Prosocial Behaviour

Question 1

Prosocial behaviour definition

Answer 1

Actions that are generally valued by others in a society

Question 2

Helping behaviour definition

Answer 2

A voluntary act that is intended to benefit another (which could also benefit the helper)

Question 3

Volunteerism definition

Answer 3

Planned prosocial action in an organisational context which continues for an extended period

Question 4

Altruism definition

Answer 4

Prosocial behaviour with no expectation of benefits for the helper (opposite of selfishness)

Question 5

Why we help others - evolutionary heritage

Answer 5

• Kin selection - helping a genetic relative will increase the survival of the genetic line
• More help to relatives vs strangers
• More help to close vs distant relatives
• More help to healthy vs unhealthy offspring

Question 6

Limitations of the evolutionary approach

Answer 6

• No direct evidence
• Cannot explain help given to strangers
• Cannot account for power of the situation

Question 7

Why we help others - social norms

Answer 7

• Social evolution - historical development of human culture or civilisation
• Prosocial behaviour generally benefits society, thus prosociality becomes a part of our social norm
• Social responsibility - help those who need it
• Reciprocity - help those who help us
• Social justice - procedures/outcomes should be fair

Question 8

Limitations of social norms

Answer 8

• Norms do not always lead to behaviour
• Norms can promote conflicting behaviour
• How do we learn norms?

Question 9

Why we help others - social learning

Answer 9

• Children learn to help from various sources (parents, other care-givers, media, authority figures)
• Two general learning principles are key (reinforcement, modelling)

Question 10

Reinforcement

Answer 10

• Prosocial behaviour is typically rewarded
• Concrete rewards are very effective
• Praise is also effective, especially when framed in dispositional terms

Question 11

Modelling

Answer 11

• Observation of others’ behaviour can shape childrens’ own behaviour
• Social learning theory (Bandura)

Question 12

Piliavin’s Bystander Calculus model

Answer 12

• Physiological arousal
• Try to understand why they feel arousal and label this
• Reward-cost matrix
• Likelihood of helping is determined by assessing the costs of helping vs the costs of not helping

Question 13

Latané & Darley’s cognitive model

Answer 13

• Attend to incident
• Define the incident
• Accept responsibility
• Decide what to do
• Help is given/not given

Question 14

Bystander apathy

Answer 14

• People are less likely to help in the presence of others, compared to when they are alone

Question 15

Explanations of bystander apathy

Answer 15

• Diffusion of responsibility, less personal accountability
• Informational social influence, uncertainty caused by others’ initial inaction
• Normative social influence, avoid embarrassment of being the first one to help

Question 16

Who we help - deservingness

Answer 16

• Does this person deserve our help?
• Legitimacy of the problem
• Attribution for cause of problem

Question 17

Uncontrollable cause…

Answer 17

Perceived as deserving
Sympathy and pity
More help

Question 18

Controllable cause…

Answer 18

Perceived as undeserving
Irritation and anger
Less help

Question 19

Who we help - attractiveness

Answer 19

More help when physical appearance conforms to mainstream norms of attractiveness

Question 20

Who we help - similarity

Answer 20

• More help when person in need is more similar in appearance, ideology etc
• More help to people belonging to same demographic/social etc group to us

Question 21

If the cost of helping is low and the cost of not helping is also low…

Answer 21

Helping behaviour depends on personal norms

Question 22

If the cost of helping is high and the cost of not helping is also high…

Answer 22

Bystander may indirectly help (calling 999) or lower the cost of not helping (justify their actions)

Question 23

Mood on helping

Answer 23

• Good mood = more helping behaviour

- Bad mood = less helping behaviour

Question 24

How long does a good mood affect helping behaviour

Answer 24

• Up to 7 minutes (most people helped)
• 10 minutes (half of people helped)
• Around 20 minutes (1/10th helped)

Question 25

Affect-priming model

Answer 25

When we are in a good mood, mood-congruent information in our memory is more accessible, therefore positive thoughts and feelings, including a positive orientation to prosocial behaviour, are more likely to be activated

Question 26

Affect-as-information model

Answer 26

We use our current mood as a piece of information to help us understand how we feel about things in our environment

Question 27

Image-reparation hypothesis

Answer 27

Guilty people want to make up for what they have done

Question 28

Negative relief state model

Answer 28

Because guilt leads to a negative affective state, people help in order to feel good about themselves again

Question 29

Empathy-altruism hypothesis

Answer 29

• Batson (1994)
• Our motive for helping others is sometimes altruistic
• At other times it is egotistic
• When we see someone in distress we experience personal distress and empathy
• The more empathy we feel, the more altruistic our response will be

Question 30

Gender differences in helping behaviour

Answer 30

• Men are more likely to help women
• Women don’t differ in helping women or men
• Women more likely to help in everyday situations
• Men behave prosocially in unusual, dangerous circumstances

Question 31

Threat to self esteem model

Answer 31

Donor characteristics, recipient characteristics, aid characteristics and context characteristics interact to decide if the recipient feels self-threat or self-support