Social Psych - altruism and prosocial behavior

altruism

Altruism is when we act to promote someone else's welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves. = selfless → true selfless helping

empathetic altruism hypothesis

Batson pure altruistic helping occurs when we experience empathy for the victim (about THEM), no thoughts about ourselves

Negative Affect Theory of Empathy and Helping

Cialdini empathy creates discomfort/distress to US so we work to relieve it

criticisms of social exchange theory

Criticisms: o Explains some forms of helping but nor all o Suggests that true altruism doesn't exist (egoist motive assumed) o Doesn't explain spontaneous/quickly helped

diffusion of responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility is a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present.

what is prosocial behavior

Prosocial behavior is any action intended to help others. One motivation for prosocial behavior is altruism, or the desire to help others with no expectation of reward. In this lesson, we exploreprosocial behavior and the elements that social psychologists have identified as predicting it.

support for social exchange theory

Some support for this model: o As $$$ is required to help, the helping decreases o People are less likely to help when they are late • Seminiarians o As perception of danger increases, helping decreases = explains why women help less in some situations o Conditions that cause discomfort to helper reduces helping (ex: bleeding, disfigured) • More attractive people get more help •

bystander effect

The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. The probability of help is inversely related to the number of bystanders. often times in ambiguous situations

empathy-joy hypothesis

helper motivated by the positive emotion a helper anticipates as the result of helping = helpers high • Physical benefits to helping with release of endorphin

pluralistic ignorance

pluralistic ignorance is a situation in which a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but incorrectly assume that most others accept it, and therefore go along with it.[1] This is also described as "no one believes, but everyone thinks that everyone believes."

situational model of helping

situational model of helping= which attempted to explain the critical processes bystanders go through before helping occurs. The model suggests there are five steps to helping: notice of the event, interpret the need for help, take personal responsibility, decide what kind of help to give, and provide help. - when do bystanders intervene? Model basics: the decision to help is complex and influenced by situational factors Before offering help one has to notice the situation, identify it as an emergency, take responilsbilty, and know how to help o There are barriers at each step

evolutionalry/biological psychologists say

that reciprocal altruism in small groups boosts everyones survival parents empathy for their children and other relatives promotes surivival of shared genes.

social responisbility norm

that we should help those in need without regard for future exchange. when we pick up dropped books for the person on crutches , we expect nothing in return

reciprocity norm

that we should return help to those who have helped us. thus we expect that those who recieve favors should later return them. The reciprocity norma is made by out awarness that some people are incapable of reciprocal giving and receiving

people are more likely to help if they are

they feel guilty (relieve the guilt or restore self image) in a good mood are deeply religious

circumstances when people are most likely to help

they have just observed a helpful model they are not late/in a rush the victim appears to need help the victim is similar to us we are in a small town/rural area there are few other bystanders

how does empathy motivate helping batson vs. cialdini

when you feel anothers distress you want to help them relieve it -batson empathetic altruism hypothesis: pure altruistic helping occurs when we experience empathy for the victim -cialdini negative-affect theory of empathy and helping: empathy creates distress for us so we help to relieve it

Social exchange theory (cost-reward)

• Cost-reward model of helping o Basics: cost and reward = social exchange o Potential helper engages in cost/benefit analysis before deciding to help o Helping occurs if benefits of helping outweigh the cost o Benefits: fame, praise, material, reciprocity, increased self esteem, relifef from internal distress, o Costs: pain, inconvenience, danger, financial cost •

empathy as a personality variable

• Empathic people are more helpful • We have more empathy for similar others • Parents can promote empathy by emphasizing how others are effected by hurtful behavior • Women are more empathic • Men appear to be more helpful in heroic rescuing

seizure experiment

• Seizure experiment: placed people in spereate rooms from which the participants would hear a victim crying for help. They were then asked to discuss their problems at university→ then began to hear someone having a seizure and crying for help. Of those who believed there were no other listeners 85% left the room to seek help. Of those who believed four others also overheard the victim only 31% went for help.

smoke filled room experiment

• Smoke filled room: smoke pouring into the testing room was much more likely to be reported by individuals working alone than by three person groups o Among the 24 men in 8 groups, only 1 person reported thee smoke within the first 4 minutes

2 social norms for helping

• Social responsibility: help thy neighbor and those less fortunate because it is our moral responsibility • Reciprocity norm: help those who behave or may help you in the future

5 steps of situational model of helping notice identity it as 911 take responsibility decide how to help provide help

• Step 1: notice o Barriers: distracted, inebriated, can prevent people from noticing when others need help • Step 2: interpret the situation as one where help is needed o Barriers: many situations are ambiguous, o Pluralistic ignorance creates bystander apathy: in ambiguous situations we look to others to see how they react which can lead to bystanders not helping (bystander apathy) • Step 3: take responsibility - is it your job to help? o Is it my job or someone elses o The more people present the more diffused responsibility becomes each person share is smaller o If it is just you all the responsibility is on you o Also is the victim worthy of help/was it their fault they are in the situation • Step 4: decide how to help o What are you/can you do? o Barrier: lack of competence, • Step 5: provide help o Audience inhibition o Afraid of being judged by others present more not help due to embarrassment or awkwardness.