Social Psych Ch 9
One day you are out biking on a relatively deserted trail. You see a fellow cyclist on the side of the trail with the bike's wheels in the air. When will you be most likely to help?
When you know a great deal about bikes and work at a bicycle repair shop
Two aspects of empathy are ________ and ________.
taking another's perspective; sympathizing with another person
A professor, two students, and the president of the student government are all on an elevator. When one of the students passes out, who is most likely to be seen as having the responsibility to help?
the professor
Who mostly benefits from crowdfunding?
Entrepreneurs and communities
Jenny, a 5-year-old child, may be MOST likely to exhibit helping behavior after playing ________ video game.
a prosocial
Mark and Cynthia are writing out checks to donate to their alma mater. First, Mark says he's going to donate $5,000, and then Cynthia indicates she might be able to donate more than that. Mark then decides he too could contribute more than $5,000. What is this called?
Competitive altruism
At school, Carl falls down the stairs and badly sprains his ankle. When will Carl most likely receive help?
Before school starts when only one other student is in the hallway.
Which of the following explains why a positive mood can decrease the probability of responding in prosocial ways?
Being in a good mood can lead us to interpret emergency situations as not really serious.
If people help in order to receive praise from others, then what would be expected under cover of darkness?
People would be less likely to help others.
Danya is in a really bad mood after receiving a low score on an exam. She mopes, complains, and is curt with her friends. Later in the day, Danya goes to volunteer at a local homeless shelter. Why would she do this?
She knows that helping others will make her feel better.
Ron and Elaine are walking down the street when they see someone helping an old man across the road. On the next block, they see a woman having difficulty in trying to get across the street. Elaine says, "We'd better give her a hand." The woman who initially helped the old man
acted as a prosocial model.
Frank is a young musician who sometimes earns extra money by playing guitar on a downtown street corner during lunch hour. He sometimes puts a dollar and a few coins in his open guitar case before he starts playing. Frank does this because he
believes the presence of the money will act as a model for prosocial behavior for his audience.
David sees a homeless person and thinks that "this guy has no one to blame but himself." Thus, David appears to believe that this homeless man's misfortunes are
controllable
SooHee wants to open her own bakery. She will need at least $50,000 dollars for equipment and a year's worth of rent for a retail space on Main Street in her town. Instead of getting a loan through her bank, SooHee creates a website that asks people she knows, along with strangers, to contribute to her dream of opening a bakery. Each $5 donation can be redeemed for a muffin once the bakery opens. What process is SooHee taking advantage of?
crowdfunding
While walking down Madison Avenue, Thomas smelled smoke. Soon, Thomas saw flames leaping out of a third story apartment window. In a flash, Thomas saw another man run into the burning building and emerge, only a minute later, with a young girl in his arms. Witnessing this made Thomas feel hopeful about humans and our ability to help each other. Thomas felt
elation
Samantha is watching a movie on TV. The story is about a young boy who had lost his brother in a traffic accident. Samantha says that she knows just how the boy feels and even guesses many of the character's lines before he says them. This situation illustrates the type of perspective-taking involved with
feeling empathy for—and identifying with—a fictional character.
Emily, who is always slightly depressed, helps a little boy find his mom at the mall. Emily is surprised to find her mood has improved. This is likely because
helping a person often relieves a negative mood.
A New York City taxi cab driver once intervened and stopped what he perceived to be a mugging in progress—even though it actually was a group of actors performing a scene for a television sketch. The taxi driver probably intervened due to
his feelings of empathy.
The empathy-altruism hypothesis suggests that at least some prosocial behavior is
motivated solely by the desire to help someone in need, even if unpleasant or dangerous situations are involved.
Allen is running late for his social psychology class. He is hurrying across campus and is thinking about the instructor's reaction to his tardiness on an exam day. He passed by a small group of students clustered around someone who is lying on the ground, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. Allen did not stop to help because he simply was not aware of what was happening at the time. This failure to engage in prosocial behavior was probably due to Allen's
not paying attention to the situation.
