Helping others
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Three true stories: One
In 1964, in the Queens district of New York City,
Kitty Genovese was sexually assaulted and stabbed
eight times. Overall the attack lasted 45 minutes, but
in fact there were three separate attacks. The killer
was scared off twice by Kitty's screams and struggles
("Oh my God, he stabbed me! Please help me! Please
help me!"), and by the voices and lights of the 38
people who watched from their windows. As no-one
intervened, however, he returned each time to attack
again. No-one even called the police during the attack.
One man phoned the police after Kitty was murdered,
but he would not leave his name as he didn't want to
get involved.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Three true stories: Two
Joe Delaney, a Kansas City Chiefs football player,
saw people standing around a huge water-filled
hole. Three boys had waded in , unaware that a
short way out the bottom dropped off. Suddenly
they were in over their heads and thrashing and
screaming for help. As Joe alone dashed for the
pond, a little boy asked, "Can you swim?" "I can't
swim good," Joe answered, "but I've got to save
those kids. If I don't come up, get somebody."
One boy struggled back to safety. Later the other
two - and Joe Delaney - were hauled out by
rescuers, dead.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Three true stories: Three
During the second world war the SS Dorchester was
torpedoed by the Nazi submarine U-456. There were four
chaplains on board: Methodist George Fox; Rabbi
Alexander Goode; Catholic John Washington; and
Reformed Church minister Clark Poling. As the four
chaplains arrived on the dark and steeply sloping deck
they began to guide other men to their boat stations. They
distributed life jackets and coaxed men over the side. In
the icy, oil-smeared water, Pvt. William Bednar heard the
chaplains preaching courage and found the strength to
swim out until he reached a life-raft. Still on board, Grady
Clark watched in awe as the chaplains handed out the last
life jackets and then gave away their own. As Clark
slipped into the waters he saw the chaplains standing their arms linked-praying, in Latin, Hebrew, and English.
Other men, now serene, joined them in a huddle as the
Dorchester slid beneath the sea.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Lecture contents
A reminder of evolutionary psychology.
Helping from an evolutionary perspective.
The altruism question.
A sequential decision-making framework for helping.
The effect of standards (models and norms).
Individual (personality) differences.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Evolutionary psychology: A reminder
“If a specific social behaviour enhances reproductive
success, the genetic underpinnings of that behaviour are
more likely to be passed on to subsequent generations”
(Brehm et al., 2002, p. 347)
“If...”
 (i) This does not mean that alternative behaviours may not also be
successful.
 (ii) Specific behaviours are fit for specific environments.
“...the genetic underpinnings of that behaviour...”
 (i) If any.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Evolution and helping
Helping is typically more costly than non-helping.
 Non-helping more ‘fit’ and so should become increasingly
prevalent in subsequent generations.
How then can evolutionary theory explain helping?
 (i) Claim that helping has no genetic basis.
 (ii) Deny that helping is necessarily more costly than non-helping.
– Kinship selection.
– Reciprocal altruism.
– Group selection.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Burnstein et al. (1994)
Preferential helping of
relatives in trouble
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
As you sow, so shall your genes reap
Kinship selection
 Just discussed.
Reciprocal altruism
 Helping someone increases our probability of being helped back
when needed.
Group selection
 Helping the group may be repaid by virtue of receiving the benefits
of being a group member.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Psychological (motivational) altruism
Baston (1991)
The empathy-altruism hypothesis
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
The empathy-altruism paradigm and predictions
Ease of
escape
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Easy
Hard
Empathic
concern
Low
High
Escape Help
Help
Help
Tom Farsides
Batson et al. (1981)
Empathy-induced
altruism
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Reward-seeking egoistic alternatives
Negative state relief model (Cialdini et al., 1987)
 High empathy increases sadness that can be relieved by obtaining
the rewards of helping
 Will only help others when doing so is necessary and effective for
reducing negative personal affect, e.g., sadness.
Empathic joy (Smith et al. 1989)
 High empathy makes possible obtaining personal satisfaction
when the needy other’s welfare is improved.
 Will only help others when doing so is necessary and effective for
increasing positive personal affect, e.g., joy.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Latané & Darley (1970)
Five steps to emergency-intervention
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Step 1: Noticing
Piliavin et al. (1976)
 More help when dramatic event witnessed rather than just
aftermath of it.
