1. Altruism & Prosocial Behavior

2. Definitions Altruism Prosocial Behavior Egoism vs. Altruism
voluntarily helping another person
no expectation of benefit in any form
Prosocial Behavior
helping behavior, regardless of the helper’s motives
altruism is a type of prosocial behavior
Egoism vs. Altruism
does altruism truly exist???

3. Perspectives on Helping
Evolutionary Perspective
Darwin (1871)
prosocial behavior in rabbits
also noted in baboons, dolphins, nighthawks, soldier termites, etc.
runs counter to the “survival of the fittest” notion
… but, parents sacrificing themselves for their offspring makes it more likely their genes survive …
what about prosocial behavior toward complete strangers?

4. Perspectives on Helping
Sociocultural Perspective
social origin of prosocial behavior
necessity for functional society
encouragement of social norms
Norm of Social Responsibility
expectation to help those dependent upon us
Norm of Reciprocity
expectation to help those who help us
Norm of Social Justice
rules about fairness and the distribution of resources

5. Perspectives on Helping
Learning Perspective
Reinforcement
rewards and punishments
Observational Learning
modeling

6. Perspectives on Helping
Decision-Making Perspective
Decision Tree Model of Helping
Perceiving a Need
notice situation & interpret as emergency
Taking Personal Responsibility
am I responsible for helping?
Weighing Costs and Benefits
is helping worthwhile?
Deciding How to Take Action
how can I help?  am I able to help?

7. Decision Tree Model of Helping
PERCEIVING A NEED
Does someone need help?
NO. There is no problem. No further action is necessary.
YES
TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Am I Responsible?
NO. It’s not my responsibility. No further action taken.
YES
WEIGHING THE COSTS AND BENEFITS
Is helping worthwhile?
NO. It’s too risky, time consuming, unpleasant, etc. No further action taken.
YES
DECIDING HOW TO HELP
Do I know what to do?
NO. I can’t figure out what to do. No further action taken.
YES
HELP GIVEN

8. Perspectives on Helping
Attribution Theory
attributions we make about those in need determine whether we help or not
e.g., Unlikely to give money to a panhandler talking on a new cell phone and wearing $200 shoes
more likely to help people if we perceive their need as being caused by external sources

9. The Helper Mood of the Helper good mood  more likely to help
but, people in bad moods may be motivated to help others too
Negative-State Relief Model (Cialdini et al., 1973)
helping in order to diffuse a bad mood
helping others can help us feel better

10. The Helper Motives for Helping Personal Distress Empathy
reactions to the plight of others that result in feelings of anxiety and apprehension
primary focus on the self
can cause a person to avoid a situation where help is needed
often results in egoistic behavior
Empathy
feeling sympathy for and actually experiencing another’s situation
motivates a person to offer assistance
often results in prosocial behavior

11. The Helper Factors that increase empathy: person is similar to us
situation is uncontrollable by the person
focusing on the feelings of the person rather than the objective facts of the situation

12. The Helper Personality Characteristics
“helpful” personality not apparent
What motivates people to help?
Good Samaritan study (Huston, 1981)
interviewed interveners in violent and dangerous situations (e.g., muggings, bank robberies)
Commonalities:
big, strong, usually male
had lifesaving, medical, or police training
motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and competence

13. The Helper Gender Differences Blood Donors
Eagly & Crowley (1986)
men more likely to help if heroism is needed
women more likely to help if nurturance is needed
Blood Donors
often view blood donation as part of their self-concept despite an initial aversion to the idea
Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe
Oliner & Oliner (1988)
rescuers emphasized social norms, empathy, and compassion

14. Bystander Intervention
Cat-Flap Story
Kitty Genovese Incident
Bystander Intervention
helping a stranger in distress

15. Bystander Intervention
Explanations
Situational Factors
Diffusion of Responsibility
Ambiguous Situations
Evaluation Apprehension
Environmental Factors
Time Pressures

16. Bystander Intervention
Latané & Darley (1970) Study 1
Bystander Effect
number of participants was the IV
next door, an “emergency” occurred
as number of participants , helping 
replicated with staged thefts at a convenience store

17. Bystander Intervention
Diffusion of Responsibility
the norm of social responsibility suggests that we help those in need …
but who should help when there are many people present?
the expectation doesn’t change, but the number of people witnessing the need can
as the number of people , responsibility spreads throughout the crowd
not always though – being the only doctor in a crowd doesn’t decrease his/her responsibility to perform CPR

18. Bystander Intervention
Ambiguous Situations
how others interpret a situation determines how we interpret that situation
even in a real emergency, if everybody acts like it’s no big deal, we’re likely to assume the same
Latané & Darley (1970) Study 2
# of participants was the IV
participants placed in a room, given a “filler” task
smoke began to fill the room
# of participants, time to seek help, + correlated
in some sessions, the room was so smoky that participants couldn’t even see each other

19. Bystander Intervention
Evaluation Apprehension
concern with self-presentation
can make us more or less likely to help depending on the situation

20. Bystander Intervention
Environmental conditions
Weather
sunny & warm vs. cloudy & cold
Time of day
day vs. night
City size
large vs. small
a person’s city of origin

21. Bystander Intervention
Time Pressures
Darley & Batson (1973)
participants were seminary students
Students asked if they could cover for their advisors by giving a short talk to a group
All said they could

22. Bystander Intervention
Two Independent Variables
Amount of Time
½ of the participants were told that they had plenty of time to get to the building
½ were told that they were already late
Type of Lecture
½ of the participants were told that the speech was to be about the “Good Samaritan” Bible story
½ were told that the speech was to be about jobs available to theology students

23. Bystander Intervention
On the way to the talk, participants encountered a person moaning, coughing, and groaning
Results:
In a hurry: 10% helped
Plenty of time: 63% helped
Type of speech made no difference

24. Volunteerism Motives for Volunteering Values Understanding Social
Career
Self-Protection
Self-Enhancement

25. Helping Close Others
most helping behavior benefits family and close others
support for the evolutionary perspective?
children that share, help, and comfort their friends are more popular than those who do not
Gender roles
female helping roles tend to be socioemotional
male helping roles tend to be instrumental

26. Receiving Help Reactions to being helped are not always grateful
person being helped can feel overly dependent and weak
may feel that they have nothing to give in return
feel as if they’re violating the norm of reciprocity

27. Receiving Help Attributions
How we attribute the causes of our need for help determines whether we feel justified to ask for help
How we attribute the motives of the helper determines our behavior toward him/her

28. Receiving Help Reactance
threats to personal freedom (e.g., needing to depend on someone for basic needs) are often met with negative reactions
Receiving help can be beneficial and necessary in many aspects, but it can also limit freedom, diminish power, and lower self-esteem