Prosocial behavior What is prosocial?

Is this Prosocial? You find a lost wallet containing a large sum of money and return it to the owner anonymously You buy your boss a birthday card Your mom makes you give part of your allowance to starving kids in Asia You give blood You lose your purse and it’s found by a homeless person who uses the money to buy food You help a classmate with school work

Prosocial? You wash your roommate’s dishes You volunteer to help at a psych club party You throw a banana peel out the car window and it’s eaten by a hungry child (the peel, not the car) You buy a present for someone you have a crush on

Prosocial behavior A voluntary behavior carried out to benefit another person.

Egoism vs. Altruism A form of helping where the ultimate goal of the helper is to increase his or her own welfare A form of helping where the goal is to increase ANOTHER’s welfare without expecting anything in return

Genetic explanations We help because helping increases survival of the species. You may sacrifice your own life to preserve the species. Kin Selection: we exhibit preferences for helping blood relatives because this increases the odd that OUR genes will be passed on.

Reciprocal Altrusim A sociobiological principle stating the expectation that anyone helping another will have that favor returned at some future time.

Social Norms Rules of Conduct of how people SHOULD behave. We help because we are supposed to. Reciprocity Social responsibility Social justice

Just World Belief People often will let you suffer if they believe you earned your suffering

Learning to Help Rushton (1980) How do rewards affect prosocial behavior?

The (in)famous Kitty Genovese Incident 1964 I didn’t want to get involved 38 neighbors

Kitty’s Street

Bystander Intervention Model Is something unusual happening? Is something wrong where help is needed? Do I have a responsibility to help? Do I know how to help? Should I help?

Audience Inhibition Effect People are inhibited to help due to a fear of being negatively evaluated by other bystanders if they intervene

Diffusion of Responsibility The presence of others makes one less personally responsible for events that occur in that situation.

Emotional Arousal and Costs Pillavin: witnessing an emergency is physiologically arousing and produces a tension that people seek to decrease (negative state relief) If the costs of helping are low and the costs of not helping are high, we are more likely to help

Does true altruism exist? Batson says we experience personal distress or empathy (Empathy Altruism hypothesis) You are motivated to rid yourself of that state. Distress: Flee situation Empathy: help

Whom do we help? Similar others Men are more likely to help when risk is involved. Women are more likely to help when it involves empathy and devotion. Deserving others

Recipient costs Indebtedness Threat to self esteem