Helping Behavior Module 80 Prosocial Behavior Prosocial behavior

Helping Behavior Module 80

Prosocial Behavior • Prosocial behavior - any behavior that helps another person, whether the underlying motive is self-serving or selfless – Sometimes we help people out of guilt or in order to gain something, such as recognition, rewards, increased self-esteem, or having the favor returned • Altruism - Unselfish regard for the welfare of others – Hero on the Potomac (start at 4: 50)

So, Why Don’t People Always Help Others in Need? • Would you have stopped and helped this man? – Watch Hit & Run Video – 2 min.

Bystander Effect • The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present • Famous case of Kitty Genovese: – 38 people heard her cry for help but didn’t help. She was raped and stabbed to death.

Why Don’t People Always Help Others in Need? • Darley & Latane studies: • Several scenarios designed to measure the help response – Found that if you think you’re the only one that can hear or help, you are more likely to do so (Help) – Diffusion of Responsibility - If there are others around, you think “Someone else will do it” (Don’t Help) – Pluralistic Ignorance - The longer things go with nobody helping it becomes more likely each person will begin to wonder if any help is really needed. (Don’t Help)

Psychology of Bystanders By staging emergency events in field studies, researchers have found that an individual is less likely to offer assistance or call for help when other people are present than when he or she is the only witness. This is known as the bystander effect. In this field study, an individual steals bicycles, picks a wallet from a purse, and picks a wallet from a pocket, all in full view of several people. Bystanders intervene in only one event. Watch Examples of this Experiment (1: 27)

Diffusion of Responsibility

Helping Behavior Decision Scheme Notice – Interpret – Assume Responsibility • ABC Primetime looks into helping behavior Video

Why Don’t People Always Help Others in Need? 1. Diffusion of responsibility – presence of others leads to decreased help response – we all think someone else will help, so we don’t 2. Our desire to behave in a socially acceptable way (normative social influence) and to appear correct (informational social influence) 3. Vague or ambiguous situations 4. When the personal costs for helping outweigh the benefits

We’ll help if… • • • We’ve observed helpfulness We’re not hurried We think the victim needs & deserves help The victim is similar to us or a woman We are feeling guilty We are in a small town or rural area We’re focused & not preoccupied We are in a good mood We don’t perceive danger We know the victim We know how to help

Helping Norms • Self-Interest underlies all human interactions – our constant goal is to maximize rewards & minimize costs. • Social Exchange Theory – If rewards exceed the costs, you will help. – Example: Donating Blood – weigh costs (time, discomfort, anxiety) vs. benefits (good feelings, social approval, less guilt) • Reciprocity Norm – Expectation that we should return help to those who help us. – Example: I’ll help you with your homework because you helped me with mine. – Gift Giving Gone Wrong? An example from Big Bang Theory (2 min) • Social-Responsibility Norm – we should help people who need/deserve our help – children, the poor – even if the costs outweigh the benefits

Conflict & Peacemaking

Social Trap • Harming the collective-well being by pursuing our own personal interests – Social Traps challenge us to find ways to reconcile our right to pursue our own best interests with our responsibility for the well-being of all. Example: Conserving gasoline, water or electricity. Whenever our personal comfort or convenience is involved, it is highly tempting to "let the other person worry about it. " Yet – in the long run when everyone things this – everybody loses. Click HERE for more examples.

Prisoner’s Dilemma • When we behave in an unproductive way simply because we’re afraid others might do so. • Type of Social Trap - Two arrested & interviewed separately. You are given a deal if you squeal on your partner but if you trust he won’t talk, and you both don’t – you’ll get off with far less prison time if any. See an example of this at work with the British Game Show: Golden Balls Click HERE to see an explanation of this. (watch first 2 min)

Enemy Perceptions • When in conflict, we tend to view the other side negatively this can lead to… • Mirror-image perceptions – As we see “them”evil jerks – “They” see us.

Self-fulfilling Prophecies • When our beliefs and expectations create reality – I think Jim is a “jerk. ” So I act negatively toward Jim whenever I see him. Noticing this, Jim doesn’t like me and acts negatively towards me. – I don’t believe I can pass a test so I don’t study. Now that I haven’t studied at all, I’ve guaranteed I won’t pass the next test.

Studies of the Self-fulfilling Prophecy • Rosenthal & Fode – tested whether labeling would affect outcome – divided students into 2 groups and gave them randomly selected rats – 1 group was told they had a group of “super genius” rats and the other was told they had a group of “super moron” rats – all students told to train rats to run mazes – “genius” rat group ended up doing better than the “moron” rat group b/c of the expectations of the students

Studies of the Self-fulfilling Prophecy • Rosenthal & Jacobson – went to a school and did IQ tests with kids – told teachers that the test was a “spurters” test – randomly selected several kids and told the teacher they were spurters – did another IQ test at end of year – spurters showed significant improvements in their IQ scores b/c of their teacher’s expectations of them