Altruism, Helping Behavior, and Conflict Social Relations Altruism, Helping Behavior, and Conflict

Why Do We Help? Social exchange theory: the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs If the rewards you anticipate from helping exceed the costs, you will help For many people, helping others is intrinsically motivating Reciprocity norm: an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them Social responsibility norm: an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them (those who need our help!) Altruistic Behavior (altruism): helping behavior that is not liked to personal gain Unselfish regard for the welfare of others Also observed in other primates

Bystander Intervention When do we help others? When don’t we? Bystander Effect: the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present Diffusion of responsibility

Experiment University students participated in a discussion over an intercom Each student was in a separate cubicle, and only the person whose microphone was switched on could be heard One of the other “students” was really a confederate When his turn came he made sounds like he was having a seizure Response of the other students: Those who believed only they could hear the victim, usually went to his aid Those who thought others hear the victim were more likely to ignore the victim Experiment presented in your text: 70% offered help to the unseen victim when they were alone When they were with someone else, only 7% offered help

The Best Odds of Us Helping Someone Occur When… Studied by John Darley and Bibb Latané The person appears to need and deserve help The person is in some way similar to us We have just observed someone else being helpful We are not in a hurry We are in a small town or rural area We are feeling guilty We are focused on others and not preoccupied We are in a good mood One of the most consistent findings in all of psychology!

Conflict Definition: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas Social traps: a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior How do we avoid this? Regulations Communication Awareness of our responsibility

Enemy Perceptions Mirror-image perceptions: mutual views often held by conflicting people Each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive We see them as they see us! Often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy

Contact Does putting people in conflict in contact help? Sometimes Needs to be noncompetitive in nature Parties need to be of equal status

Cooperation Muzafer Sherif Boy scout study Superordinate goals: shared goals that override differences and that can only be achieved through cooperation