Chapter 9- Prosocial Behavior: Helping Others

Factors That Reduce Helping -What is negative effects of Social exclusion?

-undermines their self-esteem -leads them to feel isolated -less satisfied with their lives -reduces the tendency of the excluded people to help others -Reduced feelings of empathy

Responding to an Emergency: Will Bystanders Help? Helping in Emergencies: Apathy—or Action? The more witnesses present at an emergency, the more likely the victims are to receive help?

Common sense suggests that the greater the number of witnesses to an emergency (or in this case, a crime), the more likely it is that someone will help. BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE

Negative-State Relief: Helping Can Reduce Unpleasant Feelings -Besides empathy, what is another motive for helping others?

Instead of helping because we care about the welfare of another person (empathic concern), understand their feelings (empathic accuracy), and share them (emotional empathy)... we help because such actions allow us to REDUCE our own *negative emotions*. In other words, we do a good thing in order to stop feeling bad.

Are Prosocial Behavior and Aggression Opposites?

Prosocial actions help the recipients in some way, while aggressive actions harm them, so they involve very different kind of actions, but NOT ALWAYS these two aspects of social behavior are NOT direct opposites.

Competitive Altruism: Why Nice People Sometimes Finish First What is competitive altruism?

Refers to situations in which individuals behave in a prosocial way in order to boost their own status and reputation- to show that they are even more helpful than others. This way ultimately brings them *large benefits*, ones that more than OFFSETS THE COSTS of engaging in prosocial actions.

Factors That Increase Prosocial Behavior How does awe shift our prosocial behavior?

So, awe—because it shifts our attention away from ourselves and our own concerns—does seem to increase the tendency to engage in pro-social behavior. When individuals experience awe—for instance, when they look at the Redwood forest—they tend to focus less on themselves and their own concerns. That, in turn, increases their tendency to help others who need assistance.

Gender and Prosocial Behavior: Do Women and Men Differ?

Women and men do not differ in prosocial behavior overall, but women are more likely to engage in prosocial actions when these involve people with whom they personal relationships than with strangers, while men may be just as likely to help a stranger as a friend.

kin selection theory what is reciprocal altruism theory?

a view suggesting that we may be willing to help people unrelated to us because helping is usually reciprocated: If we help them, they help us, so we do ultimately benefit, and our chances of survival could then be indirectly increased

prosocial behavior

actions by individuals that help others, often, with no immediate benefit to the helpers

Responding to an Emergency: Will Bystanders Help? Key Steps in Deciding to Help—Or Not -What are 5 factors that play a role in decision making under these emergency conditions?

deciding to help in an emergency situation is not a simple, straightforward decision. Rather, it involves a number of steps or decisions, and only if all of these deci- sions are positive does actual helping occur. 5 factors: 1. Noticing, or failing to notice, that something unusual is happening. 2. Correctly interpreting an event as an emergency. 3. Accept responsibility for helping 4. Decide that you have the knowledge and/or skills to act. 5. Decide to actually help

Motives for Prosocial Behavior Empathy-Altruism: It Feels Good to Help Others -What is Empathy?

empathy—the capacity to be able to experience others' *emotional states*, feel *sympathetic* toward them, and take their *perspective*

Negative-State Relief: Helping Can Reduce Unpleasant Feelings - what is the negative-state relief model?

explanation of prosocial behavior: proposes that people help other people in order to relieve and make less nega- tive their own emotional discomfort. In this kind of situation, unhappiness leads to *prosocial behavior*, and empathy is NOT a necessary component ex: you could be upset about receiving a bad grade or about seeing that a stranger has been injured. In either instance, you engage in a prosocial act primarily as a way to improve your own negative mood

kin selection theory

suggests that we help others who are related to us because this increases the likelihood that our *genes* will be transmitted to future generations. The closer the relationship between the helper and those being helped, the greater the chance for altruistic behavior. more likely to help young relatives, who have many years of reproductive life ahead of them, than older ones.

Responding to an Emergency: Will Bystanders Help? Key Steps in Deciding to Help—Or Not What is pluralistic ignorance?

tendency for an individual surrounded by a group of strangers to hesitate and do nothing Because none of the bystanders knows for sure what is happening, each depends on the others to provide cues. Each individual is less likely to respond if the others fail to respond.

Factors That Increase Prosocial Behavior Can playing prosocial Video Games help?

Yes, depending on their content, they can facilitate either harmful, aggressive actions or beneficial, prosocial ones. Clearly, it is the nature of the games— not the games themselves—that is crucial with respect to the social side of life.

Responding to an Emergency: Will Bystanders Help? Is There Safety in Numbers? Sometimes, but Not Always What is diffusion of responsibility?

the more bystanders present as witnesses to an emergency, the LESS likely each of them is to provide help and the GREATER the delay before help occurs (the bystander effect). After all, the greater the number of potential helpers, the LESS RESPONSIBLE any one individual will feel, and the more each will assume that "someone else will do it."

Why People Help: Motives for Prosocial Behavior Empathy-Altruism: It Feels Good to Help Others -What are 3 components of empathy?

1. Emotional empathy - emotional aspect that involves sharing the feelings and emotions of others. We help because we share emotions with others 2. Empathic accuracy - cognitive component that involves perceiving others' thoughts and feelings accurately. We held because we understand their feelings. 3. Empathic concern - that involved feelings of concern for another's well-being. We help because we care about the welfare of another person

Factors That Increase Prosocial Behavior Social Class- Do people who have less give more?

