Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Slides prepared by JoNell Strough, Ph.D. & Philip Lemaster, M.A. West Virginia University Chapter 11 Prosocial Behavior: Why Do People Help?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Multimedia Directory Slide 6Prosocial and Altruistic Behavior Video Slide 26Waiting Room Video Slide 75Random Acts of Kindness Video

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Basic Motives Underlying Prosocial Behavior—Why Do People Help?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Prosocial Behavior and Altruism Prosocial Behavior – Any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person Altruism – The desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Prosocial and Altruistic Behavior Video Click on the screenshot and consider whether the foundation established by Bill and Melinda Gates is an example of prosocial behavior, or if it could be considered altrustic? Back to Directory

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Evolutionary Psychology: Instincts and Genes Any gene that furthers survival and increases the probability of producing offspring likely to be passed on Genes that lower chances of survival and reduce the chances of producing offspring less likely to be passed on

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Evolutionary Psychology: Instincts and Genes Evolutionary Psychology – The attempt to explain social behavior in terms of genetic factors that evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Evolutionary Psychology: Instincts and Genes Darwin realized early on that there was a problem with evolutionary theory: – How can it explain altruism?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Evolutionary Psychology: Instincts and Genes If people’s overriding goal is to ensure their own survival, why would they ever help others at a cost to themselves? Genes promoting selfish behavior should be more likely to be passed on —or should they?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Evolutionary Psychology: Instincts and Genes Kin Selection – The idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection Increase chances genes will be passed along by ensuring that genetic relatives have children Natural selection should favor altruistic acts directed toward genetic relatives

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. According to evolutionary psychology, prosocial behavior occurs in part because of kin selection. Source: wavebreakmedia ltd/Shutterstock

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Evolutionary Psychology: Instincts and Genes Survey research found that people reported that they would be more likely to help genetic relatives than nonrelatives in life-and-death situations, such as a house fire. Anecdotal evidence from real emergencies is consistent with these results.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Reciprocity Norm Norm of Reciprocity – The expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Learning Social Norms Adaptive for individuals to learn social norms from other members of a society (Simon, 1990) – Best learners have a survival advantage – Ability to learn social norms has become part of our genetic makeup Gratitude as an evolved emotion to facilitate reciprocity – Evolution favors groups whose members help each other

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Exchange: The Costs and Rewards of Helping Social exchange theory – What we do stems from desire to maximize rewards and minimize costs – In relationships with others, try to maximize the ratio of social rewards to social costs

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Exchange: The Costs and Rewards of Helping Helping can be rewarding in a number of ways: – The norm of reciprocity Increase likelihood of future help – Investment in future Someone will help us when we need it

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Exchange: The Costs and Rewards of Helping Helping can be rewarding in a number of ways: – Relief of bystander distress – Gain rewards Social approval Increased feelings of self-worth

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Exchange: The Costs and Rewards of Helping The other side is that helping can be costly: – Physical danger – Pain – Embarrassment – Time

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Exchange: The Costs and Rewards of Helping Social exchange theory argues that true altruism does not exist – People help when the benefits outweigh the costs

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Helping behavior is common in virtually all species of animals, and sometimes it even crosses species lines. In August 1996, a 3-year-old boy fell into a pit containing seven gorillas, at the Brookfield, Illinois, zoo. Binti, a 7-year-old gorilla, immediately picked up the boy. After cradling him in her arms, she placed the boy near a door where zookeepers could get to him. Source: AP Photo/WLS-TV

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Empathy and Altruism: The Pure Motive for Helping Empathy – The ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions (e.g., joy and sadness) the way that person experiences them Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis – The idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help that person purely for altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Figure 11.1 Empathy-Altruism Theory

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Figure 11.2 Altruism Versus Self-Interest Under what conditions did people agree to help Carol with the work she missed in her introductory psychology class? When empathy was high, people helped regardless of the costs and rewards (i.e., regardless of whether they would encounter her in their psychology class). When empathy was low, people were more concerned with the rewards and costs for themselves—they helped only if they would encounter Carol in their psychology class and thus feel guilty about not helping. (Adapted from Toi & Batson, 1982)

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Three Basic Motives Underlying Prosocial Behavior Evolutionary psychology – Pass on genes Social exchange theory – Maximize rewards, minimize costs Empathy-altruism hypothesis – Powerful feelings of empathy and compassion  selfless giving

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Waiting Room Video Click on the screenshot and look for examples that illustrate basic motives for helping behavior. Back to Directory

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Personal Qualities and Prosocial Behavior Why do some people help more than others?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Individual Differences: The Altruistic Personality Altruistic Personality – The qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations. – Surprisingly, studies of both children and adults indicate that people with high scores on personality tests of altruism are not much more likely to help than those with lower scores.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Individual Differences: The Altruistic Personality Individual differences in personality not the only predictors of helping Other critical factors: – Situational pressures – Gender – Culture – Current mood

