PSYC 3221 1st Edition Lecture 18 Chapter 12Helping othersWhy do we help?- Prosocial behavior vs. Altruismo Altruism Self-less helping behavior Expecting anything in result wouldn’t qualify Expecting & having nothing in return Hard to find today- Examples: saving someone you hate in a almost certain death situationo Prosocial Behavior Helping behavior, that’s benefitting someone elseo Difference Altruism is having no benefit for oneself to do this act of kindness- Evolutionary psychologyo We do what we do for two reasons: individual survival or survival of the specieso Kin protection Survival of the specieso Reciprocity Returning the favor “Reciprocate”o Help those who are genetically similar to use, especially if it involves risking our liveso More likely to find a parent risking their life for the child compared to the other way aroundWho do we help?- Social Exchange Theoryo “Helping as disguised self-interest”o We do things for others so they’ll do things for us in returno No necessarily from the individual who you helpedo Karma, doing something good for someone, we hope that something good will happen to uso Somewhere down the road I’ll get return on my good deed- Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis (Daniel Batson)o If you feel empathy for someone you might engage in altruistic behavior towards that persono If you can feel their pain, you’re more likely to help themo Study – manipulate empathy Listening to someone’s story where she was hurt in a car accident High & low empathy groups with half of each group was told they’d see her again- High empathyThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.o All helped regardless if told they’d see her again or not- Low empathyo Ones told they’d see her again helped; to avoid guilt- Social Normso Reciprocity norm Feel an obligation to reciprocate to repay it asapo Social-responsibility norm Taught from an early age, like sharing your toys with others as a child**Extra Credit opportunity: Smile @ 10 people & frown @ 10 people (or use some other facial expression). People usually reciprocate the facial expression. Jot down the level of reciprocation you received in return**How helps?- Children/Social Learningo Help at a certain age, but before the ages of 4-5 years old are pretty selfisho “Egocentrism” and unable to put themselves in others shoes- Altruistic Personalityo Power of the situation, the situation can tell how someone will respond, regardless of their personalityo Some people are going to be more helpful than other depending on their personalities- Gender Differenceso More likely to help when… Men: If it requires heroic action, one shot deal Woman: Long term attention & nurturingo Depending on who they’re helping; certain men are more likely to help women- Religiosityo Religious people tend to be more helpful, compared to non-religious- Mood Effectso The mood you’re in predicts how likely you’re to help Good moods are more likelyo Good moods helping: The feel-good-do-good effect- If you’re feeling good you’re more likely to help- Not necessarily have to be super happy to helpo Bad mood helping: Bad moods/negative-state relief hypothesis- If we’re in a negative state/mood and we believe that helping behavior might relieve the bad mood, we’re more likely to helpo Not seen in childreno Depressed people- When you feel guilty, you’re more likelyWhom do we help?- People we likeo We’re more likely to help someone we like compared to people we don’t like- Gendero Who is offered help more? Women: are more likely to be offered help Men: are offered less help- Attractiveness- Similarityo Similar in any wayo Age, religion, background, ect.o Exception would be race, sometimes people help other races over others Could be a soothing “white guilt”- Deserving otherso More likely to help those that we believe are more deservingo If they need helpWhen will we help?- Rewardso We’ll help if there is a rewardo If we’ve been rewarded in the past, we’ll do it again- When others helpo If we see other people helping (conformity) it increases the likelihood of you helpingo If you’ve witnessed someone helping- Rural vs. Urban environmentso Urban overload hypothesisTime constraints/good Samaritan