Social Psychology Chapter 14 Helping Behavior

Developing Cooperative Relationships

A Tutsi woman in Rwanda coexists peacefully with a Hutu man who had killed people close to her during the genocide in Rwanda.

Personal Distress

A motive for helping those in distress that may arise from a need to reduce our own distress.

Diffusion of Responsibility

A reduction of the sense of urgency to help someone involved in an emergency or dangerous situation under the assumption that others who are also observing the situation will help.

Social Rewards

Benefits like praise, positive attention, tangible rewards, honors, and gratitude that may be gained from helping others.

Pluralistic Ignorance

Bystanders may do nothing if they are not sure what is happening and don't see anyone else responding. Ex: Here, this crowd of children may collectively arrive at the conclusion that the boys are just playing when bullying may be taking place given the ambiguous responses of other kids. Ex: Participants were led through a construction-filled hallway to a lab. As they walked to the lab, they passed several stacks of wooden frames used in construction and a workman who seemed to be doing repairs. Once in the lab room, the participants began the ostensible task of the experiment. The results seeing others' spontaneous emotional expressions reduces the effects of pluralistic ignorance.

Bystander Intervention

Giving assistance to someone in need on the part of those who have witnessed an emergency. Bystander intervention is generally reduced as the number of observers increases, because each person feels that someone else will probably help.

Empathic Concern

Identifying with another person feeling and understanding what that person is experiencing accompanied by the intention to help the person in need.

Subra et al. 2010 Study

In this article it is proposed that the link between alcohol and aggression is so strong that mere exposure to alcohol-related cues will automatically activate aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Two experiments tested this, in both experiments, the effects of alcohol-related cues were as strong as the effect of aggression-related cues on aggressive thoughts and behaviors. People do not need to drink a drop of alcohol to become aggressive; exposure to alcohol cues is enough to automatically increase aggression.

Volunteerism

Nonmonetary assistance an individual regularly provides to another person or group with no expectation of compensation.

Prisoner's Dilemma Game

Participants can either choose to cooperate or defect and by the design of the game defection dominates the game because it is the option that increases an individuals chances of receiving money despite what the other participant does.

Kin Selection

The tendency for natural selection to favor behaviors that increase the chances of survival of genetic relatives.

Reciprocal Altruism

The tendency to help others with the expectation that they are likely to help us in return at some future time. Ex: vampire bats will regurgitate blood to feed starving bats that have given blood to them in the past, but they will not give blood to bats that have no helped them in the past.