Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Chapter TwelveHelpful Social Behavior

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Types of Helping Behavior

• Prosocial behavior

– any action that provides benefit to others

• casual helping

• emergency helping

• substantial personal helping

• emotional helping

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Altruism vs. Egoism

• Why would people help?

• Egoistic motivation

– we help others to feel good ourselves

• Altruistic motivation

– we help others as an end in itself

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Parameters of Altruism

• Inclusive fitness

– helping as a means of preserving our genetic material

• Empathy-altruism hypothesis

– feelings of empathy lead to altruistic behavior?

– feelings of empathy lead to personal distress; we help to feel better?

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Factors Influencing Helping

• Social norms

• Modeling helpful behavior

• Blaming the victim

• Good mood

• Guilt

• Individual differences

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Norms and Helping

• Norm of social responsibility

– we should help those who are deserving

• Norm of reciprocity

– we should repay a favor with a favor

• Personal norms

– we each have expectations about our behavior in particular situations

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Modeling Helpful Behavior

• Exposure to models of helpful behavior can influence the likelihood of our own helping

• Modeling has implications for the development of helping during childhood

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Blaming the Victim

• We sometimes conclude that a victim’s unfortunate outcomes are due to that victim’s own behavior

• Just world theory

– humans need to believe that the world is a fair and just place

– we therefore sometimes think that bad things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good people

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Mood and Helping

• The warm glow of a good mood can spark us to help others

• Feelings of guilt can spark us to help others

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Individual Differences in Helping

• Individual differences in empathy predict helping behavior

• Dimensions of empathy

– perspective taking

– empathic concern

– personal distress

– fantasy generation

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Concept Review

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Volunteerism

• Volunteering your time is an example of substantial personal helping

• Motives for volunteerism:

– values

– community concern

– understanding

– personal development

– esteem enhancement

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Helping in an Emergency

• A decision tree of helping

– notice the emergency

– interpret it as such

– assume personal responsibility for acting

– choose a strategy

– implement that strategy

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Cultural Differences in Helping

• Individualism-collectivism may play a role in influencing helping

– cultural comparisons to Kenya, Mexico, Japan, India, and the Phillippines have been made

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

The Recipient’s Negative Reaction to Help

• Norm of reciprocity

– help recipients may find themselves unable to reciprocate the help they receive

• Threats to self-esteem

• Attributions

– the attributed cause of the helping may determine one’s reactions

• Individual differences in gratitude

– some people are more grateful than others

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Concept Review

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

The Nature of Social Dilemmas

• Short-term, individual gain can lead to long-term, collective loss

– Tragedy of the commons is an example

• grazing, fishing, pollution

– Prisoner’s dilemma is an example

• weighing cooperation versus competition

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Decision-Making in Social Dilemmas

• Situational labels for a social dilemma influence our behavior

• Priming a schema for cooperation or for competition influences our behavior

• Social norms for cooperation or competition influence our behavior

• Similar models serve as a guide for behavior

• Communication can increase cooperation

• Social value orientation predicts helping

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Concept Review

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Support

• Perceiving that social support is available can be more beneficial than actual social support receipt

– both perceived and actual social support can be measured by questionnaires

Social Psychology Alive, Breckler/Olson/WigginsChapter 12

Social Support and Health

• Four ways that social support influences health:

– informational support

– instrumental support

– companionship support

– emotional support