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Gender Differences in Prosocial Behavior Consider two scenarios: – In one, someone performs a dramatic, heroic act, like storming the cockpit of United flight 93 to fight the terrorists. – In the other, someone is involved in a long- term helping relationship, such as assisting a disabled neighbor with chores around the house. Are men or women more likely to help in each situation?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Whereas men are more likely to perform chivalrous and heroic acts, women are more likely to be helpful in long-term relationships that involve greater commitment. Source: Tomas Rodriguez/PicturePress/Glow Images, Inc.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Gender Differences in Prosocial Behavior The answer is no. Males are more likely to help in the first situation. Females are more likely in the second.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cultural Differences in Prosocial Behavior People in all cultures are more likely to help anyone they define as a member of their in-group than those they perceive in out-groups.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cultural Differences in Prosocial Behavior In-group – The group with which an individual identifies as a member Out-group – Any group with which an individual does not identify

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cultural Differences in Prosocial Behavior When will we help in-group and out- group members? – In-group helping Help when we feel empathy – Out-group helping Help when it furthers own self-interests

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cultural Differences in Prosocial Behavior Cultural values and prosocial behavior Simpatía – Prominent in Spanish-speaking countries – Refers to a range of social and emotional traits Friendly Polite Good-natured Pleasant Helpful toward others

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Positive Moods— Feel Good, Do Good IV = Mood – Find a coin—good mood – Don’t find a coin—control group DV = Helping – Pick up papers

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Positive Moods— Feel Good, Do Good Results – 84% of people who found coins researcher left in mall pay phone helped a man pick up papers in one study. – Only 4% of those who did not find coins helped. When people are in a good mood, they are more helpful in a variety of ways!

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Positive Moods— Feel Good, Do Good Being in a good mood can increase helping for these reasons: – Good moods make us look on the bright side of life. – Helping others can prolong our good mood. – Good moods increase self-attention.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Feel Bad, Do Good One kind of bad mood clearly leads to an increase in helping—feeling guilty. People often act on the idea that good deeds cancel out bad deeds.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Feel Bad, Do Good Since feeling happy leads to greater helping, it might seem that sadness would decrease it. – Surprisingly, sadness can also lead to an increase in helping, under certain conditions. When sad, people are motivated to do things that make them feel better.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Feed Bad, Do Good Negative-State Relief Hypothesis – The idea that people help in order to alleviate their own sadness and distress.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Situational Determinants of Prosocial Behaviors When will people help?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Environment: Rural Versus Urban Example – Suppose you are walking down the street one day when you see a man suddenly fall down and cry out with pain. He rolls up his pants leg, revealing a bandaged shin that is bleeding heavily. What would you do?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Environment: Rural Versus Urban Small towns: – Half the people who walked by stopped and offered to help the man. Large cities: – Only 15% of passersby stopped to help.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. People are less helpful in big cities than in small towns, not because of a difference in values, but because the stress of urban life causes them to keep to themselves. Source: (left): John Lund/Drew Kelly/Sam Diephuis/Glow Images, Inc.; (right): David Grossman/Alamy

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Environment: Rural Versus Urban 1.Perhaps people who grow up in a small town are more likely to internalize altruistic values. 2.Alternatively, the immediate surroundings might be the key and not people's internalized values. Urban Overload Hypothesis People living in cities are constantly being bombarded with stimulation and they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Environment: Rural Versus Urban According to urban overload hypothesis, if you put urban dwellers in a calmer, less stimulating environment, they would be as likely as anyone else to reach out to others. – Research supports the hypothesis.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Environment: Rural Versus Urban When opportunity for helping arises, matters more whether the incident occurs in a rural or urban area than where the witnesses grew up.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Residential Mobility It is not only where you live that matters, but how often you have moved from one place to another. People who have lived for a long time in one place more likely to engage in pro- social behaviors that help community.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Residential Mobility Living for a long time in one place leads to: – Greater attachment to the community – More inter-dependence with neighbors – Greater concern with one's reputation in the community

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Number of Bystanders: The Bystander Effect Kitty Genovese's prolonged murder – 38 witnesses failed to call police. Bibb Latané and John Darley (1970) considered why no one helped. – The greater the number of bystanders who observe an emergency, the less likely any one is to help.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Number of Bystanders: The Bystander Effect Latané and Darley (1970) found that in terms of receiving help, there is no safety in numbers. The greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help the victim. This is known as the bystander effect.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Figure 11.3 Bystander Intervention: The Presence of Bystanders Reduces Helping When people believed they were the only one witnessing a student having a seizure, when they were the lone bystander, most of them helped him immediately, and all did so within a few minutes. When they believed that someone else was listening as well, that there were two bystanders, they were less likely to help and did so more slowly. And when they believed that four others were listening, that there were five bystanders, they were even less likely to help. (Adapted from Darley & Latan., 1968)