Oscar is alone resting on a beach when he notices someone who appears to be floundering in the ocean. Since he does not know how to swim, Oscar realizes that he cannot help this individual himself. This example illustrates that people
often decide that they cannot help when they do not know what to do.
Suppose Roger, a religious fundamentalist, is told that three individuals—a gay man, an unwed mother, and a college student—are in need of aid due to employment problems. Roger would be MOST likely to believe that aid should go to
the college student.
While walking through Central Park, Mark sees a man being attacked and mugged. There are many people around the scene, and many of these people are holding phones. Mark is concerned for the man but ultimately does nothing. Mark's actions can be explained by the concept of
the diffusion of responsibility.
Emily is out for a leisurely drive and has just witnessed the car in front of her on the highway slow to a stop and pull off to the side of the road. The driver got out of the vehicle and lifted the hood. She is very adept at fixing cars and there are not too many other cars on the road. After considering helping for a bit, Emily continues to drive past the stranded motorist. Why?
Emily is concerned the driver might be setting up a trap or trick.
Janelle wants to begin hosting her own podcast focused on community events. She will need some money to purchase recording equipment and create a small studio in her house. She is thinking of reaching out to other community members to ask for their financial support. Which of the following websites should Janelle use?
Kickstarter
Your friend Gretchen is notoriously rude to her partner. She never says anything nice or complimentary and frequently embarrasses her partner in front of others. Gretchen calls and leaves a very distressed message for you letting you know that her partner has dumped her and she really needs someone to talk to about it. Will you call Gretchen back?
No, because you feel Gretchen is responsible for her own predicament.
Jason is the owner of a furniture store in a small Southern town. He donated several hundred mattresses to the Red Cross immediately after hearing about the devastation caused in a neighboring state by a hurricane. He was motivated to do so by his desire to help others, by thoughts of the income tax deduction he could take, and by the recognition his store would receive from his act of charity. This is an example of
Prosocial behavior
Raphael helps Lisa carry her groceries up the stairs. Lisa comes by 15 minutes later and says, "Thank you. The frozen food would have melted if you hadn't helped me." Because of her response to his help, Raphael is motivated to help others later. This scenario is MOST consistent with the
empathic joy hypothesis.
Steven sees an emergency and then his empathy is aroused; he then provides help simply because the victim needed help and it felt good to provide help. This example illustrates the
empathy-altruism hypothesis
Marian, who is wearing a distinctive and pleasant perfume, has dropped all of the contents of her purse and is in need of assistance. The fact that she is wearing perfume should
increase her likelihood of receiving help.
Wayne and Cheryl were at a restaurant eating dinner when he noticed a faint smell of smoke coming from the air conditioning vent. No one else in the busy restaurant seemed to be concerned about the odor, and Wayne was not sure if it was the result of an electrical problem or of food scorching in the kitchen. Wayne's uncertainty, combined with the observation that others were not taking action, means that Wayne will probably
not take any action in the situation.
On the street, a passerby notices Jeanette's bruised eye and asks if she is okay. Jeanette said that her boyfriend hit her, and the man said he was sorry to hear that but continued on his way. Later, Jeanette's best friend, Ellen, notices that Jeanette's bruise. When Jeanette tells her what happened, Ellen offers to provide help. This example best illustrates that
people are much more inclined to help a close friend than a stranger.
Walter has just watched the news of Hurricane Irene, including an interview with a man who is standing in knee-deep water in his basement. Walter decides to go to the store and on his way sees a stranded motorist. The empathy-altruism model predicts that Walter will
stop and try to help because he can understand how it feels to be stranded.
Walter has just watched the news of Hurricane Irene, including an interview with a man who is standing in knee-deep water in his basement. Walter decides to go to the store, and on his way sees a stranded motorist. The negative state relief model predicts that Walter will
stop and try to help in order to alleviate his own negative feelings.
Karen knows that her neighbors often struggle to make ends meet. She sometimes offers to babysit for free because she can easily afford to do so and feels good that she can help in this small way. This example most clearly illustrates
the empathic joy hypothesis.
