Week 10: Social Psychology Part 2 Flashcards
Conformity and why people conform
Conformity: widespread tendency to act and think like the people around us.
Humans may possess an inherent tendency to imitate the actions of others, where this mimicking increases the connection between people and allows our interactions to flow more smoothly.
Normative influence: people go along with the crowd because they are concerned about what others think of them.
Informational influence: people are often a source of information. Most of us, most of the time, are motivated to do the right thing.
Descriptive norms: when it’s not clear what society expects of us, so we act the way most people—or most people like us—act.
Situational and social factors that will affect when a bystander will help another in need
Pluralistic ignorance: Relying on others to define the situation and to then erroneously conclude that no intervention is necessary when help is actually needed.
Diffusion of responsibility: the phenomenon in which knowing that someone else could help seems to relieve bystanders of personal responsibility, so bystanders do not intervene.
Cost–benefit analysis: If costs outweigh the rewards, helping is less likely. If rewards are greater than cost, helping is more likely.
Personality and individual differences that make some more likely to help than others
Two factors help to explain sex and gender differences in helping. The first is related to the cost–benefit analysis process. Physical differences between men and women may come into play, the fact that men tend to have greater upper body strength than women makes the cost of intervening in some situations less for a man. Confronting a thief is a risky proposition, and some strength may be needed in case the perpetrator decides to fight. A bigger, stronger bystander is less likely to be injured and more likely to be successful.
The second explanation is simple socialization. Men and women have traditionally been raised to play different social roles that prepare them to respond differently to the needs of others, and people tend to help in ways that are most consistent with their gender roles.
Agreeableness is a core trait that includes such dispositional characteristics as being sympathetic, generous, forgiving, and helpful, and behavioral tendencies toward harmonious social relations and likeability. At the conceptual level, a positive relationship between agreeableness and helping may be expected.
Agreeable people seem to expect that others will be similarly cooperative and generous in interpersonal relations, and they, therefore, act in helpful ways that are likely to elicit positive social interactions.
Prosocial personality orientation
Other-oriented empathy: People high on this dimension have a strong sense of social responsibility, empathize with and feel emotionally tied to those in need, understand the problems the victim is experiencing, and have a heightened sense of moral obligation to be helpful. This factor has been shown to be highly correlated with the trait of agreeableness.
The second characteristic, helpfulness, is more behaviorally oriented. Those high on the helpfulness factor have been helpful in the past, and because they believe they can be effective with the help they give, they are more likely to be helpful in the future.
Why Help?
- Evolutionary roots for prosocial behavior: kin selection, Reciprocal altruism
- Egoistic motivation for helping: negative state relief model, arousal: cost–reward model
- Altruistic help: empathy–altruism model
