Altruism & Bystanders

1. Altruism & Bystanders • Prosocial behaviour • Altruistic behaviour • Bystander behaviour www.psychlotron.org.uk

2. Would You Help? www.psychlotron.org.uk

3. Important Terms • Prosocial behaviour • Acts that benefit people other than the actor • Altruistic behaviour • Acts that benefit others, carried out at a cost to the actor www.psychlotron.org.uk

4. Universal Egoism • Evolutionary processes do not obviously favour selfless behaviour • Consequently, psychologists widely assume that all ‘altruistic’ acts involve benefits to the actor • Apparently selfless acts are carried out for selfish reasons www.psychlotron.org.uk

5. Explanations • Arousal-cost reward (Piliavin & Piliavin) • Others’ distress causes arousal, which we are motivated to reduce • Can reduce arousal by either helping the person or walking away from the situation • Decision to help determined by costs versus rewards of helping/not helping www.psychlotron.org.uk

6. Explanations • Empathy-Altruism (Batson) • Altruism/helping is motivated by the ability to empathise with the person in trouble • Helping brings a range of benefits: • To the self (egoism) • To the group (collectivism, inclusive fitness) • Upholding principles • Obeying social norms www.psychlotron.org.uk

7. Predictions • Arousal-Cost-Reward • We will help when costs are low, rewards are high and costs of not helping are high • Empathy-Altruism • We will help when empathic identification (similarity) is high and ease of escape is low www.psychlotron.org.uk

8. Bystanders in Emergencies • The Bystander Effect (Latane & Darley): • The more people present at an emergency, the less likely that help will be given • Diffusion of responsibility • Pluralistic ignorance • The nature of the situation • The characteristics of the potential helper www.psychlotron.org.uk

9. Diffusion of Responsibility • 1 person present – sole responsibility • 2 people present – 50% responsible • 30 people present – all assume someone else will take care of it • E.g. Kitty Genovese case (NB. This is NOT a study, so don’t use it as such) www.psychlotron.org.uk

10. Pluralistic Ignorance Embed smoke-filled room video on this slide www.psychlotron.org.uk

11. Pluralistic Ignorance • Occurs when situation is not clearly an emergency i.e. is ambiguous • People cue their own behaviour off others • So if no-one knows whether to do anything, no-one does anything • A form of informational influence (conformity) www.psychlotron.org.uk

12. Other Factors • Does the potential helper have the skills to help? • Is there someone else nearby more qualified to intervene? • Is the person in genuine need (legitimacy)? • Is the person perceived to have brought it on themselves? www.psychlotron.org.uk

13. Cultural Variations • Are there differences in prosocial/helping behaviour? • Within a culture e.g. urban versus rural areas • Between cultures e.g. individualist versus collectivist cultures www.psychlotron.org.uk

14. Cultural Variations • Urban Overload Hypothesis (Milgram, 1970) • People who live in cities are exposed to high levels of environmental stimulation • They develop strategies to cut out excessive stimulation • One such strategy is to avoid interactions with strangers – this leads to a reduction in helping behaviour in some situations www.psychlotron.org.uk

15. Cultural Variations • Individualist versus collectivist • Members of collectivist cultures tend to prioritise the interests of the group over self-interest • Norms of reciprocity • Help may be given in the expectation that it will be ‘paid back’ at a future date • Helping behaviour may be more apparent in non-Western societies – but it does not follow that altruism is higher www.psychlotron.org.uk