Lecture 16 Prosocial Behavior and Cooperation in Psychology

Prosocial behavior

Any act designed to help others.

Altruism

Unselfish behavior that benefits others without regard to consequences for oneself.

Happiness motive

Helping makes us feel good.

Social motives

Esteem and respect, status, praise.

Reciprocity motive

We help those who help us.

Kin selection

More likely to help those who share our genes.

Evolutionary motives

Helping can be adaptive.

Negative state relief hypothesis

People help to lessen their distress.

Empathy

An other-oriented emotional response elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone else.

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

The more empathy felt for a person in need, the more altruistic motivation to see the need relieved.

Cooperation

The coordination of multiple individuals toward a goal that benefits the entire group.

Prisoner's dilemma

Compares cooperation to rational self-interest models.

Social value orientation

One's preference when dividing resources between themselves and others.

Cooperative SVO

Associated with commuting to work using public transportation and more frequent prosocial behavior (such as volunteering and charity).

Situational influences in cooperation

Open communication and verbal, explicit commitments to cooperate predict greater cooperation.

Social trust

Belief that another person's actions will be beneficial to one's own interests.

Bystander effect

The presence of others reduces one's sense of responsibility for helping.

Diffusion of responsibility

The phenomenon where individuals feel less responsible to act when others are present.

Social exchange theory

People take rewards and costs into account when deciding whether to help.

Decision Model of Helping Behavior

5 hurdles to cross before helping occurs.

Pluralistic ignorance

The collective belief in a false norm created by the ambiguous behaviors of others.

Seizure study (Darley and Latane)

Study showing that alone = 85% helped, 3 people = 62% helped, 6 people = 31% helped.

How to improve chances of getting help

Make your need clear and ask a specific person.