prosocial behaviour 10

Question 1

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 1

• acts that are positively valued by society
  -two forms of interest to psychologists, helping behaviour, voluntary acts that intentionally benefit another
  -altruism- specific form of helping behaviour- an act which benefit another with no expected personal benefits

Question 2

What is the evolutionary persepctive of why humans help others?

Answer 2

-proposes humans are biologically predisposed to help others- can have benefits for the individual organism and its broader species- there are genes for prosocial beh which are self selected.
is kin selection a thing- are we more likely to help close genetic relatives

Question 3

What is the social norms persepctive why humans help others?

Answer 3

-perhaps people organise their behaviour against normative beliefs, e.g. reciprocity principle, social responsibility norm, the just world hypothesis

problems=We verbally endorse helping but don’t always do it –
situation matters in turning a helping attitude into
behaviour (attitudes-behaviour relationship)

Question 4

What is the shopping cart theory?

Answer 4

• Easy, convenient task
• We all recognize as the
  correct thing to do: it is
  objectively right.
• Also, it is not illegal to
  abandon it.
• The Shopping Cart is what
  determines whether a
  person is a good or bad
  member of society.”

Question 5

W

Question 6

What is the Bryan and Test 1967 flat tyre experiment?

Answer 6

seeing others help someone with a broken tyre
* Seeing others helps shows us the behaviour is appropriate and increases
perceptions of self-efficacy (we can make a difference)
* Studies with children suggest modelling has a significant and lasting impact
on subsequent pro-social behaviour, when modelled by adults (Rushton and
Teachman, 1978)
* Modelling only produces helping behaviour if outcome is positive –
(Hornstein, 1970’s wallet experiment

Question 7

What is the bystander calculus model?

Answer 7

model explains why we help in some situations but not others
highlights the motivational importance of emotional response and empathy

three step process
1. physiological arousal= experience empathic response which, in the case of someone needing
help, is distressing
2. labelling the arousal=When arousal is labelled as (our own) personal distress we will attempt to
reduce this by helping
3. calculating the costs=The personal costs of helping AND not helping are evaluated.

Question 8

What are the processes underlying the bystander apathy effect?

Answer 8

• Informational influence – “this is an ambiguous situation”
• Go along with majority as we rely on behaviour of those around us
  to know what to do - Maybe it’s not an emergency?
• Normative Influence – “what will others think of me?”
• Go along with majority for fear of getting it wrong and being
  ridiculed by the group…..inhibited by the group
• Diffusion of Responsibility (recall Group processes lecture –
  social loafing)