social psy- prosocial beh ppt 1

7/28/2019 Social Psy- Prosocial Beh Ppt 1

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THINK Social Psychology

Kimberley Duff

THINKSOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Chapter

Prosocial Behavior:

Why We Help, andWhy We Don’t






Kimberley Duff

Why do We Help?

• Prosocial behavior – positive social

actions intended to help others

l Egoistic model – when behaviors are done for

selfish reasons

l Altruistic model – when behaviors are donefor selfless reasons






Kimberley Duff

Models of Helping Behaviour

• Evolution and socio-Biological Theory

• Social Learning and Normative Model

• Empathy and Altruism• Emotional arousal and Attributional Model

of Helping

• Decision Making and Cost Reward Analysis






Kimberley Duff

Evolutionary Factors

in Helping: Kin Selection

• What is important is survival of the

individual’s genes, not survival of the

fittest individual.

• Kin selection is the tendency to help

genetic relatives.l Strongest when biological stakes are

particularly high






Kimberley Duff

Evolutionary Factors in

Helping: Reciprocal Altruism

• What is the reproductive advantage of

helping someone who isn’t related to you?

• Through reciprocal altruism, helping

someone else can be in your best

interests.

l Increases the likelihood that you will be

helped in return.






Kimberley Duff

Evolutionary Factors in

Helping: Group Selection

• Can altruism exist beyond specific genes

or specific reciprocal relationships

between individuals?

l Indirect reciprocity – “I help you and

somebody else helps me”

l Group selection – groups that have altruistic

members may be more likely to survive thangroups with only selfish members






Kimberley Duff

Social Learning and Normative

Model

• From beginning we are exposed to helpful

models and taught Prosocial Norms

• Approval received for following the norms

and disapproved for violating

• Leads to internalization of societal

standards






Kimberley Duff

Norms

• Social responsibility norm ( Fisher

1981,Fellner and Marshall 1981)

• Prosocial behavior can be inspired by

pressure from society and its members

• Help is given to those who are seen to be

dependent or lack the capacity to help

themselves e.g. children, elderly anddisabled

• If we think a victim is to blame for their

situation, however, we won’t help






Kimberley Duff

Normative Model of HelpingBY

Schwartz

• Based on the criticism of Norms and learning of

the Norms Model

• i) norm of social responsibility is broad;

sometimes permit people to sidestep helping

others

• ii) two conflicting norms-social responsibility andnorms of non-involvement

• iii) people do not act consistently with the norms

they hold






Kimberley Duff

Schwartz’s Model

i) ACTIVATION•(potential helper perceives need for help and some responsibility for his/her

behaviour)

ii) OBLIGATION

•( a personal norm calling for specific action is generated and creates a feelingof moral obligation)

iii) DEFENSES•(the helper assess potential responses and their implications either assuming

or denying personal responsibility to act )

iv) RESPONSE•(action is taken if activation and obligation have occurred and defenses against

acting are minimal; otherwise inaction occurs)






Kimberley Duff

Altruism or Egoism: The Great

Debate

• Is helping motivated by altruistic or egoistic concerns?

l Altruistic: Motivated by the desire to increase

another’s welfare.l Egoistic: Motivated by the desire to increase

one’s own welfare.

• Batson: The motivation behind some

helpful actions is truly altruistic.






Kimberley Duff

Empathy – Altruism

Hypothesis/Model

byBatson, Duncan,Ackerman,Buckley, and Birch

1981• Alternative Explanation:

• I) Negative State Relief Model

• II) Empathetic Joy Hypothesis






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• Empathy is the capacity to be able to

experience others’ emotional states,

feeling sympathetic toward them, and

taking their perspective






Kimberley Duff






Kimberley Duff

Negative State Relief Model

By

Cialdini, Baumann and Kenrick

1981

• We help because helping allows us to

reduce our own negative, unpleasant

emotions.






