Prosocial behaviour Flashcards
Prosocial behaviour
acts that are positively valued by society (contrast: antisocial behaviour)
> has positive social consequences and contributes to physical or psychological well-being of another person
> voluntary, intended to benefit others
> being helpful and altruistic, defined by society’s norm
Helping behaviour
acts that intentionally benefit someone else
> a kind of prosocial behaviour
> may be driven by product promotion eg. in pursuit of long term increase in profit
> can even be antisocial, eg. overhelping > giving help is designed to make others look inferior
Altruism
A special form of helping behaviour, sometimes costly, that shows concern for fellow human beings, and is performed without expectation of
personal gain
> true altruism: selfless, but hard to prove (stem from long term ulterior motive?)
The Kitty Genovese case
a man stabbed and raped a lady > the people in the neighbourhood heard > did not help except one yelled (only yelled)
Diffusion of responsibility
Feeling of responsibility diminishes as the number of bystanders increases
The epileptic seizure study
Proportion of help decreases and time delay to help increases with increasing number of bystanders
bystander effect
people are less likely to help in an emergency when they are with others than when alone
the greater the number, the less likely it is that anyone will help
Pluralistic ignorance
People who are unsure how to act in a situation will use others’ behaviors to guide their actions
Based on Festinger’s social comparison theory, we use other people as guides when we are unsure of the appropriate behavior
smoke-filled room
Bystander-Calculus Model
in attending to an emergency, the bystander calculates the perceived costs and benefits of providing help compared with those associated with not helping
Physiological Arousal
Aroused by suffering and distress of others
Influenced by clarity and emergency (interpretation) of the situation
Intensity
Among those who witness an emergency; Individuals with higher arousal (e.g., faster heart rate) are more likely to help than those with lower arousal (e.g., slower heart rate)
bystander intervention
when an individual breaks out of the role of a bystander and helps another person in an emergency
Empathy costs of not helping
The cost of not helping when feeling empathic concern of the victim
empathy: ability to feel another person’s experience; identifying and experiencing another person’s emotions, thoughts and attitudes
> related to perspective taking empathy:affect / feeling-based
perspective thinking: cognition-based
Piliavin’s view that failing to help can cause distress to a bystander who empathises with a victim’s plight
the more similar the victim is to the bystander > the more likely to help > greater empathy costs of not helping
Personal costs of not helping
Norm of reciprocity
An expectation that people will help those who have helped them
Norm of social responsibility
An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them
Piliavin’s view that not helping a victim in distress can be costly to the bystander
eg. public censure or self-blame
the greater need for help > the bigger personal costs of not helping
Empathy-altruism model
Witnessing others in distress stimulates two reactions:
1. Distress
Is unpleasant and we are motivated to reduce OUR OWN distress
Egoistic motivation: focus on ourselves
- Empathy
Directs attention towards others’ distress and we are motivated to reduce others’s distress
Altruistic motivation: for others
*suggested that altruism is a misnomer because it is motivated by self-interest or egoism
*Patricia Oswald (1996), empathy requires perspective taking
> empathic concern: an element in Batson’s theory of helping behaviour. In contrast to personal distress (which may lead us to flee from the situation), it
includes feelings of warmth, being soft-hearted and having compassion for a person in need
Either distress or empathy can motivate helping behavior
Empathic joy hypothesis
We enjoy others’ relief at being helped
Empathy – feeling the relief that others feel
We help because we want to feel that others are happy, not just to improve our own mood
If we cannot witness the “happy ending”, we may not help
with feedback > more willing to help
reason: empathy (can feel what you feel)
get the joy of your happiness from the feedback
no feedback: denying you from getting the happiness
self-verification: to be a good person
The ultimatum game
Two persons, A & B, share a fixed amount of resource, e.g., $20
Person A makes an allocation, e.g., A gets $15, and B gets: $5
Person B either accepts or rejects the allocation
If B accepts, A and B get what A proposes
If B vetoes, A and B get nothing
most people: $10 and $10
> contradict with the economic theory
> A: did not maximise the gain
> B: (if he vetoes) > rather have nothing than $1
veto: maybe because of dignity problem arises from unfairness
use this game to understand people’s fairness
A: upper hand reality eg: divorce 分家產 reality eg 2: employer vs employee Cathay Pacific did not raise enough money > employees go on strike
Social norms
- Equality norm
- Equity norm
- Needs norm
