prosocial behavior

Question 1

explain the bystander effect?

Answer 1

INDIVIDUALS ARE LESS LIKELY TO OFFER HELP TO SOMEONE IF THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE PRESENT.

Question 2

does the number of witnesses, influence people helping in emergency situations?

Answer 2

yes, people were less likely to do it if there were other people in the room < more likely to do it alone.

Question 3

what is diffusion of responsibility?

Answer 3

the tendency to assume others will take action / responsibility ( in emergency situations)

Question 4

identify the steps in latane and Darley’s cognitive staircase model?

Answer 4

Emergency, notice the event, interpret the event as an emergency, assume responsibility, know appropriate form of assistance and provide help

Question 5

key step of latane and Darley’s model?

Answer 5

ASSUME RESPONSBILITY

Question 6

bystander effect rises due to?

Answer 6

diffusion of responsibility

Question 7

the primary explanation for the bystander effect is?

Answer 7

diffusion of responsibility

Question 8

what is bystander calculus?

Answer 8

perception of danger, risk “because hes part of the right group, everyone wants to help”

Question 9

with regards to bystander calculus, piliavin et al 1981 argued?

Answer 9

piliavin et al 1981 > they argued that there is this calculation in someone’s mind about the costs/benefits of help

Question 10

physiological arousal?

Answer 10

empathy experienced for the person in need ( increased heart rate, sweaty palms)

Question 11

labelling arousal?

Answer 11

translating experience of arousal into a particular emotion, often distress

Question 12

action or no action depends on

Answer 12

the costs/benefits of helping someone in need relative to the costs and benefits of not helping

Question 13

greater cost of helping…

Answer 13

time, effort, safety

Question 14

costs of not helping…..

Answer 14

empathy costs (personali distress) , personal costs ( experience of blame ect)

Question 15

another explanation of the bystander effect?

Answer 15

conformity

Question 16

it takes just one person to intervene and bystanders

Answer 16

become helpers

Question 17

identify who helps? individual differences

Answer 17

Gender: men and women differ in likelihood to help in different situations < men are more likely to behave in front of an audience, women in contrast are more likely to help in long-term aid situations.
Mood states – there is a feel good factor in triggering prosocial behavior ( because – good mood = external focus, bad mood = internal focus) < listening to uplifting music associated with people who tend to be more helpful
Religiosity - religious beliefs have been associated with altruistic behavior
Similarity – people are more empathetic towards people they view as similar ( eg: people trust strangers whose faces resemble their own)

Question 18

situational differences in prosocial behaviour?

Answer 18

Group identity – people are more likely to help individuals who belong to the same group as them rather than out-group (consistent with bias for self-similarity)
Competence – people who feel competent are more likely to help (eg: certain skills are relevant to some emergencies… i know what to do, i know how to act)
Responsibility – leaders are likely to experience emergency’s differently than followers, may feel more responsible to offer help?
Culture – the inclination to help varies across culture < countries where people earn more = help less, had expected the opposite < that stressful conditions would lead to more selfishness.

Question 19

economic productivity?

Answer 19

appears to be negatively associated with benevolence and or cultural norms towards helpfulness < perhaps those who experience deprivation are better able to empathize?

Question 20

Carolyn zahn-waxler learning theory of helping?

Answer 20

Carolyn zahn waxler argues that helping is learned in childhood between the ages of 1 and 2 via the following methods
Giving instructions, using reinforcement and exposure to models
Evidence of this from education and tv and gaming

Question 21

who gets help?

Answer 21

Age – as we age we become more reluctant to seek help
Gender – women are more likely to recieve help than men ( ask for it more often?)
Attractiveness – attractive people recieve more help eg: more likely to give directions)
Personality – people high in self esteem are less likely to ask for ( and receive?) help
ASKING FOR HELP IS THE BIGGEST COMMON FACTORS: IF YOU DO ASK FOR HELP YOU TEND TO GET IT.

Question 22

how can the tendency to be cooperative evolve and be maintained?

Answer 22

We help relatives – KIN SELECTION

I help you, you help me back – RECIPROCAL ALTRUISM

Question 23

Kin selection? explain

Answer 23

Hamiltons rule
Behave altruistically towards those with whom you share genes
Kin vs non-kin, close vs distant kin
Hamiltons rule – a gene for altruism will evolve when….
RB > C
The benefit to recipient of altruistic act must be greater than the cost to the donor/actor
Basic idea of kin selection is that you should help relatives
People are more willing to help kin, especially in life and death situations ( less likely to help as the degree of kin ship decreases)
The donner party diaster -

Question 24

but we also help non-kin….why?

Answer 24

Leading explanation is reciprocal altruism
If an individual behaves altruistically but is paid back for their altruistic act at a later date, then both participants will ultimately gain a net benefit ( trivers, 1971)
Helping with the expectation of future help received
Eg: ill buy this round, yous buy the next
Ill take the kids to school, you cut my grass and so on
Central idea: the help i give today will be returned in future.

Question 25

cooperation =

Answer 25

behaviour that benefits another individual

Question 26

altruism =

Answer 26

behaviour that benefits another individual, at a cost to oneself / with no expectation of reward

Question 27

can there ever be true altruism?

Answer 27

Some scope for it – john smeaton example

Question 28

there may never be true altruism, explain?

Answer 28

Reputation : apparent altruistic behavior often enhances the helpers reputation
Reputation is important in indirect reciprocity > choosing to cooperate with someone you know to be cooperative
Costly signaling – signals an ability to ‘afford’ the altruistic act ( eg: men leaving a costly tip to waiter to impress their date, signalling mate value)
Women typically donate same amount of money irrespective of audience
Direct reward – involuntary improvement in physiological wellbeing through activation of direct reward centers of our brain
Orbitofrontal cortex – reward center

Question 29

the sad story of George price?

Answer 29

Price equatio > showed how organisms are more likely to show altruism towards each other as the become more genetically similar to each other ( kin selection)
If he was right, then altruistic (KIND) behaviour is never truly selfless: instead it is an adaption that organisms have to spread their own genes
Commited suicide : saddened by implications of his work < true altruism doesn’t exist.

Question 30

the case of kitty genevese, the parable of social psychology

Answer 30

Kitty genovese murder – a parable for social psychology
1964 she was returning home late one night from work, parked 100 feet away from her apartment and was attacked on her way in. The attack started at 3.20am and police received a call at 3.50am < 38 law abiding citizens admitted to police they heard her screams/watched the attack unfold.
She lived in middleclass, respectable area in NY
As many as 38 people took as long as half an hour to help – why did it take so long?
This case raised concern from the american publlic and sparked a great deal of research on ‘prosocial’ or HELPING behavior.

Question 31

Tragedy of the commons =

Answer 31

a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyones long term interest for this to happen

Question 32

how to tackle the tragedy of the commons?

Answer 32

we need to awknowledge our selfish behaviour and overcome it through use of insights such as reputation, signalling green behaviour, rewards…..as well as others < cooperation on this scale is probably the biggest challenge we will ever face.

Question 33

one of the greatest challenges for humanity….

Answer 33

being able to cooperate at the national and international levels, particularly sharing our worlds resources and managing them sustainably.