Prosocial Behavior

1
Lecture

• Prosocial Behavior

2
Prosocial Behavior

• What is Prosocial Behavior?
• When do We Help?
• Why do We Help?
• Who is Most Likely to Help?
• Whom do We Help?

3
When Do We Help?

• Bystander Intervention and the Decision Tree
• Being helpful involves not just one decision but
  a series of decisions

4
Five Steps to Helping In An Emergency (Latane
Darley (1970)
Be able to implement decision
yes
Know how to help
yes
Take responsibility For providing help
no
no
yes
no
Interpret event As an emergency
no
yes
Notice that something is happening
Provide no help
no
5
Notice the event

• First you must notice the potential need for help
• Pancer et al. (1979)

6
Interpreting event as an emergency

• 1. Perception screams sound like a hammer?
• 2. Motivation interpret as non-emergency so
  dont risk embarrassment
• (Latane Darley, 1968)
• (Yakimovich saltz, 1971)

7
Accept Responsibility

• When will you accept responsibility?

8
When Do We Help?

• Latane Nida (1981)
• The presence of others can reduce the likelihood
  that any one individual will offer help.
• The greater the number of witnesses, the less
  likely it is that help will be given.

9
When Do We Help? (cont.)

• Pluralistic ignorance
• The phenomenon whereby bystanders assume that
  nothing is wrong b/c no one else looks concerned
• Latane Darley (1968)

10
When Do We Help? (cont.)

• Diffusion of Responsibility
• The belief that others will or should take the
  responsibility for providing assistance to a
  person in need. (Taking Responsibility).
• Latane Darley (1968)

11
Can we make people take responsibility?

• The effect of merely asking someone!
• (Moriarty, 1975)

12
Determining What to do

• If person needs CPR and you cant do CPR, there
  is a problem.
• (Piliavin Piliavin, 1972)

13
Deciding to act

• People usually dont help because of the costs of
  acting are too high

14
Deciding to act

• Darley et al.
• Time pressure and Theology

15
Percentage of participants offering help as a
function of perceived time pressure
16
Whom do We Help?

• Physical Attractiveness
• Attribution of Responsibility
• Similarity and Closeness to Person in Need

17
Whom Do we help?

• Does race influence helping behavior?
• (Piliavin, Piliavin, Rodin, 1969)

18
Why do we help?

• Social Exchange Theory
• - Social economics
• - Minimax

19
Why do we help?

• Volunteering
• Motives
• Values
• Understanding
• Social
• Career
• Ego Protection
• Esteem Enhancement

20
Why Do We Help?

• Are humans ever truly altruistic motivated
  solely by the desire to increase anothers
  welfare?
• Or are we helpful only for egoistic reasons
  motivated by the desire to increase our own
  welfare?

21
Why Do We Help?

• Negative State Relief Hypothesis
• Individuals experiencing negative emotions are
  motivated to help in order to achieve relief from
  such emotions.

22
Why Do We Help?

• Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
• Prosocial behavior is motivated solely for the
  purpose of increasing the welfare of the
  recipient.

23
Why Do We Help?
Emotional response
Type of Motive
Satisfaction of motive
Empathic concern
Altruistic
Reduction of others distress
yes
Perceive other needs help
Adopt others perspective
Personal distress
Egoistic
Reduction of own distress
no
Based on Bateson, 1991
24
Percentage of participants who helped as a
function of empathy and escape conditions (based
on Batson et al., 1981)