Social Psychology Chapter 9

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior: Religiosity

-Predicts planned helping -Committed students volunteered more hours than non-religious students -Ex: 24% of sample went to services weekly; 24% gave 48% of all donations

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior: Mood

-"Feel good go good" effect -Negative-state relief hypothesis

Explanations for "feel good do good" effect

-Cognitive attributions: puts the blame on the confederate (bad mood) if you're in a good mood, you attribute it could happen to anyone -Helping prolongs our good mood -Good moods increase self-attention when you are more self aware you behave more congruently with your values and morals

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior: Gender

-Gender stereotypes and expectations lead men and women to help in different circumstances -Two scenarios: -Storm the cockpit of a plane from stereotypes? Males -Men help in more emergency situations -Provide assistance to a disabled neighbor? Females

Situational Determinants of Prosocial behavior: rural vs. urban environments

-Research has found that people in rural areas help more than those in urban environments

Characteristics of the Victim: Likability

-We are more likely to help someone who is similar to us -We are more likely to help attractive people than unattractive people

Characteristics of the Victim: victim responsibility

-When people get themselves in a sticky situation due to their own carelessness "You made your bed you have to lay in it" -Attributions about victim's need for help -Piliavin's subway study example (if its your fault, I'm not going to be the one to solve it)

Negative-state relief hypothesis

-You help in order to alleviate your own sadness -Does it matter what causes the sadness? -It doesn't really matter where negative emotions come from -Caveats: ♣ If you are so focused on your negative mood, then you may be so self-focused that you don't notice someone who needs help -Bottom line helping softens a bad mood and sustains a good mood

"Feel good go good" effect

-You're more likely to help when you're in a good mood

Reciprocal altruism

-helping non-relatives -those who cooperate have better chance of survival

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior (4)

1.) Altruistic Personality 2.) Religiosity 3.) Mood 4.) Gender

Explanations of Bystander Effect

1.) Diffusion of responsibility: the person may assume that someone else has already helped 2.) Ambiguity of situation: people are not sure if an event is an emergency -We look at other people to see how they are reacting -Pluralistic ignorance: nothing is wrong because no one else is concerned -3.) Evaluation apprehension: we may assume that we could do something wrong and others will evaluate you negatively

Those who helped were different from those who did not help on 5 characteristics

1.) Empathy: those who helped had higher levels of empathy 2.) Belief in a just world: these helpful people perceive the world as a fair and predictable place (If I help now, someone will help me in the future) 3.) Social Responsibility: every person is responsible to help the people that they can 4.) Internal locus of control: they are in charge and in control of their life 5.) Low egocentrism: those who help are less self-centered and care more about other people's needs and feelings

Characteristics of the Victim (2)

1.) Likability 2.) Victim Responsibility

Decision Perspective: Four Steps to Helping

1.) Noticing an event/interpreting it as an emergency 2.) Assuming responsibility: if you feel like its your responsibility to help, you are more likely to help 3.) Weighing the costs and benefits -The greater the perceived costs, the less likely you are to help -Costs: time, energy, inconvenience, safety -If you don't help someone: someone can view you as not a very good person, you feel guilty afterwards 4.) Deciding how to help and taking action -Call 911? Intervene yourself? -Time pressure can influence your willingness to help

Situational Determinants of Prosocial behavior

1.) Number of Bystanders 2.) Rural vs. urban environments

Explanation for rural vs. urban environments

1.) People living in small towns may be more neighborly 2.) Urban-overload hypothesis: people living in large cities learn to keep to themselves (put blinders on) so they don't become overwhelmed -Support for urban-overload hypothesis: -The size of the town where you grow up is not related to helping behavior -It matters what size of the town you are currently in -Population density more related to helping than population size

Why do we spend time doing things that benefit others?

Evolutionary theorists argue that we do so because of selfish reasons: to pass on our own genes

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior: Altruistic Personality

Who helps in what situation? -Study of elementary and high school students (10,000 students) -Donate money, toys, time? -The extent to which they wanted to help in one situation was not highly correlated with another situation -Relationship to social approval o Study: college kids take survey to see level of social approval; then have the chance to donate to a cause o The students who needed the highest level of need for social approval donated the most ♣ But only if someone watched them give the money (public way)

Empathy-Altruism Theory

another possibility is that people help because they feel empathy for another and want to reduce the victim's pain

Kin altruism

helping our genetic relatives the greater the relatedness, the more likely we are to help

Bystander effect

the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help