PSY2001 W8 Prosocial Behaviour (L) Flashcards
What is prosocial behaviour?
acts that are positively viewed by society.
Positive social consequences and contributes to the physical/psychological wellbeing of another person (Wispe, 1972)
It is voluntary and intended to benefit others (Eisenberg et al., 1996)
Being prosocial includes both being helpful and altruistic
Defined by society’s norms
What is the social perspective on why we behave prosocially?
Social norms and Socal learning
Norms: we help other because we should, societal norms play key role in developing and sustaining prosocial behaviour (learnt rather than innate)
Prosocial behaviour ( = social norms) is often rewarded, leading to social acceptance.
Violating social norms can be punished and result in social rejection.
Learning to be helpful - we learn prosocial behaviour (giving instructions/using reinforcement-Rewarding behaviour and exposure to models)
Social Learning Thoery
What are the limitation of the social perspective
why we behave proscially
Overemphasis on External Factors
Cultural Variability
What is the evolutionary and biological perspective on why we behave prosocially?
Innate tendency to help others to pass our genes to the next generation. Helping kin improves their survival rates. Prosocial behaviour as a trait that potentially has evolutionary survival value. Animals also engage in prosocial behaviour.
Mutualism and Kin selection
What are the limitations of the evolutionary and biological perspective
why we behave prosocially
Doesn’t consider cultural or social norms. Does not explain why we help non-relatives, such as friends or even strangers. Little empirical evidence exists.
Does not explain why we could help in some circumstances but not in other examples of familial violence and abuse.
Social learning theories ignored
What is the bystander effect ?
People are less likely to help in an emergency when they are with others than when they are alone.
What is the bystander calculus model ?
Pilavin et al 1981
1-Psyciological processes - empathic response to someone in distress ( + arousal + chance we help)
2- Labelling arousal (as an emotion, distress, anger etc.) personal distress at seeing someone else suffer - helping behaviour motivated by desire to reduce own negative emotional experience.
3- Evaluating the consequences of helping - cost benefit analysos
What is the Latané and Darley’s Cogntive model ?
Attend to what is happening + Define event a emergency + assume responsibility + decide what can be done = give help
What are the two models of bystander behaviour?
Bystander calculus model and Latané and Darley’s cogntiive model
What determinance helping?
Perceiver adn Recipient centred determiants
What is the cost benefit analysis ?
3- Evaluating the consequences of helping Bystander calculus model
Cost of helping: time and effort but also personal risk
Costs of not helping: empathy costs of not helping can cause distress to a bystander who empathises with the victime, personal costs of not helping a viction can cause distress (guilt/blame)
low CNH + low CH = determined by norms
Low CNH + High CH = ignore victim
High CNH + Low CH = directly help victim
High CNH + High CH = indirectly help victime or lower cost of helping
What is the recipient centred determinants of helping?
group membership, responsivility for misfortune
What is the perceiver centred determinants of helping?
personality, mood, competence
Is truly selfless altriusm possible?
true altruism shoudl be selfless but it can be difficult to prove selflessness, sometimes there are private rewards associated with acting pro socially (feeling good) - motives matter
Do the receiver of help always want help?
Wakefield, Hopkins, and Greenwood (2012)
Female students were made aware that women may be stereotyped by men as dependant, and were then placed in a situation where they needed help.
Asked to solve a set of anagrams.
Those made aware of the dependency stereotype (compared to controls who were not) were less willing to seek help; Those that did seek help felt worse the more help they sought.
Receiving help can be interpreted negatively if it confirms a negative stereotype about the recipient
What are helping behaviours?
acts that intentionally benefit someone else/group
What is altruism?
acts that benefits another person rather than the self
act is performed without expectation of one’s own gain
What are the two explanation of prosocial behaviour in animals and humans?
Stevens, Cushman and Hauser 2005
Mutualism
Kin selection
Study: Participant were more likely to help the sick than the healthy in everyday situations. But they were more likely to help the healthy in life-or-death situation. In general people were more likely to help people they were closely related to.
