Week 9: Prosocial Behavior

Question 1

What is prosocial behavior?

Answer 1

-Voluntary action intended to help or benefit another person.
- prosocial behavior is crucial for forming and maintaining social connections

Question 2

What are the 3 dimensions of prosocial behavior?

Answer 2

Intentionality: once again the intention is what matters. So as long as individual has positive intention, independent of outcome action is considered prosocial
Cost and benefit: are the positive outcomes going to outweigh the work put in
Societal context: whether society approves of the intention, the more people it benefits the better

Question 3

What are the 3 motives of prosocial behavior?

Answer 3

• egoistic 🏋️: initial act is egoistic but after all it is helpful for the community (volunteering for CV)
• empathy: doing things for others because you feel a genuine connection with them 😘 (volunteering to help homeless because you used to be homeless)
• moral values: doing something because you feel it is right (activists)

Question 4

What is the evolutionary foundation for prosocial behavior?

Answer 4

• prosocial behavior is instinctive rather than conscious (also in animals like 🐟 and 🐝)
• evolutionary perspective observes effect of such behavior rather than what causes it
  -reciprosity
  -kin slection

Question 5

What is fitness cost?

Answer 5

Part of evolutionary basis of prosocial behavior where individual reflect that there is a potential biological and personal disadvantage of being altruistic

Question 6

What is kin selection?

Answer 6

Altruism is favored when helping close relative, people with genetic similarity (family) to ensure that genes are passed down generations.

Question 7

What is reciprocity’s role in altruism?

Answer 7

Helping someone in the hope than in the future they will help you. It helps create a supportive network where social connectivity is fueled by generosity

Question 8

What proof is there that there is innate altruism?

Answer 8

• twin studies: identical twins have similare prosocial behaviors
• Infants preferences: children as young as 3 months prefer helpful rather than harmful individuals and children of age 2 can differentiate between intentional and accidental altruistic actions

Question 9

Prosocial behavior can also be learned, how?

Answer 9

• parental practices: positive parenting promotes prosocial tendencies independent of genetics. Nurturing household and parents that show emotional warmth = greater empathy
• cultural practices and norms
  -media use: engaging in prosocial content creates more empathetic individuals. General learning model has shown that media has longitudinal and cross cultural benefits
  -learning theory: child completed steps as they grow older 1)helping for self gain (gaining something you want for eg toy) 2) helping for rewards (eg appraisal from adults) 3) helping for internal values (morals)

Question 10

What is the Social exchange theory?

Answer 10

idea that choice to engage in prosocial behavior results from a cost-benefit analysis
Cost: (fitness cost) time, effort and risk
Benefit: personal satisfaction, social approval, reciprocity

Good Samaritan study 🏥: drunk victims were helped more slowly and less frequently than normal ones. Less arousal. Individual is helped when cost of not helping (eg guilt)> cost of helping

Question 11

What is empathy altruism hypothesis?

Answer 11

based on idea that empathetic concern sparks a genuine altruistic behavior to help - STRONG emotional response
- welfare of others>personal welfare (prioritize others)
- higher empathy = higher altruism and helping behavior
- feeling empathy overides costs of helping
- knowing power people choose to ignore it/not to experience it
Critical thinking:
- egoistic aspect= putting a stop to someone else’s pain because it is causing you pair
-Certain times empathy causes people to place need of individuals over those of a broader society 😕

Question 12

What are social triggers for helping?

Answer 12

Similarity and prejudice: the more similar one feels to the person needing help the more likely they will do so. In high emergency 🚨 situations the effect are more pronounced.
Rationalising discrimination: when antisocial behavior cannot be justified by other factors person is more likely to help (when it is clear you wouldn’t be helping person because they’re black you are likely to help)
Motivation to overcome triggers if counterproductive can change outcome

Question 13

What is the empathy gap?

Answer 13

process of underestimating pain and suffering (physical or psychological eg social rejection) of others to reduce empathetic response. Usually done when thinking of distant, different and out group individuals.
Me ____ them
Emphasizing with others reduced gap 👞

Question 14

What are emotional triggers for helping?

Answer 14

-guilt increases likelihood of helping because people feel responsible for other’s situation- even in cases where person that need help isn’t directly involved
–collective guilt is feeling guilt towards what others in your group have done (family treats someone bad you feel like you need to treat them extra well to counter)
- having strong sense of community
- motivation has short lasting impact

Question 15

What is the role of gratitude in prosocial behavior?

