Altruism & Prosocial Behavior

1. Altruism & Prosocial Behavior

2. Definitions • Altruism • voluntarily helping another person • no expectation of benefit in any form • Prosocial Behavior • helping behavior, regardless of the helper’s motives • altruism is a type of prosocial behavior • Egoism vs. Altruism • does altruism truly exist???

3. Perspectives on Helping • Evolutionary Perspective • Darwin (1871) • prosocial behavior in rabbits • also noted in baboons, dolphins, nighthawks, soldier termites, etc. • runs counter to the “survival of the fittest” notion • … but, parents sacrificing themselves for their offspring makes it more likely their genes survive … • what about prosocial behavior toward complete strangers?

4. Perspectives on Helping • Sociocultural Perspective • social origin of prosocial behavior • necessity for functional society • encouragement of social norms • Norm of Social Responsibility • expectation to help those dependent upon us • Norm of Reciprocity • expectation to help those who help us • Norm of Social Justice • rules about fairness and the distribution of resources

5. Perspectives on Helping • Learning Perspective • Reinforcement • rewards and punishments • Observational Learning • modeling

6. Perspectives on Helping • Decision-Making Perspective • Decision Tree Model of Helping • Perceiving a Need • notice situation & interpret as emergency • Taking Personal Responsibility • am I responsible for helping? • Weighing Costs and Benefits • is helping worthwhile? • Deciding How to Take Action • how can I help?  am I able to help?

7. Decision Tree Model of Helping PERCEIVING A NEED Does someone need help? NO. There is no problem. No further action is necessary. YES TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY Am I Responsible? NO. It’s not my responsibility. No further action taken. YES WEIGHING THE COSTS AND BENEFITS Is helping worthwhile? NO. It’s too risky, time consuming, unpleasant, etc. No further action taken. YES DECIDING HOW TO HELP Do I know what to do? NO. I can’t figure out what to do. No further action taken. YES HELP GIVEN

8. Perspectives on Helping • Attribution Theory • attributions we make about those in need determine whether we help or not • e.g., Unlikely to give money to a panhandler talking on a new cell phone and wearing $200 shoes • more likely to help people if we perceive their need as being caused by external sources

9. The Helper • Mood of the Helper • good mood  more likely to help • but, people in bad moods may be motivated to help others too • Negative-State Relief Model (Cialdini et al., 1973) • helping in order to diffuse a bad mood • helping others can help us feel better

10. The Helper • Motives for Helping • Personal Distress • reactions to the plight of others that result in feelings of anxiety and apprehension • primary focus on the self • can cause a person to avoid a situation where help is needed • often results in egoistic behavior • Empathy • feeling sympathy for and actually experiencing another’s situation • motivates a person to offer assistance • often results in prosocial behavior

11. The Helper • Factors that increase empathy: • person is similar to us • situation is uncontrollable by the person • focusing on the feelings of the person rather than the objective facts of the situation

12. The Helper • Personality Characteristics • “helpful” personality not apparent • What motivates people to help? • Good Samaritan study (Huston, 1981) • interviewed interveners in violent and dangerous situations (e.g., muggings, bank robberies) • Commonalities: • big, strong, usually male • had lifesaving, medical, or police training • motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and competence

13. The Helper • Gender Differences • Eagly & Crowley (1986) • men more likely to help if heroism is needed • women more likely to help if nurturance is needed • Blood Donors • often view blood donation as part of their self-concept despite an initial aversion to the idea • Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe • Oliner & Oliner (1988) • rescuers emphasized social norms, empathy, and compassion

14. Bystander Intervention • Cat-Flap Story • Kitty Genovese Incident • Bystander Intervention • helping a stranger in distress

15. Bystander Intervention • Explanations • Situational Factors • Diffusion of Responsibility • Ambiguous Situations • Evaluation Apprehension • Environmental Factors • Time Pressures

16. Bystander Intervention • Latané & Darley (1970) Study 1 • Bystander Effect • number of participants was the IV • next door, an “emergency” occurred • as number of participants , helping  • replicated with staged thefts at a convenience store

17. Bystander Intervention • Diffusion of Responsibility • the norm of social responsibility suggests that we help those in need … • but who should help when there are many people present? • the expectation doesn’t change, but the number of people witnessing the need can • as the number of people , responsibility spreads throughout the crowd • not always though – being the only doctor in a crowd doesn’t decrease his/her responsibility to perform CPR

18. Bystander Intervention • Ambiguous Situations • how others interpret a situation determines how we interpret that situation • even in a real emergency, if everybody acts like it’s no big deal, we’re likely to assume the same • Latané & Darley (1970) Study 2 • # of participants was the IV • participants placed in a room, given a “filler” task • smoke began to fill the room • # of participants, time to seek help, + correlated • in some sessions, the room was so smoky that participants couldn’t even see each other

19. Bystander Intervention • Evaluation Apprehension • concern with self-presentation • can make us more or less likely to help depending on the situation

20. Bystander Intervention • Environmental conditions • Weather • sunny & warm vs. cloudy & cold • Time of day • day vs. night • City size • large vs. small • a person’s city of origin

21. Bystander Intervention • Time Pressures • Darley & Batson (1973) • participants were seminary students • Students asked if they could cover for their advisors by giving a short talk to a group • All said they could

22. Bystander Intervention • Two Independent Variables • Amount of Time • ½ of the participants were told that they had plenty of time to get to the building • ½ were told that they were already late • Type of Lecture • ½ of the participants were told that the speech was to be about the “Good Samaritan” Bible story • ½ were told that the speech was to be about jobs available to theology students

23. Bystander Intervention • On the way to the talk, participants encountered a person moaning, coughing, and groaning • Results: • In a hurry: 10% helped • Plenty of time: 63% helped • Type of speech made no difference

24. Volunteerism • Motives for Volunteering • Values • Understanding • Social • Career • Self-Protection • Self-Enhancement

25. Helping Close Others • most helping behavior benefits family and close others • support for the evolutionary perspective? • children that share, help, and comfort their friends are more popular than those who do not • Gender roles • female helping roles tend to be socioemotional • male helping roles tend to be instrumental

26. Receiving Help • Reactions to being helped are not always grateful • person being helped can feel overly dependent and weak • may feel that they have nothing to give in return • feel as if they’re violating the norm of reciprocity

27. Receiving Help • Attributions • How we attribute the causes of our need for help determines whether we feel justified to ask for help • How we attribute the motives of the helper determines our behavior toward him/her

28. Receiving Help • Reactance • threats to personal freedom (e.g., needing to depend on someone for basic needs) are often met with negative reactions • Receiving help can be beneficial and necessary in many aspects, but it can also limit freedom, diminish power, and lower self-esteem