What is mutualism?
prosocial behaviour benefits the co-operator as well as others; a defector will do worse than a co-operator.
What is kin selection?
prosocial behaviour is biased towards blood relatives because it helps their own genes.
What are social norms?
Lay et al. 2020
Social guidelines that establish what most people do in a certain context and what is socially acceptable
What are 3 social norms that may explain why people engage in prosocial behaviour
Reciprocity principle (Gouldner, 1960)
Social responsibility (Berkowitz, 1972)
Just-world hypothesis (Lerner & Miller 1978)
What is reciprocity principle?
Gouldner, 1960
we should help people who help us
What is social responsibility ?
Berkowitz, 1972
we should help those in need independent of their ability to help us.
What si just-world hypothesis ?
Lerner & Miller 1978
world is just and fair place, if we come across anyone who is undeservedly suffering, we help them to restore our belief in a just world
How do children learn prosocial behaviour?
Childhood is a critical period during which we learn prosocial behaviour (Zahn-Waxler et al., 1992).
1- Giving instructions
2-Using reinforcement - rewarding behaviour
3- exposure to models
How does giving instructions help children learn prosocial behaviour?
Grusec et al., 1978
Simply telling children to be helpful works.
Telling children what is appropriate establishes an expectation and guide for later life. Though, if a child is told to be good but the preacher is inconsistent then it is pointless.
How does exposure to using reinforcement - rewarding behaviour children learn prosocial behaviour?
Rushton and Teachman (1978)
when young children are rewarded they are more likely to offer to help again; if children are not rewarded or punished they are less likely to offer to help again
Study:
Children 8-11 observe an adult playing a game. Adult is seen to donate tokens won in the game to a worse off child
Conditions of: (1) positive reinforcement, (2) no consequences, and (3) negative reinforcement
How does exposure to model help children learn prosocial behaviour?
Rushton 1976 and Gentile et al. (2009)
Rushton (1976) concluded from the review that modelling is more effective in shaping behaviour than reinforcement.
Gentile et al. (2009)
Children (9-14) assigned to play prosocial, neutral or violent video games. Playing video games with prosocial content increased short term helping behaviour and decreased hurtful behaviour in a puzzle game
What is the Social Learning Thoery?
Bandura 1973
When a person observes a person and then models the behaviour, is this just a matter of mechanical imitation?
Bandura’s social learning theory (1973) argues against this –it is the knowledge of what happens to the model that determines whether or not the observer will help.
What are Hornstein 1970 findings?
Experiment where people observed a model returning a lost wallet. The model appeared either pleased to be able to help, displeased at helping, or no strong reaction.
Later the participant came across a ‘lost wallet’. Those who observed the pleasant condition helped the most; those who observed the negative helped the least.
Therefore modelling is not just imitation
What were Darley & Latane 1968’s findings?
Emergency situations whilst completing a questionnaire: presence of smoke in the room or another participant suffering a medical emergency
Presence of others: (1) confederates who do not intervene, (2) other participants or (3) alone
Very few people intervened in the presence of others, especially when others did not intervene
What processes contributed to the bystander effect?
Diffusion of responsibility, audience inhibition and social influence
What is diffusion of responsibility?
bystander effect
tendency of an individual to assume that others will take responsibility
What is the audiance inhibition?
bystander effect
other onlookers may make the individual feel self-conscious about taking action; people do not want to appear foolish by overreacting
What is social influence?
Bystander effect
other people provide a model for action. If they are unworried, the situation may seem less serious
5 conditions
How was the processes underlying the bystander apthy effect tested?
Latané & Darley 1076
Five conditions:
1. Control: Alone, cannot be seen by others nor can see others
2. Diffusion of responsibility: aware of another participant but cannot see them
3. Diffusion of responsibility+ social influence: aware of another participant, can see the other participant in the monitor, cannot be seen themselves
4. Diffusion of responsibility + audience inhibition: aware of another participant but cannot see them, but can be seen themselves
5. Diffusion of responsibility + audience inhibition + social influence: aware of another participant, can see them and aware they can be seen themselves
1 most to help at first and most P helped by the end
2 less helped at first but 2nd most by the end
3/4 2nd most to help at first but flatters out to 3rd most by the end
5 least help
When is empathic concern triggered?
