Helping and Cooperation – Chapter 14
prosocial behavior cooperation
behavior intended to help someone else two or more people working together toward
a common goal that will benefit all involved
altruism egoism
behavior intended to help someone behavior motivated by the desire to
else without any prospect of obtain personal rewards
personal rewards for the helper
When Do People Help? norm of social responsibility
Is help needed and deserved? a norm that those able to take care of
themselves have a duty and obligation
- becoming aware of a need is… to assist those who cannot
… complicated by noisy surroundings, being in a hurry e.g. helping old, young, sick people
… facilitated by a positive mood
- who is perceived to “brought it on himself” is less likely to be offered help
e.g. helping a drunk person vs. helping a sick person
Should I help?
Even when people think that help is needed and deserved, the action doesn’t always follow.
diffusion of responsibility bystander effect
the effect of other people present on diminishing the presence of more bystanders consistently decreases
each individual’s perceived responsibility for the likelihood of one person giving help
helping; one explanation for the bystander effect even the thought of the presence of others can have this effect
- norms can make helping inappropriate
− no one wants to foolishly rush to help in a case that may not be an emergency at all
− norm of family privacy inhibits people’s intervention when observing family violence
a staged physical attack by a man on a woman in front of a bystander
- if the woman said, “I don’t know you!” 65% of bystanders helped
- if the woman said, “I don’t know why I ever married you!” 19% helped
- norms can make helping appropriate
− if one person rushes to offer help, many more may also do so
− these people acting as models in ambiguous situations may be influenced by
personal examples
e.g. parents who teach norms that encourage helping others
Why Do People Help?
Biological perspectives
- old perspective: evolution has shaped humans to be fundamentally and unalterably selfish
- modern perspective: prosocial behavior enhances the likelihood that these genes survive by…
− helping relatives who share their genes → genes survive through helped relative
− help is given to another being reciprocated at a later time
− perpetuating the in-group’s existence through cooperation
− getting a positive reputation within the group when you helped
prosocial behavior cooperation
behavior intended to help someone else two or more people working together toward
a common goal that will benefit all involved
altruism egoism
behavior intended to help someone behavior motivated by the desire to
else without any prospect of obtain personal rewards
personal rewards for the helper
When Do People Help? norm of social responsibility
Is help needed and deserved? a norm that those able to take care of
themselves have a duty and obligation
- becoming aware of a need is… to assist those who cannot
… complicated by noisy surroundings, being in a hurry e.g. helping old, young, sick people
… facilitated by a positive mood
- who is perceived to “brought it on himself” is less likely to be offered help
e.g. helping a drunk person vs. helping a sick person
Should I help?
Even when people think that help is needed and deserved, the action doesn’t always follow.
diffusion of responsibility bystander effect
the effect of other people present on diminishing the presence of more bystanders consistently decreases
each individual’s perceived responsibility for the likelihood of one person giving help
helping; one explanation for the bystander effect even the thought of the presence of others can have this effect
- norms can make helping inappropriate
− no one wants to foolishly rush to help in a case that may not be an emergency at all
− norm of family privacy inhibits people’s intervention when observing family violence
a staged physical attack by a man on a woman in front of a bystander
- if the woman said, “I don’t know you!” 65% of bystanders helped
- if the woman said, “I don’t know why I ever married you!” 19% helped
- norms can make helping appropriate
− if one person rushes to offer help, many more may also do so
− these people acting as models in ambiguous situations may be influenced by
personal examples
e.g. parents who teach norms that encourage helping others
Why Do People Help?
Biological perspectives
- old perspective: evolution has shaped humans to be fundamentally and unalterably selfish
- modern perspective: prosocial behavior enhances the likelihood that these genes survive by…
− helping relatives who share their genes → genes survive through helped relative
− help is given to another being reciprocated at a later time
− perpetuating the in-group’s existence through cooperation
− getting a positive reputation within the group when you helped