Kimberley Duff

The

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

and The Negative State Relief Model

From C.D. Batson, The Altruism Question, 1991. Reprinted with permission of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.






Kimberley Duff

Empathetic Joy Hypothesis

By

Smith, Keating and Stotland1989

• Helping in response to empathy ismotivated neither by a selfless concern for

the welfare of others, nor by the reduction

of personal distress, but rather by the joyone experiences when observing that

another person’s needs have been met.






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• Helper responds to the needs of a victim

because they want to accomplishsomething and doing so is rewarding in

and of itself

• i.e. it feels good to have a positive effecton the lives of other people.






Kimberley Duff

Egoistic Models of Helping

• Egoism encourages helping because of aconcern about the costs to one’s self if help is

not provided.

l

Egoism seeks to reduce personal distress.l Egoism highlights the potential rewards for

helping others.






Kimberley Duff

Altruism vs. Egoism:

Limits

• Strong evidence for the empathy-altruism

hypothesis.

• Limitations to empathy-altruism hypothesis:

l Not all helping is altruistically motivated.

l Motives do not guarantee behavior.

l Is the assumption that there is a clear dividebetween the self and the other a valid one?






Kimberley Duff

Emotional Arousal and

Attributional Model of HelpingBy

Piliavin 1981

• Arousal is important in helping

• Flight response if arousal is to the extent

of panic and perception of little chance to

accomplice anything positive






Kimberley Duff

• According to Attributional model of

helping, thoughts are also important

• Attribution

i) if internal and controllable cause then

negative emotion is aroused

ii) if external and uncontrollable cause thenpositive emotion is aroused

Emotion experienced determines the

degree to which the help is provided






Kimberley Duff

Attributional model of helping

Personrequiring

help

Physiologic

al arousal

Internal

attribution

Analysis of situationin order to label

arousal

External

Attribution

PositiveEmotional

Response

Helping

Negative

emotional

response

Not

helping






Kimberley Duff

When do we help ?

• The decision model of bystander

intervention

• By

• John Darley and Bibb Latane’

• 1968

• e.g. Kitty Genovese in 1964

Kitt G d D idi t






Kimberley Duff

Kitty Genovese and Deciding to

Help

• In March, 1964, a New York City woman named

Catherine “Kitty” Genovese was raped and stabbed to

death as she returned home from work late at night.

• 38 people had witnessed some or all of the attack, which

took place in two or three distinct episodes over a period

of about a half hour—and yet no one did anything to stop

it

• No one even reported it to the police until the woman

was already dead.

Kitt G d D idi t






Kimberley Duff

Kitty Genovese and Deciding to

Help

• Although the murder itself was tragic, the nation

was even more outraged that so many people

who could have helped seemingly displayed

callous indifference.

• And so the failure of bystanders to intervene

became known as “Kitty Genovese Syndrome”

• “Social psychologists sometimes call it the

“Bystander Effect.”






Kimberley Duff

When Do We Help?

•

All of these attacks had many witnesses, yet

nobody intervened

The five step decision model states that several

criteria must be satisfied for a bystander to

intervene and help






Kimberley Duff

When Do We Help?

• One: Notice the emergency

• Can be affected by personal life concerns

and proximity to the event. If the potential

helper is preoccupied by special concernsthen prosocial behaviour is less likely to

occur






Kimberley Duff

• Two: Correctly interpreting the Event as

an Emergency

• Pluralistic ignorance – if nobody else

helps, we might believe help is not needed






Kimberley Duff

When Do We Help?

• Three: Feel a sense of responsibility

• The bystander effect – the more people present, the

more we experience a diffusion of responsibility

• Four: Decide how to help

• Do we know what is needed and are we capable of

providing it?

• If we feel competent to help, we are more likely to do soe.g. good swimmers can assist a person who is

drowning






Kimberley Duff

When Do We Help?