Bystander calculus model
Emphatic concern is triggered when we believe we are similar to the victim and can relate to them, we are more likely to help the person (Batson & Coke, 1981)
What evidence is there for the bystander calculus model ?
Shotland & Straw 1976
Experiment 1:
Participants witness a man and a woman fighting. Condition: married couple versus strangers.
Results:
Intervention rate is measured: 65% in the strangers condition vs 19% in the married couple condition.
What study contradicts the bystander effect?
Philpot et al 2020
CCTV recordings of 219 street disputes in three cities (Lancaster, Amsterdam, Cape Town).
At least one bystander intervened in 90% of cases.
Contrary to the previous research, presence of others increased likelihood of helping.
What are the positive of Philpot et al. 2020 CCTV study?
critical evaluation
large scale test bystander effect in reallife scenarios ecocogical validity.
Effect consistent across three different countries one with slightly different context.
What are the negatives of Philpot et al. 2020 CCTV study?
critical evaluation
X Only in cities and mostly western countries
X Intervention defined very broadly
X Lack of audio
perceiver centred determinants of helping
Is there such a thing as altruisitic personality?
Bierhoff, Klein & Kramp 1991
People who helped in a traffic accident vs those who did not help. Helpers and non-helpers distinguished on:
* the norm of social responsibility
* internal locus of control
* greater dispositional empathy
Evidence is correlational and it’s not clear whether personality traits cause helping behaviour
perceiver centred determinants of helping
Does your mood affect your helping behaviour?
Holloway et al 1977 and Isen 1970
Individuals who feel good are more likely to help someone in need compared to those who feel bad.
Holloway et al., 1977: receiving good news-> increased willingness to help
Isen (1970) found that teachers who were more successful on a task were more likely to contribute later to a school fundraising event. In fact, those who did well donated 7 times as much as others!
Though mood effects may be short-lived: Isen, Clark, Schwartz 1976: increased willingness to help a stranger only within the first seven minutes of positive mood induction
perceiver centred determinants of helping
Does competence affect willingness to help?
Feeling competent to deal with an emergency makes it more likely that help will be given; there is the awareness that ‘I know what I am doing’ (Korte, 1971).
Specific kinds of competence have increased helping in these contexts:
People were more willing to help others move electrically charged objects if they were told they had a high tolerance for electric shocks (Midlarsky & Midlarsky, 1976);
People were more likely to help to recapture a dangerous lab rat if they were told they were good at handling rats (Schwartz & David, 1976).
Certain skills are perceived as being relevant to some emergencies, e.g., in reacting to a stranger who is bleeding, first-aid trained individuals were more likely to intervene (Shotland & Heinold, 1985).
recipient centred determinants of prosocial behaviour
Does group membershit affect willingness to help?
Levine et al., 2005 Study 1 and 2
45 ManU fans - Participants directed to take a short walk during which they witness an emergency incident. Group membership is manipulated
- confederate wears Man U, Liverpool FC or plain sports top
Rate of helping the confederate measured: ManU fans were more likely to help other ManU fans than Liverpool FC fans or those not supporting a football team
Helping behaviour increased for in group members
Study 2: Participants were told they were taking part in a study about football fans Focusing on the positives of being a football fan
Measured helping behaviour to confederate who is wearing ManU, Liverpool FC, or plain top.
Results: Equally likely to help confederate wearing ManU or Liverpool FC top. those wearing a plain top were less likely to be helped.
recipient centred determinants of prosocial behaviour
Does responsibility for misfortune affect willingness to help?
People are generally more likely to help people who are not responsible for their misfortune (e.g., just-world hypothesis)
Turner DePalma et al., 1999: participants read booklet about a fictional disease [ either caused by a genetic anomality or an action of the individual or no information was given]
Measured participants’ belief in a just world - Offered twelve helping options with differing commitment levels
Results: Helping behaviour was significantly increased when it was believed that the person was not responsible for illness
People with high belief in a just world helped more only when the person was believed not to be responsible for their illness.
