Prosocial Behavior
self-interest
an act that seems truly altruistic is sometimes motivated by:
kin selection
more predisposed to help someone who is genetically related to you, especially close relatives and direct lines
pluralistic ignorance
the case in which people think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way, when in fact they are not
to relieve the other person's distress (not to gain anything for yourself)
when you feel empathy for someone, what is your goal?
- evolutionary psychology - social exchange theory - empathy-altruism hypothesis
3 basic motives underlying prosocial behavior:
1. good moods make us look on the bright side of life 2. helping others = excellent way of prolonging a good mood 3. good moods increase attention we pay to ourselves and we are more likely to be true to our values and ideals
3 reasons being in a good mood can increase helping:
1. notice the event 2. interpret event as emergency 3. assume responsibility 4. knowing how to help 5. deciding to implement help
5 steps to a decision to help:
prosocial behavior
Any behavior we engage in to help someone else
Behavior is a function of the person interacting with the situation
B=f(PXS)
a foreigner feinted on a subway and Chinese riders ran and made external attributions.
Give an example of cultural differences in attribution:
evolutionary psychology
Helping is an instinctive reaction to promote the welfare of those genetically similar to us
pluralistic ignorance
Lantane & Darley's smoke in the room study was an example of:
if it is an area of great importance to our self-esteem (when it would help a friend do better than you would do yourself)
When are we less likely to help a friend and more likely to help a stranger?
prosocial behavior
Why we help others
personality; pressures of the situation
___ alone does not determine behavior, the ___ matter as well
positive psychology
a useful and necessary corrective to the emphasis on mental illness in clinical psychology and has led to many fascinating research programs
by how easily they can escape the situation
according to Baton, how can we tell if a person is helping for purely altruistic reasons?
bystander effect
an inverse relationship between the number of people around and the number of people who help
prosocial behavior
any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person
out-group
any group with which an individual does not identify
situational factors
anything that isn't unique about an individual that affects helping
social exchange theory
argues that much of what we do stems from the desire to maximize our rewards and minimize our costs
chivalrous & heroic; nurturing, caring, and to value close, long-term relationships
cross-culturally males are considered ___ and ___ and women are expected to be ___, ___, and value ___
fundamental attribution error
collectivist cultures are less prone to falling to the:
social exchange theory
cost-benefit analysis of prosocial behavior
kin selection group selection norm of reciprocity
evolutionary perspectives of prosocial behavior
personality gender culture mood the social situation
determinants of prosocial behavior:
factors that have become ingrained in our genes
evolutionary psychologists believe that people help others because of:
pluralistic ignorance
everyone being ignorant together about a situation
people from collectivist cultures are more likely to harm another person if the person giving the orders has authority because of their emphasis on authority
give an example of cultural differences in obedience
people from collectivist cultures are more helping toward in group members but significantly less helping toward out group members; don't yield for ambulance
give an example of cultural differences in prosocial behaviors
evolutionary perspectives
have trouble explaining why people help others
altruism
helping purely out of the desire to benefit someone else, with no benefit to yourself
residential mobility
how much mobility a neighborhood has
notice the event, interpret it as emergency, assume responsibility, decide how to help, and then provide that help
how to combat the bystander effect:
social exchange
if you do not feel empathy for a person ___ concerns come into play
you will help the regardless of what you have to gain or lose
if you feel empathy for someone:
cultural differences situational difference personal differences the bystander effect
list some examples of situational factors of prosocial behavior
evolutionary perspectives & altruism vs egoistic motives
list the motivational factors behind prosocial behavior:
heroic emergency situations
men are more likely to help in :
norms
prescribe different traits and behaviors for males and females
in-group; out-group
people favor their ___ and discriminate against members of ___
in one place for a long amount of time
people who have lived ___ are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors that help the community
egoism
prosocial behaviors done with the expectation of receiving something in return
simpatia
refers to a range of social and emotional traits, including being friendly, polite, good-natured, pleasant, and helpful towards others
- Environment (rural vs urban) - residential mobility (how often you have moved) - the number of bystanders, the nature of the relationship (communal vs exchange) - the effects of the media
situational determinants of prosocial behavior
empathy
the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions in the way that person experiences them
empathy
the ability to take the perspective of another person
evolutionary psychology
the attempt to explain social behavior in terms of genetic factors that have evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection
altruism
the desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper
norm of reciprocity
the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future
bystander effect
the finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help
in-group
the group with which an individual identifies as a member
kin selection
the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection
empathy-altruism hypothesis
the idea that when we feel empathy for another person, we will attempt to help that person for purely altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain
mobility, investment, help
the less ___ the more stable a neighborhood, the more ___ the neighborhood will have, and the more likely they will be to ___
diffusion of responsibility
the phenomenon wherein each bystander's sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases
altruistic personality
the qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations
social exchange theory
the rewards of helping often outweigh the costs, so helping is in our self-interest
urban overload hypothesis
the theory that people living in cities are constantly bombarded with stimulation and that they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it
natural selection favors genes that promote the survival of the individual
theory of evolution
social exchange theory
theory that says we help people when we have nothing to lose and don't help when the cost is high
if they come from a rural neighborhood
to predict whether people will help, it is most important to know:
altruism
true selflessness; pure untainted desire to promote another's welfare
group selection
type of selection where group behavior is adaptive, and groups have adapted to have prosocial norms because altruistic groups survive
the empathy-altruism hypothesis
under some conditions, powerful feelings of empathy and compassion for the victim prompt selfless giving
our in-group
we are more likely to feel empathy towards people in:
that it doesn't exist, and people only help when the benefits outweigh the costs
what do social exchange theorists argue about altruism?
