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Social Psychology Chapter 11

Terms in this set (33)

prosocial behavior
any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person
altruism
the desire to help another person even if it involved a cost to the helper
kin selection
the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection
norm of reciprocity
the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future
empathy
the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions (e.g. joy and sadness) that way that the person experiences them
empathy-altruism hypothesis
the idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help that person for purely altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain
altruistic personality
the qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations
in-group
the group with which an individual identifies as a member
out-group
any group with which an individual does not identify
urban overload hypothesis
the theory that people living in cities are constantly bombarded with stimulation and that they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it
bystander effect
the finding that the greater number of bystanders who witness and emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help
pluralistic ignorance
tendency to assume a situation is not an emergency if we look around and see no one else is acting
diffusion of responsibility
the phenomenon wherein each bystander's sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases
altruistic behavior
an act performed voluntarily to help someone else with no expectation of receiving a reward in any form
results of diffusion of responsibility
as the number of bystanders at an emergency increases, each individual feels less responsible for taking action and is less likely to act
four steps in the decision to help
perceiving a need, taking personal responsibility, knowing how to help, weight costs and benefitss
help: perceiving a need
noticing that something is wrong and deciding help is required
evaluation apprehension
we don't want to look silly
help: taking personal responsibility
is it your responsibility to help or not?
help: weight costs and benefits
people help if the potential gains outweigh the costs
type of people we help
attractive people, people similar to ourselves, people who appear to deserve sympathy rather than blame
blaming the victim
we assign responsibility to the victim and that way we can blame them instead of sympathizing with them
empathy-altruism hypothesis of prosocial behavior
Batson - we empathize and therefore we help
negative state relief model of prosocial behavior
Cialdini - helping occurs to relieve negative feelings
empathic joy hypothesis of prosocial behavior
this model suggests that we feel joy when we see others needs being met
genetic determinism model of prosocial behavior
we help those who are genetically similar to us
how to increase helping
reduce ambiguity (make it clear help is needed), foster a helpful self-concept in others (teach children to think of themselves as "helpful kind of person"), promote identification with those who need help (similarity breeds empathy and willingness to help), teach norms that support helping behavior (model and reinforce helpful behavior), focus responsibility (oppose of diffusion of responsibility)
gratitude
positive feelings that are caused by the perception that one has been helped by others; may have evolved in order to regulate reciprocity
social exchange theory
argues that much of what we do stems from the desire to maximize our rewards and minimize our costs
effect of a positive mood on prosocial behavior
"feel good, do good" - 85% helped pick up the papers when they found a dime.
reasons for positive effects of positive mood on prosocial behavior
good moods make us look on the bright side of life, helping people is a good way to maintain our good mood, good moods increase the amount of attention we pay to ourselves and this makes us more likely to behave according to our values
type of bad mood that increases helping
guilt
situational effects on prosocial behavior
environment: rural vs. urban and residential mobility
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