• Five: Provide help

• It is best to do so in a way that does not

compromise your own safety (if possible)






Kimberley Duff

Moral Element in Helping

• Moral cleansing – engaging in actions that

are meant to restore a sense of order

l Neurobiological explanation – the mesolimbic

reward system is activated when we give or receive rewards

C t R d M d l f H l i






Kimberley Duff

Cost-Reward Model of Helping

by

Piliavin ( 1981)• Cost-Reward analysis

l We are more inclined to help others when it

will help us as welll We weigh others’ needs with our own. If

helping "costs" too much, we won’t.






Kimberley Duff

When Do We Help?

• The decision model of bystander

intervention

l Kitty Genovese in 1964






Kimberley Duff

Kitty Genovese and Deciding

to Help

• In March, 1964, a New York City woman namedCatherine “Kitty” Genovese was raped and stabbedto death as she returned home from work late atnight.

• 38 people had witnessed some or all of the attack,which took place in two or three distinct episodesover a period of about a half hour—and yet no one

did anything to stop it

• No one even reported it to the police until thewoman was already dead.

Kitt G d D idi






Kimberley Duff

Kitty Genovese and Deciding

to Help

• Although the murder itself was tragic, the nationwas even more outraged that so many people whocould have helped seemingly displayed callousindifference.

• And so the failure of bystanders to intervenebecame known as “Kitty Genovese Syndrome”

• “Social psychologists sometimes call it the“Bystander Effect.”






Kimberley Duff

When Do We Help?

• All of these attacks had many witnesses,

yet nobody intervened

• The five step decision model states that

several criteria must be satisfied for a

bystander to intervene and help






Kimberley Duff

When do We Help?

• One: Notice the emergency

l Can be affected by personal life concerns and

proximity to the event

• Two: Interpret the need for help

l Pluralistic ignorance – if nobody else helps,

we might believe help is not needed






Kimberley Duff

When do We Help? (continued)

• Three: Feel a sense of responsibility

l The bystander effect – the more peoplepresent, the more we experience a diffusionof responsibility

• Four: Decide how to help

l Do we know what is needed and are we

capable of providing it?l If we feel competent to help, we are more

likely to do so






Kimberley Duff

When do We Help? (continued)

• Five: Provide help

l It is best to do so in a way that does not

compromise your own safety (if possible)

l Do we fear risk of liability? Good Samaritanprotection






Kimberley Duff

Factors Effecting Prosocial






Kimberley Duff

Factors Effecting Prosocial

Behaviour

• 1. SITUATIONAL FACTORS

• i) person in need of help

• a ) nature of the need• b ) relationship with the potential helper

and aspects of interpersonal attraction

• Ii ) Influence of other people• a ) presence of others

• b ) action of others

Factors affecting Prosocial






Kimberley Duff

Factors affecting Prosocial

Behaviour

• 2) PERSONAL FACTORS

• i) Emotional factors

•Ii) Background Variables

• Iii) Personality Traits

• Iv) Gender

• V) Time Pressures• Vi) Motivational factors

• Vii) culture






Kimberley Duff

Person in need of help

Nature of the need•--- perceived dependency

•--- perceived legitimacy

•--- external attribution of victim’s responsibility

Relationship with the Helper •--- relationship between relatives and friends imply mutual

dependence and a special obligation to help

•--- aspects of interpersonal attraction (e.g. brief

acquaintance, familiarity, similiarity, etc. ) also influence

prosocial beh






Kimberley Duff

Influence of other people

• Presence of others

---- Bystander effect: study done by Latane

and Darley (1970)

• The likelihood of a prosocial behaviour in an

emergency situation is affected by the number of

bystanders who are present. As the number of

bystanders increases, the probability that onebystander will help decreases and the amount of

time that passes before help occurs increases.