Mathews & Canon (1975)
 More help without stimulus-overload (cf. Milgram, 1970).
McMillen et al. (1977)
 More help when in an ‘externally-attentive’ good mood than in a
‘self-absorbed’ bad one.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Step 2: Interpreting
Latané & Darley (1968)
 Pluralistic ignorance can lead to reduced probability of an
individual helping when in the presence of others and exposed to
an ambiguous need for help.
Clark & Word (1972)
 When the need is not ambiguous, the presence of others has no
effect on helping levels.
Staub (1974)
 The cues others give can reduce or increase the probability of an
individual bystander giving help.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Step 3: Taking personal responsibility
Latané & Darley (1968)
 The chances of any given participant helping in the “seizure study”
decreased as numbers of observers seemingly increased.
 Diffusion of responsibility - Taking less personal responsibility
because one believes that others will (or should) provide help.
Bickman (1971)
 Responsibility not diffused when co-witnesses are clearly not able
to help.
Moriarty (1975)
 Responsibility not diffused when specifically attached to a
bystander.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Steps 4 & 5: Choosing how to help, and Acting
Shotland & Heinold (1985)
 College students trained in first-aid were not more likely to help
someone with profuse arterial bleeding.
 They were, however, much more likely to do the right thing!
Remember: sometimes the most helpful thing one can do is
not provide direct assistance (cf. overhelping, Gilbert &
Silvera, 1996).
 Which of course adds to the ambiguity of whether and what help is
need.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Modelling helpfulness
Ruston (1975)
Actions speak louder than words - for a while
8
7
6
5
4
Generous
actions
Selfish
actions
3
2
1
0
Preaches
generosity
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Preaches
selfishness
Tom Farsides
The altruistic personality
There are individual differences in helpfulness across
situations and times.
 E.g. ‘Rescuers’ and 60s civil right activists were more helpful than
than non-rescuers and non-activists 20-40 years later.
Rushton et al. (1984)
 Genetic basis to this individual difference
 In terms of “behavioural tendenices” and “helping-related
emotions and reactions (such as empathy”), monozygotic twins
are more similar to each other than are dizygotic twins.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Rescuers, relative to non-rescuers (Oliner & Oliner, 1988)
• Greater actual and perceived similarity to Jews.
• More likely to have been directly asked to help.
• Parents more caring, much less likely to use punishment,
and more likely to reason and explain.
• Much more likely to strongly identify with a highly moral
(and morally acting) parent.
• More dispositional empathy.
• More willing to accept responsibility for own actions and
others’ welfare.
• More extensivity (attachment to and empathy, concern,
and responsibility for outgroup members).
• Higher self-efficacy.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Ordinary helpers, relative to non-helpers, have
More dispositional empathy
 Davis (1983)
 Correlation between empathy and donations to a telethon.
Greater sense of responsibility
 Berkowitz & Daniels (1964)
 People high in social responsibility more likely to help needy
dependents.
‘Other-oriented empathy’/extensivity
 Penner et al. (1995)
 Correlation between this and length of service as a volunteer.
Greater self-efficacy
 Rushton (1984)
 Volunteers particularly high in self-efficacy.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Interaction
Staub (1974)
 Those high in social responsibility and other-oriented moral
reasoning were more likely to come to the aid of an ill person.
Penner et al. (1995)
 Those high in ‘other-oriented empathy’ and self-efficacy more
helpful than those high in one or neither characteristic.
Miller et al. (1996)
 (“Cold”) moral reasoning and (“hot”) empathic arousal may be
necessary for self-sacrificing prosocial action (see next slide).
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Miller et al.
(1996)
Interactive effects
of children’s
empathy and
moral reasoning
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides
Interactionism
Snyder (1992)
 Strong situational cues often reduce the impact of personality. Personality
flourishes when situation cues weak.
Carlo et al. (1991)
 Used a procedure close to Batson’s ‘Elaine’ one.
 Most people (78%) helped in difficult escape situation, with little difference
according to extensivity-type measure.
 In easy escape condition, 49% helped, with high-extensives more likely to
help than low-extensives.
Wilson (1976)
 In emergency situation, personality variables related to arousal,
emotionality, and risk-taking predict helping.
Batson et al. (1976)
 In non-emergency situations, personality variables related to cost-benefit
concerns, confidence, and self-esteem predict helping.
ATP Social 9: Helping Others
Tom Farsides