Prosocial Behaviour

PPTs 10-11

what is prosocial behaviour?

behaviour which is valued by society

what are the two types of prosocial behaviour?

• helping behaviour

• altruism

what is helping behaviour?

an intentional act which benefits others

what is altruism?

intentional acts which benefit others but not oneself

describe the bystander effect

the chance of being helped decreases as number of bystanders present increases

what is bystander intervention?

when someone breaks out of their role as a bystander to help others in an emergency

describe the events of kitty genovese’s murder in 1964

kitty was stabbed to death across the road from her home. 38 witnesses saw this happen, but none called the police or helped her

LATANE & DARLEY (1968)

describe the 5 steps of the cognitive model of bystanderism (1968)

1. bystanders NOTICE the event

2. bystanders INTERPRET the situation as an emergency, or assume that it is not due to other inactive bystanders

3. bystanders either ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY or assume that others will

4. bystanders either KNOW WHAT TO DO or do not have the skills to help

5. bystanders either HELP or decide against helping

LATANE & DARLEY (1968)

describe the smoke-filled room experiment

male college students were asked to complete a routine questionnaire. at some point during this study the room participants were in filled with smoke. participants were in one of three conditions:

• on their own

• with two others

• with two confederates

LATANE & DARLEY (1968)

what were the results of the smoke filled room study

• 80% of participants on their own alerted someone

• 40% with two other participants reacted

• under 20% with two confederates

LATANE & DARLEY (1968)

which three studies of bystanderism did they conduct

• smoke filled room

• lady in distress

• epileptic seizure

LATANE & DARLEY (1968)

briefly describe the lady in distress experiment (‘69)

male college students completed a questionnaire and partway through heard a woman in another room struggling to open a cabinet followed by a loud crash and groaning. participants were in one of the following conditions, ranked in order f likelihood to react:

1 = on their own

1 = with a friend

2. with one other participant

3. with a confederate

LATANE & DARLEY (1968)

describe the epileptic seizure experiment

male college students taking part in an experiment either in groups of 2, 4, or 6. they had to communicate via intercom from separate cubicles. one other person in the group (confederate) reported suffering from epilepsy, and at some point acted as if they were having a seizure.

results ordered in who were most likely to help:

1. group of two

2. group of 4

3. group of 6

BYSTANDER-CALCULUS MODEL (1981)

what are the three stages?

• physiological arousal

• labelling arousal

• evaluating consequences

BYSTANDER-CALCULUS MODEL (1981)

who derived the model?

piliavin et al

BYSTANDER-CALCULUS MODEL (1981)

describe the first stage (physiological arousal)

an empathic response of arousal- the greater the physiological arousal, the more chance that a bystander will help

BYSTANDER-CALCULUS MODEL (1981)

describe the second stage (labelling arousal)

interpreting and labelling the arousal as personal distress

BYSTANDER-CALCULUS MODEL (1981)

describe the third stage (evaluating consequences)

costs of helping vs not helping are weighed up. bystanders choose the action that reduces personal distress at the lowest cost

what are the three characteristics of a victim that affect bystanderism?

• attraction

• similarity

• group membership

what are the five characteristics of an observer that affect bystanderism?

• mood

• personality

• competence

• leadership

• gender differences

what is a mood (in prosocial context)?

a transitory psychological state which influences how likely a person is to perform helping behaviour

how does the mood of a bystander impact their likeihood to help?

good moods promote helping behaviour, bad moods do not

describe isen’s (1970) study of mood

participants were either told they did well, did poorly, or given no feedback on a task. afterwards, participants who were told they did a good job with the task were more likely to help a woman carry books

describe the outcomes of holloway, tucker, and hornstein’s study and the year it was conducted in

1977: people who received good news were more likely to help a stranger than those who had received bad news

what is meant by good moods being ‘outwardly focused’?

people in good moods are less focused on the self and more sensitive to the needs and problems of others

what is meant by bad moods being ‘inwardly focused’?

people in bad moods are often self-focused and considered primarily with their own problems and worries

DARLEY & BASTON (1973): FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO

describe the method

students were asked to give a speech, and were told before they walked to the building to give their speech, they were told that they were either

A) early and had plenty of time (least inwardly focused- good mood)

B) right on time

C) running late (most inwardly focused- bad mood)

they then ran into a fallen stranger in a narrow alleyway and had the opportunity to either help the stranger up or step over him to continue

DARLEY & BASTON (1973): FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO

describe the results

• 63% of early participants stopped to help

• 45% of on-time participants helped

• only 10% of late participants helped

describe regan, williams, and sparling’s (1972) study on guilt

female participants were either led to believe that they had broken an expensive camera (guilt) or not broken it (no guilt) and were then given the opportunity to help another woman who had dropped her shopping. guilty participants were 40% more likely to help

does guilt increase or decrease likelihood of helping in a situation?

increase

what is the image reparation hypothesis?

the idea that individuals may commit good deeds (such as helping in a situation) after committing unfavourable deeds in order to repair their reputation

what is the negative relief state model?

the idea that humans have an innate drive to reduce negative moods, and may engage in helping behaviour to facilitate this, as helping behaviour is linked to positive feedback

how does competence impact likelihood for helping behaviour?

as competence increases, likelihood to help increases

describe cramer et al’s study of competence and state the year it was conducted in

1988- a man fell off a ladder in the presence of either trained nurses or non medical students, and nurses were more likely to help him than non-nurses

describe schwartz and david’s study of competence and the year it was conducted in

1976- participants were either told they were good at handling rats or not good at handling (regardless of their actual ability) and participants who were told they were competent were more likely to help capture an escaped rat

describe the findings of kazdin & bryan’s study of competence and the year it was conducted in

1971- participants who were told they had done well in a task were more likely to donate blood than those who were told they had done poorly

BAUMEISTER ET AL (1988)

which personal determinant does this study investigate?

leadership

BAUMEISTER ET AL (1988)

briefly describe the study

participants were sorted into groups of 4 and randomly allocated either the role of leader or follower. participants could communicate via intercom but were in separate cubicles. at one point one group member (confederate- never leader) started to choke. leaders were around 45% more likely to intercept than followers

according to eagly & crowley (1986), how does gender impact prosocial behaviour?

men are more prosocial in unusual or potentially dangerous situations, whereas woman are more prosocial in everyday situations

describe the findings of pomazal et al’s (1973) study into gender and prosocial behaviour

men were more likely to help female distressed motorists, whereas women showed no sex bias

PRZYBYLA (1985)

briefly describe the method

participants either watched an erotic video, a non-erotic video, or no video, and then had the opportunity to help a confederate stranger who had knocked over a stack of papers

PRZYBYLA (1985)

describe the results of male participants

likelihood of helping stanger:

1. men who had watched erotic video (90%)

2. no video (~50%)

3. non-erotic video (~40%)

PRZYBYLA (1985)

describe the results of female participants

likelihood of helping the stranger was around 50% in all conditions

describe lynn & menier’s (1993) study of attraction of personality

waiters at both mexican and chinese restaurants either approached customers with friendly body language (squatting) or unfriendly body language (standing). in both restaurants, friendly body language garnered more tips

describe emswiller et al’s study of similarity and the year in which it occured

confederates asked passers by for money to make a phone call, either dressed in conventional or hippie clothing. hippie participants were more likely to give money to hippie confederates, whereas conventional participants were more likely to give money to conventional confederates

which personal determinant is most closely linked to similarity?

group membership