Chapter 13: Helping and Prosocial Behavior

Agreeableness

A personality trait characterized by being sympathetic, generous, forgiving, helpful, and oriented toward harmonious social relationships.

Altruism

A motivation for helping that has the improvement of another person’s welfare as its ultimate goal, with no expectation of benefit to the helper.

Arousal: cost–reward model

An egoistic theory proposing that witnessing someone in need creates unpleasant arousal, motivating people to reduce that discomfort by helping or by other means depending on costs and rewards.

Bystander intervention

The phenomenon in which people help others in need, even strangers, sometimes at personal risk.

Cost–benefit analysis

A decision-making process that weighs the costs of an action against its expected benefits.

Diffusion of responsibility

The reduction in personal responsibility to act when others are present who could also intervene.

Egoism

A motivation for helping driven primarily by the desire to improve one’s own circumstances.

Empathic concern

Feelings of sympathy and compassion for someone in need that produce altruistic motivation to help.

Empathy–altruism model

A theory proposing that empathic concern for a victim leads to genuinely altruistic helping behavior.

Helpfulness

A personality tendency characterized by having helped in the past and believing one can be effective when helping.

Helping

Prosocial behavior in which one individual provides assistance to another who is in need.

Kin selection

An evolutionary principle suggesting individuals are more likely to help genetic relatives to increase the likelihood of passing on shared genes.

Negative state relief model

An egoistic theory proposing that people help others to relieve their own negative emotions, such as sadness or guilt.

Other-oriented empathy

A component of prosocial personality involving strong social responsibility and emotional connection to others’ needs.

Personal distress

Self-focused feelings of discomfort or anxiety when witnessing another’s suffering, often leading to egoistic helping to relieve that distress.

Pluralistic ignorance

A situation in which individuals rely on others’ reactions to interpret an ambiguous situation and incorrectly conclude that no help is needed.

Prosocial behavior

Voluntary behavior intended to benefit another person.

Prosocial personality orientation

A set of personality characteristics (such as other-oriented empathy and helpfulness) associated with consistent prosocial behavior.

Reciprocal altruism

An evolutionary tendency to help others who have helped you in the past.