Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

Chapter 10: Helping Others

Terms in this set (33)

prosocial behaviors
actions intended to benefit others
the evolutionary perspective and helping
this perspective says that survival of the individual's genes (not "survival of the fittest") affects whether or not we help others
kin selection
preferential helping of genetic relatives, which results in the greater likelihood that genes held in common will survive
reciprocal altruism
helping someone else because it turns out to be in your best interest (helping them increases the likelihood that you will be helped in return)
indirect reciprocity
an example of group-level altruism where person B helps person C, and person A helps person B; "I help you and somebody else helps me"
group selection
groups with altruistic members are more likely to survive than groups with only selfish individuals; means cooperation and helpfulness among members of a social group could be an evolved tendency
empathy
understanding or vicariously experiencing another individual's perspective and feeling sympathy and compassion for that individual; has a cognitive component (perspective taking) and an emotional component (empathic concern)
rewards and costs of helping
if there are potentially high ___ and low ___, then people are more likely to help someone (even in an individualistic culture)
arousal: cost-reward model
the proposition that people react to emergency situations by acting in the most cost-effective way to reduce the arousal of shock and alarm; emotionally, feel personal distress; cognitively, have to decide if it is worth it to reduce such feelings by helping (compare potential costs and rewards)
negative state relief model
the proposition that people help others in order to counteract their own feelings of sadness/ in order to improve their mood
courageous resistance
thoughtful (sustained and deliberate) helping in the face of potentially enormous costs; ex. helping hide Jews during the Holocaust; if demanding, can negatively affect health
Good Samaritan laws
laws which encourage bystanders to intervene in emergencies by reducing potential costs (offering legal protection) and/or increasing the costs of not helping (duty to rescue)
egoistic
motivated by the desire to increase one's own welfare; feel personal distress and are motivated to reduce own distress; if escape from the situation is easy, helping decreases when this motivation is present
altruistic
motivated by the desire to improve another's welfare; feel empathic concern and are motivated to reduce the distress of the other person; this motive = help is given regardless of ease of escape
empathy-altruism hypothesis
the proposition that empathetic concern for a person in need produces an altruistic motive for helping; however, limits to this = not all helping is altruistic, motives don't guarantee behavior, and there may not be a clear divide between thinking of self and thinking of others
bystander effect
the effect whereby the presence of others inhibits helping - the more witnesses there are, the less likely it is that the victim will be helped (everyone assumes someone else will help); applies to online situations, too
getting help in a crowd
single someone out, point, use eye contact, make a direct request = counteracts bystander effect
five steps to helping
1. notice something's happening; 2. interpret the event as an emergency; 3. take responsibility for providing help; 4. decide how to help; 5. provide help; with each step there are obstacles to helping
obstacles to helping
distraction, self-concerns could stop you from noticing; ambiguity, possible relationship between attacker and victim, and pluralistic ignorance could prevent interpreting the event as an emergency; diffusion of responsibility could prevent taking responsibility for providing help; lack of competence could prevent you from deciding how to help; audience inhibition and costs exceeding rewards could prevent you from actually providing the help
pluralistic ignorance
the state in which people in a group mistakenly think that their own individual thoughts, feelings, or behaviors are different from those of the others in the group; in emergency situations, this means that each bystander thinks other people aren't acting because somehow they know there isn't an emergency, when actually everyone is confused and hesitant
diffusion of responsibility
the belief that others will or should take the responsibility for providing assistance to a person in need
audience inhibition
reluctance to help for fear of making a bad impression on observers
culture and helping
the more well off (economically) that a country is, the less help is provided (poor = give more help); however, may not be true in cultures with the notion of simpatico, a concern for the well-being of others (ex. Spanish/ Latin American cultures); individualistic cultures = more charitable, more volunteering opportunities than in collectivistic cultures
good mood effect
the effect whereby a good mood increases helping behavior; exceptions = high costs, or positive thoughts about social activities that conflict with helping
bad mood effect
it's false that being in a bad mood makes you less likely to help someone; sometimes the opposite is true, ex. when you feel guilty, you are motivated to help to relieve personal distress; exceptions = blaming others for bad mood, being self-focused; good mood effect is stronger
social norm
a general rule of conduct reflecting standards of social approval and disapproval; affects helping behavior and vary between cultures
norm of reciprocity
people who give to you should be paid back
norm of equity
when you feel overbenefited, you feel that you have to help those who are underbenefited
norm of social responsibility
a moral standard emphasizing that people should help those who need assistance
personality and helping
some personality traits are correlated with helping: 1. empathy (perspective taking, "hot") and 2. internalized and advanced moral reasoning ("cold")
beauty and helping
attractive people have a better chance than unattractive people of getting help when they need it
gender and helping
women seek help more often than men do; men are seen as more helpful historically (as "knights in shining armor", emergency situations); women tend to help friends and loved ones in non-emergencies
threat-to-self-esteem model
the theory that reactions to receiving assistance depend on whether help is perceived as supportive or threatening
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...