Factors Affecting the Decision to help:






Kimberley Duff


Pluralistic Ignorance

• Pluralistic Ignorance

l The tendency not to respond to a potentially

dangerous situation because of a collectiveuncertainty about what is happening that is

reinforced by the fact that no one else

seems concerned or is responding







Kimberley Duff

g pEvaluation Apprehension and Audience

Inhibition

• Bystanders may feel evaluation

apprehension, concern about what others

expect of them and how others willevaluate their behavior.

l In addition, if others are present and not

reacting it may seem to infer that others do not

see the need to intervene.

l Intervention in this case would seem foolish







Kimberley Duff


Diffusion of Responsibility

• This process occurs when a bystander

does not take action to help because other

persons share the responsibility for

intervening.

l This occurs at the third step in the process of

deciding to help.

l If others are present, personal responsibility toact is diminished the number of others

present.






Kimberley Duff

Action of Others

-- facial expressions, words, deeds

-- reinforcement and punishment-- social learning and modeling

2 PERSONAL FACTORS






Kimberley Duff

2.PERSONAL FACTORS

Emotional factors

Attractiveness

Similarity and Mimicry

Background Variables

Personality Traits

Gender

Time Pressures

Motivational factors

Culture

Modelling






Kimberley Duff

Emotional state

• Mood

l As noted, being in a good mood increases the chance of

prosocial behavior

- The mood can increase self-awareness

-

We match our actions with our actual self

Negative mood increases help only when the need for the help is

clear, when little cost is involved and when the adult view the help

as the negative state relief .






Kimberley Duff

Attractiveness

• Attractiveness – sadly, we are more likely

to help attractive people. Why do you think

that is?






Kimberley Duff

Similarity and Mimicry

• Similarityl We are more likely to help those similar to

ourselves

l Similarity = attractionl Race – this tendency holds for both black and

white people

• Mimicry – acting the same way that othersdol More prosocial behavior is demonstrated

toward those who mimic our actions






Kimberley Duff

Background variables

• Size of the Town

• Study by Latane and Darley (1970)

• Small Town people help more as

compared to large cities






Kimberley Duff

People in rural areas are more helpful . This effect

holds over a wide variety of ways of helping and in

many countries.

One possible explanation is that people from rural

settings are brought up to be more neighbourly and

more likely to trust strangers. This experience

enhances the altruistic personality.

This seems unlikely to be true.

Rural Versus Urban Environments






Kimberley Duff

Rural Versus Urban Environments

Rural Versus Urban






Kimberley Duff

Rural Versus Urban

Environments






Kimberley Duff

Personality traits

• Altruistic personality – 5 traits that

correlate with prosocial behavior

l Empathy

l Internal locus of control

l Belief in a just world

l A sense of social responsibility

l Low egocentrism

Gender Differences in Prosocial






Kimberley Duff

Gender Differences in Prosocial

behaviour

• Gender is another personal variable that

comes into play.

• Though one sex is not more altruistic than

the other, the ways in which men andwomen help often differ

• Men are more likely to help in heroic,

chivalrous ways

• Women are more likely to help in nurturant

ways that involve a long-term commitment

Cultural Differences in Prosocial






Kimberley Duff


Behaviour







Kimberley Duff


Behaviour

Members of collective societies where greater

emphasis is placed on connectedness and needs of

the ingroup, are

more likely to help ingroup members, and

less likely to help outgroup members than are people

from individualistic societies.

Time pressures and Motivational





THINK Social Psychology Kimberley Duff

Time pressures and Motivational

Factors

• Time constraints – less Prosocial Behaviour

Motivational Factors-

• Acc to Batson and Thompson (2001) three major

motives are relevant when a person is faced with a moral

dillema:

• i) self-interest (egoism) – motivation to engage in beh

that provides greatest satisfaction

• Ii) moral integrity – motivation to engage in moral beh

• Iii) moral hypocrisy –motivation to appear moral while

doing one’s best to avoid the costs actually involved in

being moral

M d li






Modeling

• Modeling

l When we observe other people (family,

peers, role models) behave prosocially, we

are likely to as welll The media is a big factor in this area

Modeling Prosocial Behavior. If we are exposed to





• HOW CAN WE INCREASE

PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR?

