Chapter 12: Prosocial Behavior: Helping Others

Learning Objectives Do women and men differ in the types of help they tend to offer? How do bystanders at an emergency short- circuit our tendency to help? What types of people are most likely to receive help when they need it? Why does receiving help sometimes increase people’s stress and threaten their mental health?

Prosocial Behavior Voluntary behavior carried out to benefit another person Egoistic helping: help in exchange for something in return Altruistic helping: help just to increase another’s welfare

Kin Selection Individuals help blood relatives to increase genetic survival. Observed in many species Although individuals may incur costs of helping, genes are more likely to survive. Does not explain why we help strangers or non- relatives

Reciprocal Helping Individuals help others with the understanding that the favor will be returned. Provides adaptive advantage Can account for helping nonrelatives Likely if benefit to recipient is high and cost to helper is low Must be a way to identify “cheaters” Most likely in certain social conditions

Three Norms that Influence Helping Norm of reciprocity We should help those who help us. Norm of social responsibility We should help those who need help. Norm of social justice We should help those who deserve help. Not all norms hold equal sway over our decisions.

Political Ideology and Helping Conservative ideology emphasizes individualism. Liberal ideology emphasizes egalitarianism. Willingness to help depends on the perceived morality of those in need. Conservatives more likely to: Endorse the norm of social justice Make dispositional attributions blaming victims for their plight Help less Liberals more likely to: Endorse the norm of social responsibility Make situational attributions Help more

Social Class and Helping High SES individuals put a higher priority on satisfying their own needs than low SES people. Low SES people: Express more concern for welfare of others Are more trusting Give higher percentages of their income to charity

Individualism and Collectivism The norm of reciprocity appears to be universal. Norm of social responsibility Stronger for ingroup members in collectivist societies than individualist societies Weaker for outgroup members in collectivist societies than individualist societies Overall, people in collectivist societies help more than people in individualist societies and appear to enjoy it more.

Gender and Helping For aiding strangers in emergencies, men help more than women. Especially when there is an audience, there is danger, and the victim is female For long-term helping such as caregiving, women help more than men.

Personality Differences Two important emotional reactions to emergencies: Empathy (feeling compassion for victim) Personal distress (feeling anxiety when seeing victim) People differ in the degree to which they habitually experience empathy and personal distress. These reactions affect helping behavior.

Learning Prosocial Behavior Observational learning can promote, or inhibit, prosocial behavior in children. “Preaching” can produce some effects, though behaving is a stronger lesson. Strongest effects are shown when adults “practice what they preach.” Modeling prosocial behavior can affect other adults as well as children. Participation in prosocial video games can increase helping tendencies.

Figure 12. 1. Immediate and Log-Term Effects of Modeling Figure 12.1 Immediate and Log-Term Effects of Modeling and Preaching on Children’s Generosity

Benefits of Being Helpful Happy and helpful people are more likely to have satisfying interpersonal relationships. The resulting positive emotions of helping can enhance physiological and psychological resilience. Helping others can also directly impact well-being in terms of generating higher degrees of peer acceptance.

Rewarding Prosocial Behavior Social rewards are more effective reinforcers than material rewards. Reinforcement influences adults as well as children. Thanks are a form of reinforcement. Thanks appear to increase self-efficacy.

Figure 12. 2. The Effects of Positive Reinforcement and Punishment Figure 12.2 The Effects of Positive Reinforcement and Punishment on Model-Induced Generosity in Children

Steps of Bystander Intervention Model Notice something unusual is happening. Decide whether something is wrong and whether help is needed. Determine the extent to which helping is your responsibility. Decide what kind of help to offer. Implement the help.

Figure 12. 3. The Model of Bystander Intervention: Figure 12.3 The Model of Bystander Intervention: A Five-Step Decision Process

Audience Inhibition Effect When others are present, we are: Less likely to define a potentially dangerous situation as an emergency Slower to act Driven by pluralistic ignorance Which, in turn, is caused by outcome and information dependence Interferes with the bystander intervention model at Step 2

Figure 12.4 The Audience Inhibition Effect

Diffusion of Responsibility The more people present at an emergency, the less each person feels responsibility for helping. Less likely in clearly dangerous situations People are unaware that the presence of others is affecting their results. Interferes with the bystander intervention model at Step 3

Figure 12.5 The Diffusion of Responsibility Effect

Arousal: Cost-Reward Model Witnessing an emergency is emotionally arousing. We seek to decrease the discomfort of arousal. Low cost of helping + high cost of not helping  intervention High cost of helping + low cost of not helping  no intervention Both costs high  indirect help, or redefinition of situation

Figure 12.6 The Influence of Costs and Rewards on Direct Helping

Mood and Helping Good mood increases generosity. Good mood can be generated by a smile. Good mood effect holds only for tasks expected to be pleasant. Bad mood may increase helping if it helps us escape the negative mood. The reward value of behavior is high. Bad mood may cause us not to notice the plight of others.

Figure 12.7 The Varied Effects of Mood on Helping

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis We experience either personal distress or empathy when we see someone in trouble. If personal distress is high: We will flee if possible. If we cannot flee, we will help to reduce distress (egoistic helping). If empathy is high: We will be motivated to help the victim (altruistic helping).

Similarity and Helping We are more likely to help someone who is like us in some way. Physical cues are often used to gauge similarity. Prejudices and cultural scripts influence helping. We may not help a friend if doing so threatens self- evaluation.

Just-World Hypothesis The (false) belief that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people Associated with defensive attributions Increases the tendency to blame victims for their misfortune

Costs of Being Helped Being unable to reciprocate help can increase stress and lead to resentment. Receiving help can conflict with individualist values. Can create a threat to self-esteem