.
Empathy is Generalizable
when the subject empathizes with the target person (drug addict), the subject is more likely to empathize with the group as a whole (charity)
Negative-State Relief Model (NSRM)
there is no such thing as altruism; we only help others to improve our mood when there is no other way to do so
Egoism
of having the ultimate goal of helping oneself
Regan et al - Mall experiment
We help to Improve our mood
Confederate 1 is a university aged male who approaches women who don’t seem to be in a rush. Asks if they would take a picture of him for his assignment. Subjects thinks that rigged camera is broken. Confederate says that its okay and not to worry, or (kindly) indicates that the subject broke the camera. Confederate 2 is a university aged women and crosses the path of the subject (that we just encountered) and is carrying a bag that has a hole in the bag and is spilling. Will the subject help?
IV: guilt versus control.
Mall experiment - Results
no manipulation- 20% helped
Control: 18%
guilt: 55%
induced negative state increases helping
Cialdini et al. - News segment experiment
We will only help if there is no other way to improve our mood.
participants hear a news segment about a university student who has been in an accident and has broken her legs and cannot get notes and then fill out a survey on the quality of segment. They are then asked if they would donate time to help this student with school etc. Following the survey, they are told wither that they are going to see a new news segment or a comedy program or the experiment is over but the confederate needs help because they have a bad back. Who will help Katie?
IV: news segment/comedy segment/move light box
News Segment Expt. - Results
those who are going to hear the news are going to help because this is the only way to improve their mood; those who are going to hear a comedy segment or are going to help the confederate are less likely to help Katie because they have quickly and easily boosted their mood.
Cialdini vs. Batson
Cialdini reasons that since feeling empathy is feeling someone’s sorrow, then empathy may actually involve inducing a negative state, so that we help to relieve this state; if empathy is a negative state, then it should egoistic helping
EAM vs. NSRM (hypothesis)
Need to manipulate empathy AND mood state.
if empathy increases helping equally, regardless of mood, then EAM is supported.
If empathy only increases helping when in a negative state, then NSRM is supported
Cialdini Experiment 1 - Personality questionnaire
subjects arrive and fill out personality questionnaire with another confederate (Elaine). Then they do a learning/shock paradigm. High empathy - subject takes notes on how Elaine must be feeling
Low Empathy - subject takes notes on procedure.
Eventually, experimenter decided to take a break when Elaine gets too many shocks.
Experimenter suggests new activity.
Mood Boost - subjects get praised on personality (only for high empathy)
Control - no feedback. Experimenter then says you can either leave now, or can help Elaine by taking her place as the learner for the remaining 8 trials.
Experiment 1 - Results: Mood
high empathy with no feedback is significantly sadder than high empathy with praise, which is the same as low empathy with no feedback
Experiment 1 - Results: Helping
helping behaviour is significantly higher in high empathy with no feedback than low empathy with no feedback, which is the same as high empathy with praise.
Cialdini et al. Experiment 2 - Mood-Altering Drug
subjects arrive and told to take a drug that they think is going to affect their mood and information processing then put into a neutral mood.
Then told to listen to a news segment.
High empathy - take notes on how the people feel
Low empathy - take notes of procedure.
Then they hear a new segment about a student who has broken both her legs and needs help catching up in class.
Fixed Mood: told the drug fixes their mood for a long time
Liable Mood: told nothing regarding the drug/mood.
Then asked to help the injured student.
Experiment 2 - Results
low empathy - did not help regardless of fixed vs. liable mood
high empathy - help only if they thought their mood was still liable.
Positive States consideration
we can also be in a good mood and help people, but only if we know that the helping will not worsen our mood.
Isen et al. - Field Experiment
How long does positive-state helping last?
subjects who are put into a positive state when they encounter a sales man who gives them free stationary. Later they receive a wrong number - subject asked to help and do a favour for this confederate.
Field Experiment - Results
immediately following encounter - 85% help
10-16 mins - 50%
20 mins - 10%
control - 10%
Theory of positivity
good mood leads to positive thoughts; positive thoughts lead to positive behaviours; positive behaviours lead to a good mood.
Situational Factors
Familiarity/Similarity
Having time to help
Having the energy to help
Granet - Helping in Subway vs. Airport
confederate falls on crutches in both locations.
people on the subway are more familiar and therefore comfortable in that location; only frequent flyers help because they’re familiar
Emswiller - Similarity Bias
people were more likley to loan money to those who were dressed similarily, less likely if the person is dressed oppositely (regardless of clothing type)