Prosocial Behaviour Flashcards
Prosocial Behaviour
Any act performed with the goal of benefitting another person.
Altruistic Behaviour
Prosocial behaviour that does not benefit the helper in any way.
Why do people help?
Self-interested factors are
- Evolutionary factors, and
- Social exchange.
Altruistic factors are
1. Empathy and altruism,
2. Individual differences, and
3 Situational factors.
Kinship Selection
The idea that behaviours that help a genetic relative are favoured by natural selection, as helping our kins increases the likelihood of passing on our genes. There are no gender differences and is more likely to occur in life/death scenarios.
Reciprocity Norm
(Dictator Game)
We are genetically predisposed to learn reciprocity norms, which is the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future. We often help others to the same degree that they help us.
Learning Social Norms
The group value of being prosocial will increase our helping behaviour.
Social Exchange Theory
We engage in the activity by maximising our rewards and minimising costs. The former may include 1. Escaping from negative emotions, 2. Social approval, 3. Cash and medals, and 4. Increased likelihood that someone will help us in return. The latter may include 1. Injury and money, 2. Time and embarrassment.
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
(Toi & Batson’s 1982 note-sharing study)
We are likely to be altruistic when we feel empathy for the person in need of help, regardless of what we have to gain. If we do not feel empathy, we will help only according to social exchange.
Individual Differences in Helping
Personality effects are not very strong.
Men and women are equally likely to help overall, but women tend to volunteer while men tend to risk their lives.
We tend to help in-group members more due to increased empathy and in-group favouritism. We only help out-group members according to social exchange.
Situational Factors in Helping
(Isen & Levin’s 1972 study)
We help more when…
1. We are in a good mood as our self-awareness is increased and we are motivated to maintain the good mood,
2. We are feeling guilty to relieve negative emotion, and
3. Bystander Effect does not happen.
Bystander Effect
(Latane & Darley’s 1970 seizure study)
The greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help.
Power of the Situation - 5 Steps
5 steps for a bystander to intervene and help in an emergency:
- Notice the event
- Interpret the event as an emergency
- Assume responsibility
- Know appropriate form of assistance
- Implement decision
Challenges to Noticing The Event
- Urban Overload Hypothesis, and
(Darley & Batson’s 1973 good samaritan study) - High mobility and pressure
may cause us to overlook and not notice the event.
Challenges to Interpreting as Emergency
(Latane & Darley’s 1970 smoke experiment)
Pluralistic Ignorance may cause inhibition from interpreting event as an emergency, the case in which people think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way when in fact they are not. This is due to informational social influence.
Challenges to Assuming Responsibility
(Latane & Darley’s 1968 seizure study)
Bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases as we expect others to assist. This may be due to social loafing and social exchange.