What is the just world hypothesis?
the world is a just and fair place and, if we come across anyone who is undeservedly suffering we help them to restore our belief in a just world.
What is prosocial behaviour ?
acts that are positively viewed by society, has positive social consequences to physical/psychological wellbeing, voluntary and intended to befenit others
What should be considered when understanding prosocial behaviour?
society norms
What is helping behvaiour?
acts that intentionally benefit someone else/group
What is altruism?
Acts that benefit another person rather than the self, act is performaed without expectation fo one’s own gain, selfless
Where did prosocial behaviour research begin?
Kitty Genovese Murder, 37 people openly admitted to hearing her scream and not acting
What are the two pespectives and what do they involve?
Biological and evolutionary perspectives ( mutuualism and kin selection) and Social psychological perspectives (social norms and social leanring )
What is the biological and evolutionary perspectives?
humans have an innate tnendency to help others to pass our geens to the next generation, helping kin inproves their survivial rates, prosocial behaviour is a trait that potentially has evolutionary urvival value, animals also engage in prosocial behaviour
What are the two explanation of prosocial behaviour - Stevens, Cushman, and Hauser 2005
Bio/evo
Mutualism and Kin selection
What is Mutualism
prosocial behaviour benefits the co-operator as well as others; a defector will do worse than a co-operator.
What is Kin selection
prosocial behaviour is biased towards blood relatives because it helps their own genes.
What findings did Burnstein et al fin d?
Participant were more likely to help the sick than the healthy in everyday situations (green line). But they were more likely to help the healthy in life-or-death situation (purple dash line). In general people were more likely to help people they were closely related to.
What are some limitation fo the biological and evolutionary explanation ?
Does not consider culutral or social norms, little empriical evidence ( imposivle to assess in lab), doesn’t expalin domestic violences, ingnores social learning hteories
What are the two explanation of social psychlogical accounts?
Norms and Social learning
What are norms - how do they relate to prosocial behaviour?
We help others because we ought to, societal norms play key role in dev and sustaining prosocial behavoiur, they are learnt not innate, behaving in social line is usually rewards and violating social norms can be punished (social rejection)
What are three social norms may explain why people engage in prosocial behaviour?
Reciprocity principle, social responsibility, just-world hypothesis
What is reciprocity principle?
Gouldner, 1960: we should help people who help us
What is social responsibility?
(Berkowitz, 1972): we should help those in need independent of their ability to help us.
What is Just world hypothesis?
(Lerner & Miller 1978): world is just and fair place, if we come across anyone who is undeservedly suffering, we help them to restore our belief in a just world.
Which is the critical period of learning prosocial behvaiour? - Zahn-Waxler?
Childhood
How do children leanr prosocial behaviour?
Giving instructions (telling children to be helpful works but the preacher has to consistent), using reinforcement (rewarding behavoiur) and exposure to moel (modelling is more effective than reinforcement)
What did Rushton and Teachman (1978) find?
Reinforcement, age 8-11 observed adult plauing a game, donate toens won in the grame possitive refrocement, no consequence and negrative reinforcement
What did Gentile et al 2009 find?
Exposure models - children (9-14YO) assigned to play prosocial, neutral or violent video grames, increased short term helping bhevaiour and descreased hurtful behaviour (prosocial game)
What is social learning theory
Bandura argue that knowledge of what happens to the model hthat determines wehther or not the observer will help
What did Hornstein find?
Conducted an experiment where people observed a model returning a lost wallet, model was either pleased o displeased at helping or no strong reaction, alter the patciaptn came across a lost wallet. Pleasant condition helped the most
What is the bystander effect/apthy
People are less likely to help in an emergency when they are with others than when they are alone.
What did Latané and Darley find ?
