An Introduction to Social Psychology
Global Perspectives
Student Resources
Prosocial Behaviour
Chapter Outline
Some evidence supports a genetic basis for prosocial behaviour, mediated by empathy. Prosocial behaviour is influenced by one’s emotional state and involves attempts to repair self-image. Norms of reciprocity, social responsibility and equity can influence prosocial behaviour. Social learning theory emphasizes the acquisition of prosocial motivation and behaviour through reinforcement, self-attribution, modelling and parental discipline. Prosocial behaviour is influenced by culture, religion, and setting (urban or rural), personality factors and gender. Gratitude and forgiveness do not involve directly extending assistance to others. Gratitude leads the helper to feel socially valued. Forgiveness allows people to recover from interpersonal hurts and perhaps continue in cooperative relationships. The bystander effect occurs when each bystander feels less responsible for the victim’s welfare because there are other people present (‘diffusion of responsibility’) and because the inaction of others makes the situation seem more ambiguous. Bystander behaviour is influenced by the anticipated rewards and costs of helping or not helping. People who act heroically to assist others have typically been reared in close-knit, loving families where parents taught the importance of caring for others. Bystander intervention in emergencies can be encouraged in various ways. People are less likely to receive help if they are perceived as being overly dependent or if their need for help appears to be brought on by their own actions.
KEYWORDS: arousal, bystander effect, cost-reward model, diffusion of responsibility, empathy, equity, forgiveness, gratitude, heroism, image repair, prosocial, reciprocity, social responsibility
True/False Questions
1. Most research shows that empathy is a necessary condition for altruism to occur.
2. Prosocial behaviour tends to increase as the young child becomes older.
3. Subjects told by Isen (1970) that they had scored above the norm on an achievement test were more helpful than those told they had scored below the norm or given no feedback.
4. After having done something which caused harm to someone, we are more likely to give help, even to someone else.
5. People who help others tend to have more of an internal locus of control than those who do not help
6. In situations that involve short term interactions with strangers, men tend to help more than women.
7. People who are active members of churches tend to be more altruistic than those who are not religious.
8. Research on the bystander effect shows that people tend to be apathetic when witnessing an emergency.
9. One explanation for the bystander effect is that people fear doing the wrong thing and looking foolish.
10. People who are dependent on our help are more likely to be helped when it doesn’t cost us too much.
True/False Answers
1. F
2. T
3. T
4. T
5. T
6. T
7. F
8. F
9. T
10. T
Multiple-Choice Questions
Short Answer Questions
1. Discuss the reason(s) that psychologists usually prefer the term ‘prosocial behaviour’ to ‘altruism’
2. What characteristics do emergencies share?
3. Outline three norms related to helping behaviour.
4. What gender differences are there in empathy and how are they explained?
5. How does Milgram explain differences in helping between people in cities and small towns?
6. Describe an experiment relating altruism to mood. What explanations for this relationship have been suggested?
7. How might prosocial intervention by bystanders be encouraged?
8. How is heroism a special case of altruism?
9. What do the characteristics of the beneficiary have to do with who gets helped?
10. Discuss a study that demonstrates the concept of diffusion of responsibility as it relates to bystander intervention.
Essay Questions
1. Contrast the cognitive development and social learning explanations of altruism.
2. How do the Latané-Darley and the Piliavin models explain bystander intervention? When is each one most applicable as an explanation?