Answer 15

When helper receives gratitude they are more likely to feel appreciated and are more likely to act in a prosocial way again ♾️

Question 16

What is a communal feeling? How does it affect prosocial behavior?

Answer 16

Not differentiating between other’s and your personal emotions - having a shared emotion, connection and reponsability. People will behave selflessly without wanting anything in return
Good feelings we get from helping others last longer than those we get from receiving a gift from someone

Question 17

What are the effects of feeling socially secure on prosocial behavior?

Answer 17

• people who are secure in their relationships (knowing someone has their back) will behave prosocially towards close relatives and strangers
• boosts your own self esteem, as you feel part of a social ecosystem). Individual feels more stable which creates sense of trust + responsability

Question 18

How can prosocial feeling a behavior be primed?

Answer 18

Idea that specific cues of contextual info can influence altruistic behavior
- good mood 😊 encourages prosocial behavior and makes one more likely to see the good in others to try to maintain good mood
- experiencing awe (something extremely beautiful) 🌄 makes us think beyond ourselves – primes prosocial behavior
- mortality ⚰️: terror management theory . People look for significance and helping provides that. When death primed people are more likely to donate blood, money
-through religious beliefs
- being primed with idea of friend puts people in a friendly mood
-certain jobs are primed with certain norms requiring people to behave in a certain way (customer service, server, teacher)

Question 19

How do religious beliefs prime prosocial behavior? What are the main limitations of this?

Answer 19

Religion give people a path to follow - how to behave
- ingroup bias: religious people will act more prosocially but towards those of same religion
-methodological issue: most studies on religion are based on self-reported values
- contextual factors: if religion is enforced prosocial behavior may be forced and not genuine
-

Question 20

What is a bystander? What is the bystander effect?

Answer 20

An individual that remains inactive in the case of an emergency.
The bystander effect: phenomena in which a person who witnesses other in need is less likely to/helps slower help because other bystanders are present to witness effect (something like social loafing). 🕴️
Situational awareness is the psychological barrier caused by the presence of others.
The more people in a room the less likely individuals were to point out smoke. 🌫️

Question 21

What factors influence whether bystander effect occurs or not?

Answer 21

• urgency increases bystander effect (explored in study of Good Samaritan having or not having urgency to go give a speech) even if help is clearly needed
  -ambiguous and low danger situations increase bystander effect
• presence of perpretator or physical danger increase bystander effect even though need for help is clear. Risks are too high

Question 22

What is the implicit bystander effect?

Answer 22

Mere immagination (online presence) of presence of others is enough to influence behavior, decreasing likelihood of helping.
The more people in online talk the less likely and more slowly individuals called for help when someone was having stroke ☠️

Question 23

Describe the bystander intervention model

Answer 23

Idea that failing at any one of these point will cause someone to act as a bystander
1) noticing something unusual: failing to notice event because of time pressure of distraction = bystander
2) Interpreting whether situation requires intervention:assuming there is no potential danger ⚠️ = bystander
PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE- nobody acts because they don’t see anyone behaving like there is a problem - wrong.
3) Take responsability; believing someone else will take action 🫥 = bystander
4) Deciding how to help: not knowing what to do because you feel unqualified or unskilled = bystander
5) Giving help: not giving help because one feels like it is a danger to self, legal concerns and embarrassment = bystander 😳

Question 24

How does population density influence altruistic behavior?

Answer 24

Less help in large and densely populated cities 🌆
- urban overload hypothesis: idea that people in cities are more exposed to air and noise pollution. Because of the constant ‘bombardment’ of sound and info people tend to block out most stimuli and no longer distinguish between call for help or random noise.

Question 25

How do altruistic personality traits increase the likelihood of helping?

Answer 25

Altruism= strong moral reasoning + sense of social responsibility + empathy
Environment has a greater impact on behavior that altruistic personality traits. In experiment where one HAD to choose (high escape) whether or not to help woman that was clearly in distress or could choose to help (easy escape).
Personality traits were only predictive of behavior when they could choose and women was in clear distress.
Women > men more likely to help

Question 26

What is the role of agreeableness in helping?

Answer 26

Agreeableness: empathy, cooperativness and compassion
Better predictor of altruism than altruism
- agreeable people are more likely to provide help in wider range of situations (both with ingroup and outgroup members and consistently)
- Agreeable people remained helpful in high cost situations
- Agreeableness is a better predictor of who will help strangers vs who will help family

Question 27

What is the role of intrinsic motivation in helpful behavior? What is self giving?

