Prosocial behavior

Paul Amato (1983) staged an incident in which a man fell in pain and raised his pant leg to reveal an injury. The staged scene was repeated in rural and urban areas. Of the total number of people who passed the scene, about how many of those in rural areas stopped to help?

50 percent

Recent research described in the textbook (Garcia et al., 2002) indicates that people can experience diffusion of responsibility even if they are all by themselves. Which of the following situations is most likely to create such a diffusion of responsibility effect and might reduce the probability of (for example) donating to a charity?

A person imagines going out to dinner with ten friends before deciding.

Based on results of John Darley' s and Daniel Batson' s (1973) "Good Samaritan" experiment, who is most likely to help an elderly women who has slipped on the ice?

August, who is killing time before an appointment

The authors provide the text of a UPI story describing the discovery of the bones of a disabled dwarf in a cave in northern Italy. The reporters speculate that over 12,000 years ago, early hominids would take care of the disabled members of their group. _____ would argue that the bones belonged to a dwarf who was related to the other cave inhabitants, whereas _____ would argue that the other inhabitants relied on the dwarf for some unknown purpose.

Evolutionary theorists; social exchange theorists

Based on information from your text on residential mobility, which of the following people would be more likely to volunteer in their community?

Layla, who has lived in her community for her whole life

Based on the information presented by the authors of your text, which of the following people would be most likely to help an in-group member?

Lillie, who is Vietnamese

According to evolutionary psychologists, why would Doris be more likely to save her children than her parents in a life-threatening emergency? Doris's children

are more likely to pass on her genes.

Although evidence from studies by Burnstein and his colleagues suggests that people are more likely to help family than strangers or friends in some situations, they also note that people are equally likely to help a friend or family member under which of the following circumstances?

a non-life-threatening situation

According to the gender differences presented by the authors of your text, relatively speaking, ______ would be more likely to help an aging relative with daily tasks than ________.

a woman; a man

All of the following factors that promote prosocial behavior except ___________ have been "ingrained in our genes," according to the theorizing of evolutionary psychologists.

altruism

Marla has revised her will to ensure that upon her death, all of her functioning organs (corneas, liver, kidneys, heart, and so on) will be used to help transplant patients. She's told no one about her actions, and expects nothing in return. This is an example of a(n) ________________ behavior.

altruistic

Raphael volunteers as a Big Brother. He donates money to charity, and he helps his elderly next-door neighbor with weekly shopping and home repairs. Raphael's personality is

altruistic

The overjustification effect suggests that providing for volunteering or community service can lead to

barely sufficient rewards: self-attributions as "kind" and "helpful."

Recall that Gene Burnstein, Chris Crandall, and Shinobu Kitayama (1994) found that when participants imagined a house fire, they were more likely to help some people than other people. Based on these researchers' findings, it seems that in life-and-death situations,

biological relatives are more likely to be helped than are non-relatives.

You know that Susan is a very helpful person. She spends many hours each week volunteering at a local homeless shelter, she donates a lot of money to charities, and she is always the first person to volunteer to organize something when your group of friends wants to get together. According to the research on the altruistic personality, you _____ that Susan would help carry a neighbor's groceries if the situation arose because ______.

cannot be sure; personality is not necessarily the most reliable predictor of prosocial behavior

Sheryl often helps Jessica without any expectation that Jessica will return the favor soon. Sheryl and Jessica probably have a(n) ______ relationship.

communal

Which of the following does not promote helping?

diffusion of responsibility

According to research by Oishi (2006), people who lived in the same area for a longer period of time are more likely to feel all of the following except

embarrassment and dislike for "rough" areas of town.

_____ refers to the ability to experience events or emotions from another person's perspective.

empathy

Men are more likely to help in _____, whereas women are likely to help in ______.

heroic ways; ways that involve a long-term commitment

Recall that Mary Harris and her colleagues (1975) found that churchgoers were more likely to contribute to charity before they attended confession than after confession. These findings are most compatible with

feel bad; do good

Complete the following analogy about helping behavior: rewards outweigh costs: social exchange theory::

feeling empathy: empathy-altruism hypothesis.

According to the evolutionary psychology notion of kin selection, Bob is most likely to help

his brother Ralph

Justin sees a blind person in need of help crossing a busy intersection. If Justin does not feel empathy for the blind person, under what circumstances (according to Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis) would Justin help?

if the rewards would outweigh the costs

The idea that natural selection favors behaviors that help a genetic relative is known as

kin selection.