Emergency situation whilst completing a questionnaire, presence of smoke in the room or another patcipant suffering a medical emergency, presence of others (confederate / participants) and alone, very few people intervened in the presence of others especially when other did not intervene
What is the latané and darley cogntiive model ?
Attend to what is happening + define event as emergency + assume responsibility + decide what can be done = give help
What processes contribute to the bystander effect?
Diffusion of responsibility, audience inhibition and social influence
What is diffusion fo responsibility ?
tendency of an individual to assume that others will take responsibility
What is audience inhibition ?
other onlookers may make the individual feel self-conscious about taking action; people do not want to appear foolish by overreacting
What is social influence ?
other people provide a model for action. If they are unworried, the situation may seem less serious
What were the test of the processes underlying bystander apthy effect?
Five condition (alone, diffusion, diffusion and influence, diffusion and infleunce and inhibition
What Is the bystander calculus model ?
Mental caculation on should I act or not ? Based on physiological processes, labelling the arousal evaluating the consequences of helping (costs)
What is Physiological processes
an empathic response to someone in distress, te greater the arousal the grater chance we will help ( gaetner and dovidio) empathic concern is triggered when we believe we are similar to the victim and can realte to them
What is involved in labelling the arousal?
we label this arousal as an emotion (e.g. distress, anger, fear).
What are the cost benefit analysis?
costs of helping (time and effort, but also personal risk) and cost of not helping (empathy costs of not helping can cause distress to a bystander who empathises with the victim, eprsonal costs of not helping a victim can cause distress
What is Shotland and Straw’s evidence for the bystander calculus model?
Particpants witness a man and women fight, either married or strangers, interventin rate is measure, 65% in strangers conditionvs 19% in the married couple condition
Explan Philop et al 2020 contradicting findings of bystander effect?
CCTV recording of 219 street disputes in 3 cities at least one bystander intervened in 90% of cases, contrary to the previous research, presence of toher increased likelyhood of helping
What are limitation of Philpot study
only in cities, mostly western countries, intervention define very broadly, lack of audio
What are some strenghts of Philpot’s findings
Large sclae, real life scenarios ecological validity, effect consistent across three different countries, slightly different context
Perceiver centred determinants of helping pesonality - is there sucha thing as altrusitc personality ?
Evidence is correlational and it’s not clear whether personality traits cause helping behaviour
Perceiver centred determinant of helping mood
Individuals who feel good are more likely to help someone in need compared to those who feel bad. - short lived
Perceiver centred determinants of helping: competence
Feeling competent to deal with an emergency makes it more likely that help will be given; there is the awareness that ‘I know what I am doing’ (Korte, 1971).
What is important in competence as a determinant of helping?
Certain skills are perceived as being relevant to some emergencies, e.g., in reacting to a stranger who is bleeding, first-aid trained individuals were more likely to intervene (Shotland & Heinold, 1985). $
Does competence increase helping ?
People were more willing to help others move electrically charged objects if they were told they had a high tolerance for electric shocks (Midlarsky & Midlarsky, 1976); People were more likely to help to recapture a dangerous lab rat if they were told they were good at handling rats (Schwartz & David, 1976).
Does group membership determine prosocial behaviour?
Levine et al 2005 - ManU fans help confederate wearing ManU Liverppol or no sport top. ManU fans were more likely to help other ManU fans than Liverpool FC fans or those not supporting a football team. Broadening the boundaries of social categories may increase helping behaviour
Does responsibility for misfortune affect prosocial behaviour?
People are generally more likely to help people who are not responsible for their misfortune (e.g., just-world hypothesis)
What is the just world hyothesis?
the world is a just and fair place and, if we come across anyone who is undeservedly suffering we help them to restore our belief in a just world.
What were the results of turner depalma et al 1999 - responsibility for misfortune
Helping behaviour was significantly increased when it was believed that the person was not responsible for illness. People with high belief in a just world helped more only when the person was believed not to be responsible for their illness.
Wakefiled and hopkin and greenwood - stereotype nad receiving help ?
Receiving help can be interpreted negatively if it confirms a negative stereotype about the recipient
