Prosocial Behaviour Flashcards
what is prosocial behaviour?
acts with positive social consequences that benefit the wellbeing of others
what is helping behaviour?
a category of prosocial behaviour
what is altruism?
a specific form of helping behaviour that benefits another person without the expectation of personal gain
what does evolution see prosocial behaviour as?
an innate adaptive trait because it has links to cooperation and communication in humans and animals
evolutionary explanations
- mutualism-reciprocity
- kin-selection
mutualism-reciprocity
cooperative behaviour increases survival probability more than non-cooperation
kin-selection
biased to help those who we share our genes with, which can be extended to ‘inclusive fitness’
individual explanations
- arousal
- empathy
arousal
there is a biological negative arousal response to witnessing suffering which can predispose action
these negative feelings can be avoided by looking away
empathy
prosocial behaviour can be impacted if we engage in or avoid empathy
who designed the bystander-calculus model?
pillavin et al (1981) in order to weigh up the consequences of helping which results in a cost-benefit calculated decision
three-stage process of the bystander-calculus model
- physiological arousal
- label arousal (either as empathy or other emotion)
- evaluate the consequences
empathy costs
failing to help causes distress
personal costs
failing to help causes the feeling of blame
what does the bystander-calculus model aim to do?
resolve distress at the lowest possible cost, showing it is motivated by egosim
why do people help friends more than strangers?
association increases empathy costs
who proposed the empathy-altruism model?
baston et al (1991) hypothesised people will help regardless of benefit, as long as they feel empathy towards another person
what is there evidence of in the empathy-altruism model?
altruistic motivation, as prosocial behaviour was exclusively to reduce distress of the person in need
what do these models show?
egoism and altruism as two different mechanisms that form pluralistic explanations of prosocial behaviour
is there a prosocial personality?
no one set of characteristics, but there are differences between helpers and non helpers
differences between helpers and non-helpers:
- emphasis on social responsibility and high internal locus of control
- greater dispositional empathy and extensivity
mood
people in good moods have increased likelihood of helping behaviour except for guilt
why is guilt the exception for bad moods?
explained by negative relief state model, where doing good relieves the negative affect felt by guilt
what happens if all bystanders experience different emotional states?
this is not likely to decrease the bystander effecr
competence
people with helping skills/competence are more likely to help, and even the perception increases this likelihood
social explanations of prosocial behaviour:
- reciprocity principle
- social responsibility norm
reciprocity principle
we should help those who help us, either in the past or future
social responsibility norm
we have a duty to help those in need without the expectation of future help
what is the social responsibility norm selective on?
the just world hypothesis- whether people are deemed responsible for their own situation
social learning theory
observation only influences prosocial behaviour if there is a positive outcome
- increases prosocial thought and immediate action
what was the bystander effect prompted by?
the murder of kitty genovese in 1961 with 37 unresponsive witnesses
when does the bystander effect occur?
when a bystander is less likely to help in an emergency when in the presence of other people rather than alone
what cognitive decision model did latane and darley develop?
- notice the event
- interpret it as an emergency
- assume responsibility
- evaluate potential decisions
- implement decisions
emergency situations/the bystander effect interrupt elements of this process
what did their studies show?
- the seizure experiment
- lady in distress
- smoke filled room
all provided evidence of the bystander effect, with the exception of when around friends
what have real life emergencies suggested about the bystander effect?
bystander apathy is mitigated by real life context, and bystanders are less passive than assumed
why do people not help?
- audience inhibition
- fear of social blunders
- diffusion of responsibility
social influences of the bystander effect?
- social norms
- strongest effect during a mixed anonymous group of strangers
- decreased effect when people were friends, shared some social identity, or were likely to meet again
why is altruism an area of research?
it contradicts evolutionary theories of prosocial behaviour
examples of altruism
- volunteering
- risk of loss of own life
- martyrdom
why is volunteering not altruistic?
selfish oriented motives of egoism, altruism, collectivism, and principlism
contextual factors- climate and economics- can affect altruism-egosim
why are big self-sacrifices not altruistic?
even costly altruism is not even to explain behaviour
interaction with empathy, social norms, attitudes, and personality
why is martyrdom not altruistic?
motivated by politics, religion, and ideology
real world examples of altruism
medical donation suggests people are motivated by benevolence and egoism
- also motivated by helping others and personal benefits
benevolence
awareness of mutual beneficial aspects for recipient and donor
issues with research into egoism
can be tautological and non-falsifiable
how do prosocial researchers encourage pluralism?
by studying altruism in a pragmatic way, through cost-benefit analysis
this means altruism and egoism will always interact