people from small towns are more likely to internalize altruistic values, and people from large towns/cities are overwhelmed with stimulation
why are people from small towns more likely to help?
they increase people's empathy and increase the accessibility of thoughts about helping others
why does playing a prosocial video game or listening to songs with prosocial lyrics make people more helpful?
long-term and caregiver situations
women are more likely to help in:
- how do we know if someone is feeling empathy/distress - empathy may produce guilt - there is no clear divide between the self and others - not relevant in close relationship situations
what are some criticisms of the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
- alleviates personal distress - feels good - norm of reciprocity (quid pro quo) - social rewards - don't waste time/effort/physical goods - don't put yourself in physical danger
what are some of the benefits that influence whether a person may or may not help a person?
time effort physical danger loss of goods distress (from not helping)
what are some of the costs that influence whether a person may or may not help a person?
if you know other people are around you will diffuse the responsibility of the situation on to them
what is diffusion of responsibility?
preferential helping of genetic relatives, with preferential helping of genetic younger relatives over older genetic relatives
what is kin selection?
the more people around, the less often you see something as an emergency
what is pluralistic ignorance?
the tendency for people to help less if there are more people around
what is the bystander effect?
social exchange theory doesn't trace the desire to maximize rewards and minimize punishments back to our evolutionary roots, nor does it assume that the desire is genetically based
what is the difference between evolutionary approaches to prosocial behavior and the social exchange theory?
you observe someone in need of help and whether you feel empathy towards that person determines why you will help, if you will help
what is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
doing favors for others inspired a need for the favor to be returned
what is the evolutionary perspective on the norm of reciprocity?
propagate genes, not just survive
what is the goal of kin selection?
selfless or selfish nature of human kind
what is the motivation behind prosocial behavior?
norm of reciprocity group selection kin selection
what is used to explain altruism?
empathy-altruism hypothesis
what says that you encounter someone in need and take on how they are feeling?
emotion of gratitude
what was said to have evolved in order to regulate reciprocity?
when addressed by name
when ___ people are more likely to feel a responsibility to help, even when many others are present
in situations in which helping makes them look good
when are religious people more likely to help?
in situations in which no one will know that they helped
when are religious people not more likely to help?
when there is something in it for us
when do people tend to help out-group members?
when we feel guilty or sad
when do we help if we are in a bad mood?
when we feel empathy
when does pure altruism come into play?
you help regardless if it is in your own interest
when it comes to helping others, empathy =
you help for your own benefit or you don't help at all
when it comes to helping others, no empathy =
evolutionary protectant, you know your daughter's baby has your genes, you don't know for sure that your son's baby is his because boys don't get pregnant, and we need to be able to pass along our genes. This is also why people stress that a baby looks like his father
when it comes to kin selection, why is there greater investment in a daughter's child over a son's?
conscientiousness, extrovertedness, and narcissism
when it comes to situational factors, people differ in amounts of:
small towns
where has helping been found to be more prevalent?
people who score high on personality tests of altruism are not that much more likely to help than those with lower scores
who is more likely to help, a person with a high score on personality tests of altruism or those with lower scores?
