Prosocial Behavior

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Prosocial Behavior
Wesley Autrey
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Prosocial Behavior

• A. Why do people help?
• Sociobiology
• Social Norms
• Social Exchange
• B. Why dont people help?
• Preconditions for helping
• Situational influences on helping
• Individual differences in helping

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Why do people help?

• Sociobiology
• People help only to the extent that helping
  perpetuates their genes.
• Social Norms
• Reciprocity Norm
• Social Responsibility Norm
• Why do these norms work?
• Violations of norms produce guilt
• Violations of norms produce social sanctions

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Why do people help?

• Social-exchange
• Two Forms of Benefits
• External
• Internal
• Escape unpleasant arousal

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WBUR Pledge Drive
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Announcement

• Date of Exam 3 Nov 17
• Coverage 8, 9, 10 , 11
• Review Nov. 15- 730pm-830pm

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Why do people help?

• Social-exchange
• External
• Internal
• Escape unpleasant arousal

• Donor Fatigue
• Escape or avoid guilt or regret
• Enhance positive mood
• It feels good to help
• Others admire helpers

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Why dont people help?
Preconditions for Helping

• 1. Notice
• Media Censorship

Tiananmen Square 1989
Auschwitz, 1944

• Too pre-occupied to notice.

• Self-censorship motivation not to notice.

Rwanda, 1994
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Why dont people help?
Preconditions for Helping

• 2. Interpret situation as an emergency
• What influences our interpretation?
• Responses of Others
• Pluralistic ignorance

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Seizure Study
85
Percentage Offering Help
62
31
1
2
5
Bystanders
11
Smoke Study
75
Percentage Reporting Smoke
38
10
Alone
With 2 other real subjects
With 2 calm confederates
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Preconditions for Helping

• 1. Notice
• 2. Interpret situation as an emergency
• What Influences our interpretation?
• Responses of Others
• Pluralistic ignorance

• Situations are Ambiguous
• Motivation
• Costs of Helping

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Preconditions for Helping

• Costs of Helping
• Dirty
• Financial
• Energy
• Embarrassment (self and others)
• Feeling exploited
• Time

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Preconditions for Helping

• 3. Assume responsibility
• Diffusion of responsibility
• Expertise of Other Helpers
• 4. Know appropriate form of assistance

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Preconditions for Helping
Notice
Interpret situation as an emergency
Assume responsibility
Know appropriate form of assistance
Offer Help

• Effects of thinking

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Situational Influences

• Number of Bystanders
• Modeling
• Mood

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Mood Helping
Helping
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Mood State
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Situational Influences

• Number of Bystanders
• Modeling
• Mood

• Negative mood
• Negative state relief model
• Positive mood
• Sustaining a positive mood?

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Mood Helping

• --------------------------------------------------
  ------------
• Sad Neutral
  Happy
• --------------------------------------------------
  ------------
• Labile
• Fixed
• --------------------------------------------------
  ------------

H
L
H
H
L
L
DV Number of phone calls made.
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Situational Influences

• When negative moods dont increase helping
• Blame the person in need
• Escape the situation

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Situational Influences

• Reinforcement
• Characteristics of the recipient
• Familiarity
• Dependency

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Individual Differences

• Chronic Depression
• Strong Personal Norms to Help
• Empathy
• Prerequisites of empathy
• Affective perspective
• Cognitive perspective
• Vicariously experience the emotion