prosocial behaviour

Question 1

what is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 1

valued behaviours that have a positive effect on others

Question 2

what is helping behaviour?

Answer 2

intentional act to benefit another

Question 3

what is altruism?

Answer 3

benefits others rather than self

Question 4

what is the bystander effect?

Answer 4

people are less likely to intervene in an emergency when more people are around

Question 5

what is bystander intervention?

Answer 5

a person who helps in an emergency

Question 6

what are the four aspects of Latane and Darley’s Cognitive Model (1970) for giving help?

Answer 6

1. attend to what is happening
2. define event as an emergency
3. assume responsibility
4. decide what can be done

Question 7

what were the findings for Latane and Darley’s smoke filled room experiment?

Answer 7

1. alone (75%)
2. two strangers (38%)
3. two confederates (10%)
   risk of danger to self

Question 8

what were the findings for Latane and Rodin’s filing cabinet experiment?

Answer 8

1. alone (70%)
2. pairs (40%)
3. confederate (7%)
4. friends (70%)
   risk of danger to others

Question 9

what were the findings for Darley and Latane’s fit in a cubicle experiment?

Answer 9

1. two people, during fit (85%), within 6 mins (100%)
2. four people, during fit (62%), within 6 mins (81%)
3. six people, during fit (31%), within 6 mins (62%)
   works when not physically present

Question 10

what contributes to bystander apathy?

Answer 10

diffusion of responsibility- offloading responsibility, only needs, one other person, similar to ‘social loafing’.

audience inhibition- ‘fear f social blunders’.

social influence- passivity vs action role models.

Question 11

what is kin selection?

Answer 11

‘selfish gene’ hypothesis

Question 12

what is reciprocal altruism?

Answer 12

giving to receive

Question 13

what did Burnstein, Crandall and Kitayama (1994) find in terms of helping?

Answer 13

every day situation- sick, very old, very young

life and death situation- healthy, young people, kin

Question 14

what are the two explanations for altruism?

Answer 14

1. evolutionary explanations

2. social learning theory

Question 15

what is the bystander calculus model?

Answer 15

physiological arousal followed by empathy as a reaction to a disturbing event

Question 16

what are the three stages of calculation in the bystander calculus model?

Answer 16

1. physiological arousal: heart rate, adrenaline, severity increases arousal
2. labeling the arousal: fear, anger, anxiety, personal distress (act to reduce distress), empathetic concern (act because of feeling compassion, altruism)
3. evaluating the consequences: calculate personal costs (time, effort, risk)

Question 17

what are the costs of not helping?

Answer 17

empathy costs- guilt, anxiety
closeness
severity of emergency
similarity to victim (greater physiological arousal)
personal costs- blame, public outcry
greater the need (vulnerability)

Question 18

what are helping behaviours influenced by?

Answer 18

high self- monitors
men (dangerous situations)
Carnegie medal for heroism 90% male
women (volunteering in safe  situations)
situation dependent
personality traits
emotionality
empathy
self- efficacy

Question 19

critique of prosocial behaviour theory

Answer 19

(Kitty Genovese)
public vs private/ domestic violence intervention
culture and historical context important

(evolutionary explanations)
individualistic
cause and effect

(social learning theory)
based on experiments
smoke without fire