Anti & Pro-Social Behaviour, Groupthink, Bystander Effect, Bullying

What is anitsocial behaviour?

behaviour that harms society by intentionally violating the rights of others

Factors that influence antisocial behaviour

• diffusion of responsibility

• audience inhibition

• social influence

• cost-benefit analysis

• groupthink

Diffusion of responsibility

where the presence of others makes a person feel less responsible for the actions they do. 

Audience inhibition

where the presence of others makes a person afraid that others will judge them by helping/making the wrong move.

Social influence

• where people change their behaviour in response to others.

• peers can influence us

Cost-benefit analysis

bystanders weigh the pros of cons of helping before deciding whether to help in emergencies. 

Groupthink

• group members making decisions based on group harmony

• leads to poor moral decision or group bullying.

What is prosocial behaviour?

• voluntary actions that help, benefit or care for others

• e.g., helping; holding the door open for someone, comforting an upset friend.

Why do people behave pro-socially?

• reciprocity principle

• social responsibility

• personal characteristics 

  • mood competence

  • empathy

  • altruism

reciprocity principle

• person feels like they must return a favour

• you do something for me, I’ll do something for you.

social responsibility

personal characteristics (mood, competence, empathy, altruism)

• mood - in positive mood, likely to help. ‘feel- good, do-good’ effect.

• competence - if individual believes they can do the task, they’re more likely to help

• empathy - if individual can understand/see that a person is in distress, more likely to act pro socially

• altruism - helping others without expecting a reward

Causes of groupthink

• lack of diversity - group members are similar to each other

• unfair leadership - powerful leaders who don’t consider perspectives of others

• stress - members likely to conform more when put under pressure in urgent situations

• time constraints - placing due dates on decisions being made increases stress

• lack of outside perspective - only considering the perspective of in-group members

Consequences of groupthink

• poor decisions 

• harmful stereotypes can develop - being to believe their group is more right

• lack of creativity - new ideas aren’t encouraged enough

• blindness to negative outcomes

• lack of preparation - overconfident and may have time constraints, so plan may not succeed.

• obedience to authority without question - members likely to follow their leader blindly, never raising opinion against the group’s actions. 

What is bystander effect?

individuals are less likely to help in emergencies when other people are present.

Why bystander effect happens?

• diffusion of responsibility - each person assumes someone else will act

• ignorance - seeing others no act makes individuals believe no help is needed

• audience inhibition - fear of being judged 

• social influence - people feel the need to behave in a correct way. When others fail to act, individuals will also not act. 

The Smoke-Filled Room

• Latane & Darley, 1968

• aim: determine whether the presence of others prevents individuals from helping in emergencies

• method:

  • participants placed in 3 conditions: alone in room, w/ 2 other participants, w/ 2 confederates who ignored smoke

  • participants filled out a questionnaire

  • smoke filled the room

• key findings:

  • when alone, most participants reported smoke to experimenters

  • some but not many reported smoke when w/ other participants

  • little/less participants reported smoke when w/ confederates

  • showed people may fail to act even when their own safety at risk

• limitations:

  • artificial setting may lack validity

  • lack of generalisation - for men, they usually act calm in stressful situations. Results may differ for women or people from other cultures

What is bullying?

• when people repeatedly and intentionally use words/actions against someone or a group to cause distress and risk to their safety

• is an anti-social behaviour

Behaviours involved in bullying

• face-to-face bullying (direct) - punching, kicking, name-calling, insulting

• covert bullying (indirect) - creating rumours, spreading lies, less obvious

• cyberbullying - anonymous, video of person being bullied

How to reduce bullying?

• teach empathy

• promote to be more inclusive of group norms

• empower people with bystander training