Chapter 12: Helping PDF

Chapter 12: Helping Blend Images/Alamy Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Overview Why do we help?  Social exchange theory  Social-responsibility norm  Reciprocity norm When will we help?  Number of bystanders  Helping when someone e...

Chapter 12: Helping Blend Images/Alamy Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Overview Why do we help?  Social exchange theory  Social-responsibility norm  Reciprocity norm When will we help?  Number of bystanders  Helping when someone else does  Time pressures  Similarity Who will help?  Personality traits  Gender  Religious Faith How can we increase helping? Why Do We Help? Social Exchange theory Internal Rewards  Guilt- help as way of relieving ourselves of it  Feel-bad,do-good effect  Positive mood can dramatically boost helping  Happy people often more helpful  Exceptions to the feel-bad/do-good scenario  Effect occurs only with people whose attention is on others  Grieving people Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Why Do We Help? Social Norms  Sometimes we help because something tells us we ought to  Norms prescribe our behaviour  Social norms mandate helping Social Reciprocity Norm theory  Expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them  Helps define the social capital  Supportive connections, information flow, trust, and cooperative actions—that keep a community healthy  Neighbours keeping an eye on each other’s homes Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Why Do We Help? Social Norms  What about people unable to reciprocate- children, impoverished, people in need- we’re motivated by social- responsibility norm Social-Responsibility Norm theory  Expectation that people will help those needing help even if they cannot reciprocate, as long as they are deserving Gender and Receiving Help  Women offer help equally to males and females  Men offer more help when the persons in need are women Why Do We Help? Evolutionary Psychology theory  Contends that life’s essence is survival  Our genes drive us in adaptive ways that maximise their chances of survival  Evolutionary theory assumes the following types of helping: Kin Selection  The idea that evolution has selected altruism toward one’s close relatives to enhance the survival of mutually shared genes  Genetic relatedness predicts helping Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Why Do We Help? Evolutionary Psychology Reciprocity  Predicted by genetic self-interest  Works best in small isolated groups  Rural areas vs city Group selection  When groups are in competition-groups of mutually supportive altruists outlast nonaltruists  Employees competing with one another- while cooperating to surpass competition Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Why Do We Help? Genuine Altruism Our willingness to help is influenced by self- serving and selfless considerations  Empathy  Vicarious experience of another's feelings; putting oneself in another’s shoes  Motivates us to assist others even when our mood will be unaffected Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or When Will We Help? Number of Bystanders Noticing  We are less likely to notice a situation if we are not alone Interpreting  Illusion of transparency-overestimate other’s ability to read our internal state  Bystander effect  Finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders Assuming responsibility  Responsibility diffusion Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or When Will We Help? Helping When Someone Else Does Prosocial models do promote altruism Time Pressures Busy important people less likely to help Similarity We tend to help those whom we perceive as being similar to us – dress + belief Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Who Will Help? Personality Traits No single personality trait predicts helping Individual differences in helpfulness Network of traits predispose one to helpfulness:  Positive emotionality  Empathy  Self-efficacy Personality influences how particular people react to particular situations  People high in self-monitoring are attuned to other’s expectations- more helpful Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or Who Will Help? Gender  Women more likely to help, tend to be more generous than men  Men helpful in dangerous situation than as volunteers  20 years ago, philantropist Bill Gates refused advise to open charitable foundation- until he got married, had two daughters Religious Faith Predicts long-term altruism, as reflected in volunteerism and charitable contributions Religion is the mother of philantrophy  Surveys confirm the correlation between faith engagement and volunteering- where religion is personal choice not imposed norm Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? To promote altruism- reverse factors that inhibit it Reduce Ambiguity, Increase Responsibility  Look she is shopliftings vs she is shoplifting we should report her, it’s our responsibility Personalized Appeal  Personal request  Eye contact  Stating one’s name  Anticipation of interaction Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? Guilt and Concern for Self-Image Awakening people’s guilt can increase desire to help “Do Not Touch” sign,  ‘Don’t touch objects, if you do this will deteriorate them’ Labeling people as helpful- strengthens their helpful self-image  ‘you are a helpful person’ Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? Socializing Altruism Teaching moral inclusion  Moral exclusion  Perception of certain individuals or groups as outside the boundary within which one applies moral values and rules of fairness  Moral inclusion  Regarding others as within one’s circle of moral concern Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? Socializing Altruism Modeling Altruism  Real-life modeling  Seeing & reading about someone being helpful increases our likelihood to help  Media modeling  Media depicting helpful people may influence children to do the same Learning by Doing  Helpful actions promote the self-perception that one is caring and helpful, which in turn promotes further helping  Attitudes later turn into behaviour Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? Socializing Altruism Attributing Helpful Behavior to Altruistic Motives  Overjustification effect  Result of bribing people to do what they already like doing; they may then see their actions as externally controlled rather than intrinsically appealing  Coercing good deeds diminishes intrinsic love of an activity  Justification should just be enough- allowing one to attribute own behaviour to altruistic motivation  Why help? Help is needed and I am caring, giving & helpful Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? Socializing Altruism Learning about altruism  Can prepare people to perceive and respond to others’ needs Copyright 2016 © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or How Can We Increase Helping? Reverse factors that inhibit helping Reduce vagueness of emergency Make personal appeal to increase feelings of responsibility Teach altruism Coerce good deeds: overjustification effect- provide good justification for people doing good Learn about altruism