PSY 223 1nd Edition Exam 4 Study Guide Lectures 18 22 Helping Others 1 Distinguish among the following terms prosocial behavior altruism and egoistic helping Prosocial behavior voluntary behavior carried out to benefit another person INTENDED action to benefit others Altruism the primary goal is to help another person event if there is a cost to self Egotistic helping a form of helping in which the primary goal is to increase own welfare 2 The main principle of evolutionary theory is that any behavior that enhances reproductive success will be passed on to later generations On the face of it then it might appear that being helpful to others would not increase one s chances of survival However evolutionary theorists have used principles of evolutionary theory to explain why helping occurs Explain helping from an evolutionary perspective In particular explain kin selection and reciprocal altruism and their links to evolutionary principles We are concerned about ourselves but we also want our genes to survive so more likely to help biological relatives than those who are not especially in risky situations or if they can reproduce Kin selection tendency to help genetic relatives which results in the greater likelihood that genes held in common will survive Reciprocal altruism helping overs increases the chances you will be helped in return and survive 3 Various norms also affect helping behavior Distinguish between the reciprocity norm and the social responsibility norm Social responsibility norm you help those who are less well off than you younger disabled elderly Ought factors social norms in society that tell us what behaviors we ought to engage in 4 Explain the social exchange perspective to helping behavior Refer to rewards costs and equity in your answer What is the arousal cost reward model of helping Social exchange we help others when we can maximize our rewards and minimize the costs if rewards are great enough and costs low enough then we are willing to help Arousal cost reward method the proposition that people react to emergency situations by acting in the most cost effective away to reduce the arousal of shock and alarm 5 Imagine that you have run across a homeless person who asks for money According to the empathy altruistic hypothesis what factors are likely to influence how likely you are to help What is the distinction between helping out of empathic concern and perspective taking vs relief of personal distress Empathy ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and experience what they are experiencing Empathy altruism hypothesis when we feel empathy for someone we will attempt to help purely for altruistic reasons we help due to empathetic concern When helping because of egotistic reasons we help because of social rewards and experienced distress helping declined when it is easy to escape from the situation If you have an altruistic motivation help regardless of ease of escape helping because of empathy 6 Explain the complex motives that people have for volunteering e g research by Omoto Snyder on motivations to help people with AIDS People who volunteer tend to have multiple motives some empathic perspective taking and some egotistical build resume Omoto Snyder found those who initially endorsed self oriented motives for volunteering like gaining understanding and developing personal skills remained active volunteers longer than those who initially emphasized other oriented motives like humanitarian values and community concern Supports that purely altruistic motives may not keep individuals motivated long enough to withstand personal costs associated with prolonged helping when helping demands more of us self interest keeps us going 7 Imagine that you lost your wallet Where would you be more likely to receive help in a large city or in a small town Why the differences According to Levine et al what are the most helpful cities People are more likely ot help in small towns than urban areas because of stimulus overload less likely to notice an emergency there is more diversity in urban areas so reduced perceptions of similarity so less likely to help and diffusion of responsibility because feel anonymous and less accountable Levin et al found that Knoxville TN was the more helping city They found that cities with greater economic well being were associated with more helping Largest cities tended to have worst scores for helping 8 According to the Good Samaritan study by Darley and Batson who was more likely to help a confederate slumped in a doorway coughing and groaning Did the type of speech matter Did pressure of time matter Good Samaritan study found that those who were in a rush were not likely to help but those who had a lot of time were Type of speech random topic or about the Good Samaritan Bible story did not matter what did matter was how much time they had before they had to give their speech 9 What is the bystander effect What is the Bystander Intervention Model What are the 5 steps to the process Explain how each of the following inhibit the likelihood of receiving help in an emergency situation if there are many witnesses according to this model a pluralistic ignorance b diffusion of responsibility and c audience inhibition effect Be familiar with the general findings from the classic studies that illustrate the Bystander Intervention Model e g the woman in distress study the smoke study According to recent meta analyses is the effect weaker in some situations Does the bystander effect occur on line Is it more or less likely to occur when the audience is a group of friends vs a group of strangers Bystander effect presence of others inhibits helping Bystander Intervention Model 5 Steps 1 Noticing must notice situation because sometimes when so many people we may not notice emergency 2 Interpreting interpret if it s an emergency 3 Taking responsibility even if you think it is an emergency you may not take action because you think someone else will 4 Deciding to help 5 Providing help Pluralistic ignorance happens during interpretation stage if no one else looks alarmed and no one is taking action we think it must not be an emergency Diffusion of responsibility assume others will take responsibility Audience inhibition effect worry about how others will view your helping The less people around the more likely we are to help 10 Describe how moods both good and bad affect helping Explain why they have the effects they do What negative feelings