V l t i





Volunteering

• A special type of help is required when the

person in need has a chronic, continuing

problem that requires help over a

prolonged time period ( Williamson andSchulz, 1995).

• A person who volunteers to provide

assistance in this context must committheir time and effort over weeks, months

or even longer. E.g. tsunami struck South

Asia 2004

V l t i ?





Volunteering?

I---Five step Model

II--6 Motives given by Clary and Snyder (1999)

i)Values: Personal values of humanitarianism

ii)Understanding: The need to understand more about theissue (disease)

iii)Enhancement: The desire to enhance one’s own

development,

iv)Career: The chance to gain career-related experience,v)Social: The need to improve one’s own personal

relationships,

vi)Protective: The desire to reduce negative feelings such

as guilt, or escape from personal problems

V l t i ?





Volunteering ?

• III– Mandates, Altruism, or Generativity• Mandates- making compulsory e.g. required to do

voluntary work to complete Graduation

• Altruism- volunteers believe in internal locus of controland empathy

• Generativity- is defined as an adult’s interest in

• and commitment to the well-being

of future generations e.g.becoming parents, teaching young

people

I tilli H l f l ith R d & M d l





• Prosocial behaviour occurs early in life.

Even children as young as 18 months

frequently help other, eg, trying to make a

crying infant feel better.

• One powerful way to encourage prosocial

behaviour is for parents and others toreward such acts with praise, smiles, and

hugs, research shows.

Instilling Helpfulness with Rewards & Models

I tilli H l f l ith R d & M d l





• We must be careful and not over emphasize the

reward aspect because this can lower the

intrinsic value of performing the prosocial

behaviour, and decrease the probability of actingprosocially in subsequent situations, in the

absence of rewards.

• We want children to perceive themselves asaltruistic people, so that they enhance the

intrinsic value of acting prosocially.

Instilling Helpfulness with Rewards & Models

Instilling Helpfulness with





g p

Rewards & Models

• Another way for parents to increase

prosocial behaviour in their children is to

behave prosocially themselves.

• Children often model behaviours they

observe in others, including prosocial

behaviour.

Instilling Helpfulness with





g p

Rewards & Models

• Pancer and Pratt (1999) found that Canadianyouth who spend time volunteering are likely to

have parents who have instilled values of

kindness and helping, and who model prosocial

behaviour.

• Children also imitate adults other than their

parents, eg, teachers, relatives, TV characters,sports heroes. They can be used to model

prosocial behaviour.

Increasing Awareness of the





g

Barriers to Helping

• There is evidence that simply being aware of the barriers to helping can increase people’s

chance of overcoming those barriers (see

Beaman et al, 1978 awareness study).

• Research shows that teaching people about the

determinants of prosocial behaviour makes them

more aware of why they sometimes don’t help,and leads to greater helping in the future.

Increasing Awareness of the





g

Barriers to Helping

• We shouldn’t impose help on everyone we think needsit. Not everyone wants to be helped.

• If being helped means that they appear incompetent,

resulting in lowered self-esteem then some people willchose not to accept help they will often suffer in silence,

even at the cost of failing at the task.

• We need to make help supportive and non-threateningfor it to be most effective.

How Can We Increase





Prosocial Behavior?

• Prosocial television programs for kids

l Increases helping behavior

l Decreases aggression

l Helps reduce stereotypes

• Teach good "citizenship" in classrooms

How Can We Increase





Prosocial Behavior?

• Attributions

l If we feel the help is needed because of

situations out of a person’s control, we are

more likely to act prosocially• Education

l Enlightenment effect – learning about barriers

to prosocial behavior helps remove them

Enlightened About Pluralistic Ignorance. By learning about psychologicaltheories that help you understand your own thought processes and



p y y g p

behaviors, you can avoid falling prey to the obstacles that may

prevent you from helping others in need.

social psy- prosocial beh ppt 1

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