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Figure 11.4 Bystander Intervention Decision Tree: Five Steps to Helping in an Emergency Latan. and Darley (1970) showed that people go through five decision-making steps before they help someone in an emergency. If bystanders fail to take any one of the five steps, they will not help. Each step is outlined here, along with the possible reasons why people decide not to intervene. (Adapted from Latan. & Darley, 1970)

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Noticing an Event Darley and Batson (1973) demonstrated that something as trivial as being in a hurry can make more of a difference than what kind of person someone is. – Seminary students who were the most religious were no more likely to help than those who were the least religious.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Interpreting the Event as an Emergency To help, the bystander must interpret the event as an emergency where help is needed. – If people assume that nothing is wrong, they will not help. – When other bystanders are present, people are more likely to assume that is not an emergency.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Interpreting the Event as an Emergency Pluralistic Ignorance – Bystanders’ assuming that nothing is wrong in an emergency because no one else looks concerned

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Emergency situations can be confusing. Does this man need help? Have the bystanders failed to notice him, or has the behavior of the others led each of them to interpret the situation as a nonemergency—an example of pluralistic ignorance? Source: Steve McCurry/ Magnum Photos, Inc.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Assuming Responsibility Sometimes it is obvious that an emergency is occurring. – Example—when Kitty Genovese cried out, “Oh my God, he stabbed me! Please help me! Please help me!” Even if we interpret an event as an emergency, we have to decide that it is our responsibility to do something about it.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Assuming Responsibility Diffusion of Responsibility – The phenomenon whereby each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Knowing How to Help Suppose that on a hot summer day, you see a woman collapse in the street. No one else seems to be helping, and so you decide it is up to you. – But what should you do? – Has the woman had a heart attack?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Knowing How to Help Suppose that on a hot summer day, you see a woman collapse in the street. No one else seems to be helping, and so you decide it is up to you. – Is she suffering from heatstroke? – Should you call an ambulance, administer CPR, or try to get her out of the sun?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Knowing How to Help If people don’t know what form of assistance to give, obviously they will be unable to help.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Deciding to Implement the Help Even if you know exactly what kind of help is appropriate, there are still reasons why you might decide not to intervene: – Might not be qualified to deliver the right kind of help. – Might be afraid of: Making a fool of yourself Doing the wrong thing Placing yourself in danger

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Nature of the Relationship: Communal Versus Exchange Communal relationships – People’s primary concern is with the welfare of the other person Exchange relationships – Concerns about equity—that what you put into the relationship equals what you get out of it How does helping occur in communal relationships?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Nature of the Relationship: Communal Versus Exchange Exchange relationships – Expect favors to be repaid pretty quickly – (“What have they done for me lately?) Communal relationships – Pay less attention to who is getting what than people in exchange relationships do

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Nature of the Relationship: Communal Versus Exchange Does this mean that people are more helpful toward friends than strangers? – Yes, under most circumstances – We are less likely to help a friend in important areas than we are in areas we don’t care as much about.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Effects of Media: Video Games and Music Lyrics Prosocial video games and songs – Increase helping

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Figure 11.5 Effects of Playing Prosocial Video Games on the Likelihood of Helping Participants played a prosocial video game (such as Lemmings) or a neutral video game (such as Tetris). Then, as part of what they thought was another study, they were given the opportunity to help in some way. In one study, an experimenter accidentally knocked over a jar of pencils and the researchers observed how many participants helped him or her pick them up. In another, participants were asked to volunteer to take part in future studies for no compensation. In a third, the researchers staged an event where the experimenter’s ex-boyfriend charged into the room and tried to force her to leave with him. The researchers observed how many participants tried to help the experimenter in some way. As seen in the graph, playing a prosocial video game increased the likelihood that people helped in all of these situations. (Adapted from Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2010)

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. How Can Helping Be Increased?

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Increasing the Likelihood that Bystanders Will Intervene Being aware of the barriers to helping in an emergency can increase people’s chances of overcoming those barriers. People who know about bystander effects can realize that if they don’t act, perhaps no one will.

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Why did this person help, even when several other bystanders witnessed the same emergency and didn’t help? Perhaps this person learned about the barriers to bystander intervention in a social psychology class. Source: corepics/Shutterstock

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Positive Psychology and Prosocial Behavior Positive psychology – Focuses on people's strengths and virtues Social psychological approach – Investigate the conditions under which people act in positive (e.g., helpful) and negative (e.g., unhelpful) ways

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Random Acts of Kindness Video Click on the screenshot to see how people react to prosocial behavior in their own lives. Back to Directory

Social Psychology, Eighth Edition Elliot Aronson | Timothy D. Wilson | Robin M. Akert ©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Summary and Review Theories of Altruism Person Variables Situation Variables Increasing Prosocial Behavior