Prosocial Behavior Summary Notes

What is Prosocial Behavior?

  • Definition: Prosocial behavior refers to helpful actions that benefit others without providing any direct advantage to the helper.
    • Can potentially be harmful to the person performing the act.

Motives for Prosocial Behavior

  • Empathy:

    • Empathy is a key motive for prosocial actions. It involves emotional reactions focused on others, encompassing:
    • Compassion: A feeling arising when confronted with someone else's suffering, motivating to relieve that suffering.
    • Sympathy: Feelings of pity and sorrow for another's misfortune.
    • Concern: Feelings of anxiety or worry about someone.

  • Components of Empathy:

    • Emotional Empathy: Ability to relate to an individual's emotion.
    • Empathic Accuracy: Accurate recognition of others' emotions.
    • Empathic Concern: Compassion for others and the discomfort experienced in response to their distress.
    • All components can motivate helping others.

Empathy as a Foundation for Helping

  • Affective Responses: Empathy includes both affective and cognitive responses to another's emotional state, with the affective component being crucial.
    • Children as young as 12 months show distress when they see others in distress.

Perspectives on Helping

  • Empathic Joy Hypothesis:

    • Suggests that individuals help others to accomplish something, which is rewarding.

  • Empathy-Altruism:

    • Proposes that some prosocial behaviors arise solely from the desire to help, which can also satisfy the helper's emotional needs.

Personality Variables Influencing Prosocial Behavior

  • Positive Variables:

    • Sense of well-being.
    • Achievement motivation.
    • Sociability.
    • High interpersonal trust.

  • Negative Variables:

    • High aggressiveness (low empathy).
    • Machiavellian traits (cynical, distrustful, egocentric).

Altruism and Altruistic Personality

  • Altruism: Behavior motivated by an unselfish concern for others.
  • Altruistic Personality: Dispositional variables associated with prosocial behavior:
    • Empathy.
    • Belief in a just world.
    • Acceptance of social responsibility.
    • Internal locus of control.

Negative-State Relief Model

  • Proposes that people sometimes help to alleviate their own negative feelings rather than purely for the other’s benefit.
  • Research Findings:
    • Negative feelings can stem from various sources; people may help to feel better themselves regardless of empathy.

Forms of Helping Behavior

  • Helping: Assisting with instrumental needs (e.g., helping a stranded motorist).
  • Sharing: Relieving unmet material desires (e.g., sharing food).
  • Comforting: Addressing emotional distress (e.g., offering kind words).

Competitive Altruism

  • Suggests helping can boost one's reputation and status, leading to personal benefits.

Kin Selection Theory

  • Proposes individuals help those who share their genes to ensure the survival of their genes.
  • Reciprocal Altruism: The idea of helping others with the expectation of receiving help in the future.

Defensive Helping

  • Helping others not out of empathy but to reduce perceived threats to one's ingroup's status.

Bystander Effect and Responsiveness

  • Kitty Genovese Case: Multiple witnesses did not intervene during an emergency, showcasing the bystander effect.
  • Diffusion of Responsibility: The more bystanders present, the less personal responsibility each feels to act.

Five Crucial Steps to Helping in Emergencies

  1. Noticing the Situation: Being aware that something unusual is happening.
  2. Interpreting the Situation as an Emergency: Recognizing the need for help.
  3. Assuming Responsibility: Feeling it’s your duty to help.
  4. Assessing Ability to Assist: Understanding whether you have the skills or knowledge to help.
  5. Deciding to Act: Making the final decision to provide assistance.

Pluralistic Ignorance

  • Phenomenon where bystanders' inaction leads to others being uncertain about the situation, preventing them from interpreting it correctly.

Influencing Factors for Helping Behavior

  • People are likely to help those they like or who are not responsible for their problems.
  • Exposure to Prosocial Models: Seeing others engage in prosocial behavior can encourage individuals to help too.
  • Playing Prosocial Video Games: Increases prosocial thoughts and actions over time.

Role of Gratitude in Encouraging Helping

  • Expressions of gratitude from recipients can increase future helping behavior by enhancing the helper's self-esteem and feelings of worth.

Factors Reducing Helping Behavior

  • Social Exclusion: People who feel excluded are less likely to help others.
  • Darkness/Anonymity: Anonymity can reduce social responsibility and helpful behavior.
  • Economic Value of Time: Concerns about time being productive can make individuals less willing to help.