In explaining the process by which kin selection works to encourage altruism, evolutionary psychologists would argue that

over millennia, genes of those who follow the "biological importance" rule will survive.

When community service work is required by a school or business, there is the downside risk that people will infer that they are volunteering only because it is required and will be less likely to freely volunteer in the future. This risk is known as the _____________.

over-justification effect

Prosocial behavior is

performed with the goal of benefiting another person.

Recall that Bibb Latané and John Darley (1970) had participants complete questionnaires alone, or in the presence of two others. When the experimental room filled with "smoke," participants who were alone reported the potential emergency more quickly than did those who worked on the questionnaire in the company of others. These results provide support for the concept of

pluralistic ignorance

Allen volunteers to visit the homes of AIDS patients because those visits help him forget about his own problems. This is an example of_____ behavior.

prosocial

Helga stops and helps Bjorn change a flat tire along the road because she figures that one day she'll need help and someone will return the favor. This best illustrates the idea of

reciprocity.

Mary Harris and her colleagues (Harris, Benson, & Hall, 1975) found that churchgoers were more likely to donate to charity before they attended confession than after, presumably because the act of confession

reduced their guilt

Prosocial behavior is to _____________ as altruism is to ______________.

rewards; selflessness

_____ theory predicts when there are exceptions to the general rule that we will be more likely to help friends than strangers.

self-esteem maintenance

The authors of your text tell a story about Abraham Lincoln in which Lincoln ordered a coach to stop so he could save some piglets from drowning. Lincoln claimed that he helped because "I should have had no peace of mind all day had I gone on and left that suffering old sow worrying over those pigs." Lincoln argued that he was helping because of

self-interest

Elaine explains that she donates money to charity because, "It makes me feel like I'm investing in the future. It just feels good!" Her motive for helping is best described by which theory?

social exchange

Recall that Arthur Beaman and his colleagues (1978) exposed some students to a lecture on bystander intervention research and other students to a lecture on an unrelated topic. Two weeks later

students exposed to the lecture on helping were more likely than others to help, even in the presence of an unresponsive confederate.

James has just received notice that he's been admitted to the law school of his choice. As he walks along, he's in a good mood. He sees a worker fall off a ladder, and rushes over to assist. Why did James help in this case? Good moods

tend to focus our attention inward, on our attitudes and values.

Even if it is clear that a person needs help, that you are the person responsible to help, and that you know how to help, you might still decide not to help. Reasons that people do not help in such cases include all of the following except

the situation isn't an emergency, and the Latané and Darley model isn't applicable.

In order to best predict whether people will help another person, it is best to know something about _____ and _____

their personality; the particular situation in question

According to Nobel laureate Herbert Simon (1990), norms (such as the reciprocity norm) that encourage altruism have become part of human cultures because

there are survival advantages to learning the norms of one's culture.

If you are in an emergency situation and need help, which of the following statements to a bystander is most likely to get you the help you need?

"You in the red sweater-call 911!"

Malika and Alicia are out shopping when they are asked to contribute to AIDS research. Malika has just received an A- on her psychology exam; Alicia has just received a D. According to your text, who is most likely to contribute?

Malika and Alicia are both likely to help, but for different reasons.

When viewing a commercial for a local charity, who would be the most likely to later contribute to the charity?

Sarah, who has lived in the community for her entire life

Underlying the urban-overload hypothesis is the idea that people become overwhelmed in areas which

are densely populated.

Every morning at the bus stop, Carlos encounters an old woman begging for change. She is clearly hungry and alone. Because Carlos feels very bad for this woman and can "feel her pain," he makes a point of giving her some change each morning that he sees her. Which theoretical approach best explains Carlos's behavior?

empathy-altruism hypothesis

A(n) _____ group is a group with which individuals identify and of which they feel they are members.

in

Pluralistic ignorance is an example of the power of_____ to inhibit helping.

informational social influence

You ask your brother if you can borrow his car for a date on Saturday night. Before handing over the keys, he asks in jest, "What's in it for me?" His question best reflects _____ as applied to prosocial behavior.

social exchange theory

Receiving help can lower a person's self-esteem when

the helper's demonstration of superior skill leads the recipient to feel incompetent.

In support for the empathy-altruism hypothesis, Miho Toi and Daniel Batson (1982) found that participants were most likely to help a student named Carol who was injured in an automobile accident when they were told

to try to imagine how Carol felt about what happened to her and how it changed her life.