Answer 27

intrinsically motivated prosocial behavior is based on genuine concern, empathy and moral duty rather than for a material gain or recognition. This type of motivations fosters deeper connection and greater personal weelbeing.
When person is motivated by intrinsic motivation they are less susceptible to situational pressures
Self giving is donating something that is symbolic to someones essential essence - strengthens commitment and emotional investment

Question 28

What is the difference between autonomous and intrinsic motivation?

Answer 28

Autonomous motivation: motivation to achieve a goal. Studying hard because you want to get a good grade
Implicit motivation: motivation because of inherent enjoyment Studying because you find the subject really fascinating

Question 29

How does one’s political orientation influence helping behaviors?

Answer 29

• Conservatives generally lower level of empathy compared to liberals. Difference is small in people with high religiosity 🛐
• Morals prevalent in political parties are what influence behavior. Moral framing means shifting environmental problem to it aligns with a threat to moral values and people are more likely to help
  -conservatives are more likely to withhold assistance to people they view as being responsible for their own actions
  -liberals: support people regardless of background situation

Question 30

How do gender differences influence helping behaviors?

Answer 30

• Women: report higher empathy and agreeableness than men. Tend to engage in more altruistic, emotional, compliant and nurturing behavior (also because of hormonal response). Prefer people over physical things
• Men exhibit more helpful behavior when is can be beneficial for social status (public helping-chivalrous ⚔️). Prefer physical things over people
  Gender norms + biological tendencies and individual motivations play a role in shaping pro social behavior

Question 31

What are the key features of online spaces? And what is their relevance to the bystander effect?

Answer 31

• anonimity: no identity/pseudonym reduces individual accountability and likelihood of intervening
• Asynchronicity (communication happens at different times) delays intervention as individual feels no urgency to respond
• Group dynamics (large group of users creating collective environment) : many bystanders leads to diffusion of responsibility
• Visibility and permanence (content is easily shared, reshared and archived making actions visible to wide audience): amplifies actions and interactions, responses can be scrutinized by others affecting willingness to intervene
  -Emotional distance (creates a sense of detachment from emotional realities of others): lack of empathy decreases likelihood of intervening

Question 32

How do online platforms affect each step of the bystander intervention model?

Answer 32

1) Notice the event: overload/surplus of info one will be desensitized from noticing harmful behavior
2) Interpret it as an emergency: lack of emotional cues cause ambiguity. Harmful actions may be misinterpreted as typical online interactions
3) Assume responsability: Anonimity+large group diffuses responsability
4)Deciding how to help: fear of backlash or platform norms hinder decisions. Opt as reporting, supporting vistims or confronting perpetrators
5) Helping: feae od negative consequences

Question 33

What is bullying?

Answer 33

A form of interpersonal aggression with 3 distinct traits:
- must be repetitive
- there must be a power imbalance
- there must be a direct intention to cause harm or distress
it can be physical, verbal and or relationsla

Question 34

What is cyberbullying and why is it ‘worse’ than normal bullying? What are 3 factors that reduce it?

Answer 34

• anonymity shifts power dynamics
• can be repetitive as viewer revisits single bullying episode
• can continue outside of school setting
• lower likelihood of teacher interventions ( less noticing, and resolution)
  -perceived as less serious by teachers
• Experiences of discrimination from teachers are linked to higher acceptability of cyberbullying and lower intervention intentions.
• Females and younger students find cyberbullying less acceptable and are more likely to intervene.
  •Empathy: Higher empathy levels lead to a greater likelihood of active intervention.
• Positive family management and secure attachments correlate with lower acceptability and higher intervention intentions.

Question 35

What are some of the challenges of intervening in cases of sexual violence - factors that increase likelihood of being a bystander?

Answer 35

• When to intervene? there is many forms of sexual violence: parter, stranger or acquaintance and it can happen in public or private setting
• How to? There is many myths about sexual violence like: victim blaming, misconception of consent, gender assumptions

Question 36

How has the bystander been applied to Sexual Violence to try and reduce it?

Answer 36

EDUCATION IS FUNDAMENTAL
2) Interpretation of situation: identify high and low risk factors
3) taking responsability: encouraging them to intevere before (proactive) or after & during (reactive)

Question 37

How does culture influence prosocial behavior?

Answer 37

• emotional reactions vary across cultures
  -prosocial behaviors vary across individualistic and collectivist cultures
• sympathy and helping had correlation in all cultures
• when discomfort levels were too high people were less likely to help across all cultures