The less financial resources people have, the more generous they will be. Individuals lower in SES status expressed GREATER COMPASSION for others than individuals higher in socioeconomic status. people of lower SES often report that they have *less control* over their lives and what happens to them which, in turn, leads them to form *stronger connections* to others who face the same situation. People higher in SES status and who have greater financial resources at their disposal, in contrast, often experience *greater feelings of control*, and so have *lower needs to affiliate* with others who are facing the same situation as themselves.

Empathic Joy: Feeling Good by Helping Others -what is empathic joy hypothesis?

This view suggests that helpers enjoy the positive reactions shown by others whom they help. ex: do you recall how good it felt seeing someone you care about smile and show pleasure when you gave them a gift? This is empathic joy. An important implication of this idea is that it is CRUCIAL for the person who helps to know that his or her actions had a positive impact on the victim.

Factors That Increase Prosocial Behavior Exposure to Prosocial Models- Live or Electronic ' -How does presence of a helpful bystander provide a strong social model?

When people see another person behaving in a prosocial manner, their own tendency to perform such helpful actions is increased—a very positive result of the modeling effects An example of such modeling is provided by a field experiment in which a young woman (a research assistant) with a flat tire parked her car just off the road. Motorists were much more inclined to stop and help this woman if they had previously driven past a staged scene in which another woman with car trouble was observed receiving assistance

Emotion and Prosocial Behavior: Mood, Feelings of Elevation, and Helping Feelings of Elation and helping Others What is elation? Does it also increase our tendency to engage in prosocial behavior?

When we see another person engaging in a kind or helpful act, this can have a strong effect on our emotions. In particular, it can trigger feelings of *elation*—it can make us feel inspired, uplifted, and optimistic about human nature Yes, the tendency to perform prosocial actions can be increased by exposure to others engaging in such actions. Kindness, in short, is "contagious" and can be encouraged by witnessing it in the actions of others.

Emotion and Prosocial Behavior: Mood, Feelings of Elevation, and Helping Positive Emotions and prosocial behavior Is there link between good moods and helping?

Yes, But under certain specific circumstances, however, a *positive* mood can *decrease* the probability of responding in a prosocial way This is because being in a good mood can lead us to interpret various situations—especially emergencies—as not really serious. And even if it is clear that an emergency exists, people in a good mood sometimes help LESS than those in a neutral mood if helping involves actions that are difficult or will detract from their current good mood.

Empathy-Altruism: It Feels Good to Help Others Mirror Neurons: A Biological Foundation for Empathy—and helping others -What are factors that encourage empathy? -What are factors that discourage empathy?

encourage empathy: -positive affect -the desire to affiliate with others -social desirability—the desire to "look good" to others by doing the right or approved thing in a given situation. discouraged empathy: -others' suffering (which can be too painful to watch), In short, empathy toward others is far from an *automatic reaction*—it is more likely to occur under some circumstances than others.

Factors That Reduce Helping: How does putting an economic value on our time reduces prosocial behavior?

if we attach economic value to our time, we may be less likely to donate it to helping others

Motives for Prosocial Behavior Empathy-Altruism: It Feels Good to Help Others -What is empathy-altruism hypothesis?

proposes that, because of empathy, we help those in need because we experience empathic concern for them. Compassion for other people may outweigh all other considerations

Empathy-Altruism: It Feels Good to Help Others Mirror Neurons: A Biological Foundation for Empathy—and helping others -What is the role of mirror neurons in empathy?

the higher an individual's capacity to experience empathy, the *greater* the activity of mirror neuron system mirror neurons are active when individuals observe others' emotional expressions, Those with autism have *reduced* capacity to experience empathy and reduced activity in the mirror neuron system

Factors That Increase Prosocial Behavior Do we Help People more Similar to Ourselves?

Yes, most people are very likely to help family members and friends when they need assistance This is because we can *empathize* more readily with people *similar to ourselves* than those who are *dissimilar* bc we can put ourselves in their place, and imagine what they are experiencing.

Crowdfunding: A New Type of Prosocial Behavior -What is crowdfunding?

a new form of social behavior, allows individuals to make financial contributions to entrepreneurs, to help them start new companies. The contributors receive NOTHING in return for their help. Since contributors will receive virtually nothing in return (perhaps a T-shirt or other small "reward" for their help), this is clearly a form of prosocial behavior—and one that has grown hugely in recent years.

Emotion and Prosocial Behavior: Mood, Feelings of Elevation, and Helping Negative Emotions and prosocial behavior do negative moods reduce such prosocial behavior?

a negative mood or emotion is most likely to increase prosocial behavior if the negative feelings are not too intense, if the emergency is clear-cut rather than ambiguous, and if the act of helping is interesting and satisfying rather than dull and unrewarding

Factors That Reduce Helping: Darkness Feelings of Anonymity reduce the tendency to help others

people would be less likely to help others, or engage in other forms of prosocial behavior, in the presence of darkness —or merely when they believe that conditions provide them with anonymity. Research findings indicate that conditions that *increase anonymity*—including darkness—can encourage harmful actions ranging from dishonesty to looting or even harming others. Of course, engaging in such behaviors would be incompatible with prosocial behavior.

Defensive Helping: Helping Outgroups to Reduce Their Threat to Our Ingroup -What is defensive helping?

to help given to members of outgroups to *reduce the threat* they pose to the STATUS or distinctiveness of one's own ingroup Another motive for helping behavior is that of reducing the threat posed by outgroups to our own ingroup, In such cases, helping does NOT stem from *empathy or positive reactions* to the joy or happiness it induces among recipients, but, rather, from a more selfish motive: protecting the distinctiveness and status of one's own group.