Chapter 12
Helping
Behavior
Definitions

Altruism means helping someone when
there is no expectation of a reward (except
for feeling that one has done a good deed)
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Prosocial
Behavior
Altruism
Prosocial Behavior includes any act that
helps others, regardless of motive.
Definitions

Types of Helping (McGuire, 1994)
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Casual help, e.g., giving directions
Substantial help, e.g., lending $$
Emotional help, e.g., listening
Emergency help, e.g., taking someone to E.R.
Definitions

In general, we tend to be more
helpful to those we know and care
about than to strangers
Theoretical Perspectives

An Evolutionary Perspective
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Many examples of prosocial behavior have been
observed among animal species.
Endangering one’s own life to help another, on
the surface, seems incompatible with
reproductive fitness.
“Kin selection” provides an explanation.
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Animals help others more who are genetically related.
Mothers are more helpful than fathers.
However, these ideas are controversial.
Theoretical Perspectives

A Sociocultural Perspective
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Human societies have gradually evolved
beliefs or social norms that benefit the
welfare of the group.
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Norm of Social Responsibility
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Norm of Reciprocity
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Help those who depend on us
Help those who help us
Norm of Social Justice

Maintain equitable distribution of rewards
Theoretical Perspectives

A Learning Perspective
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We learn to be helpful through
reinforcement and observation.
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Children help and share more when they are
reinforced for their helpful behavior.
Children and adults exposed to helpful
models are more helpful.
For children, helping may depend largely on
reinforcement, but as they get older, helping
may be internalized as a value.
Theoretical Perspectives

A Decision-Making Perspective

People decide whether or not to offer
assistance based on a variety of
perceptions and evaluations. Help is
offered only if a person answers “yes” at
each step.
Theoretical Perspectives
(Latané & Darley, 1970)
Theoretical Perspectives

Perceiving a Need

Characteristics that lead us to perceive
an event as an emergency:
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Event is sudden & unexpected.
Clear threat of harm to a victim.
Harm will increase unless someone intervenes
Victim needs outside assistance.
Effective intervention is possible.
Theoretical Perspectives

Taking Personal Responsibility
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Being given responsibility increases
helping.
Perceiving oneself as competent to help
increases the likelihood of taking
responsibility.
Theoretical Perspectives

Weighing the Costs and Benefits
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At least in some situations, people weigh
the costs and benefits of helping and of
not helping.
However, in other cases, helping may be
impulsive and determined by basic
emotions and values rather than by
expected profits.
Theoretical Perspectives

Deciding How to Help & Taking Action

In emergencies, decisions are made
under high stress. Well-intentioned
helpers may not be able to give
assistance or may mistakenly do the
wrong thing.
Theoretical Perspectives

Attribution Theory

We are more likely to be empathetic and
to perceive someone as deserving help if
we believe that they did not cause their
problem.
Who Helps?

Mood and Helping
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People are more willing to help when they
are in a good mood.
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Mood-maintenance
Good moods increase positive thoughts
“Feel good” effect is short lived.
Who Helps?

Mood and helping
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Negative moods sometimes lead to more
helping.
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Negative-state relief model suggests that
people may help as a way to make themselves
feel better.
Less likely to occur if a person is focused on
themselves and their own needs.
Who Helps?

Personal Distress refers to our own
emotional reactions to the plight of
others.
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Occurs when we are preoccupied with
our own feelings and leads us to focus on
reducing that distress.
Fosters “egoistic helping:” We’ll help
only if we cannot easily escape the
situation or ignore others’ suffering.
Who Helps?

Empathy refers to feelings of
sympathy and caring for others.
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Occurs when we focus on the needs and
the emotions of the victim.
We are more likely to feel empathy for
those who are similar to us and those
who did not cause their own distress.
Fosters altruistic helping.
Who Helps?
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Toi & Batson (1982)
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All participants learned about Carol, who had
broken both legs in an accident and needed
assistance catching up with schoolwork.
High empathy condition was told to focus on
Carol’s feelings; Low empathy condition was told
to be objective.
71% high empathy, 33% low empathy helped.
Who Helps?

There is a controversy over
interpreting studies on empathy.
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Batson views empathy as increasing
altruistic motivation
Cialdini argues that helping based on
empathy is not entirely altruistic
because the helper’s goal is to improve
his/her own mood.
Who Helps?
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Personality Characteristics
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There is no single type of “helpful
person.” Rather particular traits and
abilities lead people to help in different
specific types of situations.

E.g., people who help in potentially dangerous
emergencies are bigger and tend to have
training in coping with emergencies.
Who Helps?

Gender and Helping
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Men are more likely to engage in helping
that is heroic and chivalrous.

Men are more likely to help strangers—
especially if the person needing help is
female, if there’s an audience, and if the
situation is dangerous.
Who Helps?

Gender and Helping
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Women are more likely to engage in
helping that is nurturant.
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Care-giving, emotional support, doing favors.
Bystander Intervention
 Bystander effect = people are less
likely to help (and take longer to help)
the more people there are present

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Kitty Genovese murder sparked research
Why does the bystander effect occur?
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Diffusion of responsibility
Pluralistic ignorance
Evaluation apprehension
Bystander Intervention
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Environmental Conditions affect helping.
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People are more helpful when it’s pleasantly
warm and sunny.
People are more likely to help strangers in small
towns & cities than in big cities.
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What matters is current environmental setting, not
where person was raised.
Explanations: anonymity of cities, fear of crime,
information overload, feelings of helplessness.
Bystander Intervention
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“Good Samaritan” study (Darley & Batson, 1973)
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Participants were seminary students
asked to give a short sermon
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Some were told to hurry across campus,
others to take their time
63% of those not in a hurry vs. 10% in a hurry
helped a groaning stranger they passed.
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Time pressure particularly affected those who
believe their research participation was of vital
importance (Batson et al., 1978).
Volunteerism
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Volunteer helping is planned, sustained,
and time-consuming.
Motives for volunteering:
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Expressing Values
Gaining knowledge, skills, & experience
Gaining social approval and new relationships
Advancing career
Putting aside own problems
Gaining personal growth & self-esteem
Self-focused reasons may promote longterm helping.
Caregiving
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Most helping is given to friends and
relations.
Helping given to strangers is usually
spontaneous, that given to intimates
is usually planned.
Women are more involved in caregiving helping than are men.
Receiving Help

Reactions to receiving aid are quite
varied.
Receiving Help

Attribution Theory

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If being helped implies a personal
deficiency rather than a difficult
situation, it can be threatening to selfesteem.
If being helped implies the others’
genuine caring, it can boost self-esteem.
Receiving Help
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The Costs of Indebtedness
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Helping is most appreciated when it can
be reciprocated so that an equitable
balance is maintained in the relationship.
One-way helping threatens equity and
creates power imbalances.
Receiving Help
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Reactance Theory
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Helping may be perceived as a threat to
independence and induce reactance.
According to reactance theory (Brehm,
1966), people want to maximize their
personal freedom and choice. Feeling
that one’s freedom is threatened leads
to negative reactions.
Receiving Help
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New Ways to Obtain Help
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Self-Help Groups minimize the costs of being
helped because they offer opportunities for
reciprocal helping and foster knowledge that
others have the same problem.
Computers can provide assistance anonymously
and with no expectations of reciprocity and also
minimize costs of being helped.