SPRING pro social behaviour Flashcards
what is prosocial behaviour
any act performed with the intention of benefitting another person
not motivated by professional obligations
why do people help others
humans thought to be altruistic
motivated by empathy
but could be egoistic - reward
evolutionary perspective of prosocial beh
kin selection - preferentially help in over out group members
behaviours which help genetic relatives are favoured in natural selection - but not if costly
norm of reciprocity
expect that helping others increases the likelihood of others helping us
ie marketing
rewards for helping behaviours
relatively egoistic - improve by reporing or maintaining own welfare through improvement of others
relief from distress
maintain positive and attenuate negative emotions
social approval and improved self worth
relief from distress reward
when observe an emergency, leads to hightened arousal and distress ie anxiety or unease
helping eliminates these feelings
maintain pos and attenuate neg emotions reward
good mood more likely to help to make feel even better, and likely to be more receptive to the environment
feel guilty then more likely to help to eliminate those feeings
islan and levin 1972 good mood and helping
84% found coin left in mall phone slots helped man pick up papers
social approval and improved self worth reward
norm to behave prosocially
pressured if not comply
make look better to society
costs of helping
physical danger pain embarassment time - tend to only help if rewards outweigh costs
describe batson 1991 empathy altruism theory
perception of others needs and relation tot eh person evokes sympathy wihihc amplifies altruism
1- observe someone who needs help
2 - assess if feel empathy
3- yes: help regardless of self interest, rewards or cost
no: help only if in own sef interest or rewards outweigh costs
describe toi and batson empathy and helping behaviour study
'carol' miss class due to accident high empathy vs low empathy & see in class in future or not low empathy and not see sig reduced helping
who is likely to help - gender
men - tend to be chivalrous and heroic - help where socially acceptable
female - more nurturing and long term care
who is likely to help - religious
helps to look good but not when anonymous
who is likely to help - prosocial personality?
helping in emergencies not driven by personality
but
empathy and helpfulness predict everyday acts of helping, organ donor willingness and willingness to help co workers
when do people help - darley and latane 1968 bystander
the knowledge of the presence of others who might help inhibits intervention in an emergency
1 person and victim > help than 6 people and victim
expect others to help
5 stages of helping in an emergency
1- notice event 2- interpret emergency 3- assume responsibility 4- know appropriate assistance 5 - decide to help
5 stages of helping in an emergency - when not assist after noticing the event (1)
not help if distracted or in a hurry
5 stages of helping in an emergency - when not assist after interpretting an emergency (2)
pluralistic ignorance
mistakenly believe own thoughts or feelings are different
5 stages of helping in an emergency - when not assist after assuming responsibility (3)
by stander effect
diffuse to different person
5 stages of helping in an emergency - when not assist after knowing appropriate assistant (4)
lacking knowledge or having competence to assist
5 stages of helping in an emergency - when not assist after decision to help (5)
situation is a danger to self
latane and darley 1968 bystander effect pluralistic ignorance
tendency to rely on the overt reactions of others when defining anambiguous situation.
when in a group - sig less likely to notify of smoke coming from other room
believe that others notice and not a problem so dont do anything
what is audience inhibition
reluctance to help for fear of a bad impression/judgement
in what situations does the bystander effect not hold (fischer et al 2011)
when situation is dangerous for both the victim and the bystander
high arousal = impulsivity
who are we more likely to help
attractive people (even when not interact)
those not responsible for the situation
those we feel similar to or close to
describe levine et al 2005 who do we help (ingroup and outgroup)
confederate fall wearing manchester utd shirt (ingroup with pps) or liverpool (outgroup of pps) help MANU>LIVERPOOL BUT why is football important to you? superordinate group - help both equally
Austin (1979) gender and helping
found that men and women were equally likely to intervene at a high level of harm, but women more likely to intervene at low levels; women seem to have a lower threshold for noticing
Eagly & Crowley (1986) gender and social roles in helping behaviours
sex differences in helping derived from social roles Women report providing friends with personal favors, emotional support, and counseling about personal problems than men do
Helping expectations for men assoc with nonroutine and risky actions and protective roles.
metaanalysis - men more helpful to the extent that (a) women perceived helping as more dangerous than men (b) an audience witnessed the act, and (c) other potential helpers were available.
Sex differences may be due to gender-related traits of masculinity and femininity, rather than to sex per se or to gender roles
Staub 1978 altruistic personality
people high in self-esteem, high in competence, high in internal locus of control, low in need for approval, and high in moral development appear to be more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors
Simmons et al (1977) bystander effect and family
The likelihood of an individual in need of a kidney receiving one from a sibling decreased almost linearly from 51 % when there was only one eligible sibling to 0% when there were 10 or 11
what cases bystander effect
Latane´ and Darley (1970
diffusion of responsibility - tendency to subjectively divide personal responsibility to help by the number (N) of bystanders. The more bystanders there are, the less personal responsibility any individual bystander will feel.
evaluation apprehension - fear of being judged by others in public- fear to make mistakes when observed, which makes more reluctant to intervene
pluralistic ignorance - rely on the overt reactions of others when defining an ambiguous situation
bateson et al 1981 Elaine
empathy altruism theory
If empathy evokes a desire to reduce personal distress, should help less in a situation that is easy to escape
if evokes a desire to reduce the other’s suffering, then should be no difference in helping between easy and difficult escape situations
- Elaine getting shocks for task - empathy increase(similar to pps) or deacrease (dissimilar to pps)
1/2 in each “easy escape” - leave after a few trials
1/2 “difficult escape” - must stay till end
given option to volunteer to take shocks for Elaine
high empathy increase volunteer even when easy escape
Munich 2001 (fischer et al 2011)
a young man from Turkey helped a young Greek who was chased and beaten by a group of skinheads. The young Turk risked his life while many other bystanders were watching. Similar results were found in laboratory experiments, where the bystander effect vanished when the emergency was a particularly dangerous one (e.g., Fischer, Greitemeyer, Pollozek, & Frey, 2006).
fischer et al 2011 bystander effect revisited
meta analysis of bystander studies
bystander inhibition is less pronounced in dangerous than in non-dangerous situations
why? - danger likely seen as clear-cut emergencies where someone needs help - increases experienced arousal and thus helping responses.
bystanders viewed as providers of physical support and thus reduce fear of intervention
bystander effect stronger in female than male participants + in strangers than in friends
darley and bateson 1973 situational variables in helping behaviour
pps read good samarital bible verse and told be giving speech on it or on diff topic
told late, expected on time or a bit early (hurry)
- pass victim on way and helping behaviour rated
hurry less likely to offer help
good Samaritan para did not sig effect helping
religion only have effect on help where if help then more tentative/hesistant to help
