JOHN, TAHRA, STEPHANIE, ERIN AND EMILY.

Helping Others

Why do People Help?

Prosocial Behavior

Prosocial behavior is an act of helping another person, usually when there is no other ulterior motive than to give a helping hand. There are many ways one can demonstrate prosocial behavior and the most common would be one person lending a helping hand to a stranger. Other examples of this behavior range from charity work to blood donations and can even go as far as saving a life.

Cont’d

Prosocial behavior consists of behaviors that are beneficial to others. Sharing, sharing, guiding, comforting, rescuing, and defending others are all forms of prosocial behavior. (Baston, 1988; Dovidio, Piliavin, Schroeder, & Penner, 2006; Eagly, 2009) Although women and men are similar in engaging in extensive prosocial behavior, they are different in which types of behavior they engage in. The prosocial behaviors that are more common with women are communal and relational, and that of men is behaviors that are more strength intensive and collectively oriented. (Eagly, 2009)

Prosocial Behavior in Pop Culture!

Did you know Angelina Jolie donated over $6.8 million to charities last year? Talk about prosocial behavior.

Hope for Haiti sets new records for money raised by disaster fund and has raised $58 million to date.

What are our motivations to helping others?

HELP ASSIST

MAKE EASIER

AID

LEND A HAND

FACILITATE CONTRIBUTE

SUPPORT

BACKING

PROVIDE HOLD

SERVERELIEVE

What motivates us to help another person? Can it truly be just for the benefit of another? Some people believe motivation to helping others is categorized as either “egoistic” or “altruistic”. Some people believe helping others is not necessarily in either category, but falls into both. Others still think that the human condition to help each other is always backed by egoistic motives.

Why do you think you help other people?

Motives for Helping

EGOISTIC MOTIVES

“are structured by the ultimate goal of increasing one’s own welfare”

ALTRUISTIC MOTIVES

“are structured by the ultimate goal of increasing another’s welfare”

(Krebs, 1991)

Is this behaviour Altruistic? Do we help our relatives because we care more about their well-being? How does this relate to the survival of our gene pool?

Studies show that we are more likely to help people we are related to and will do more for them (Manor, 2007)

This is Kinship Selection “the tendency to help genetic relatives”

(Brehm, 2008) 

How big a role does evolution play?

What role does the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis play?

“When we pay attention to another’s suffering, we hurt in a way that frequently leads to helping”

(Cialdini, 1991)

If you see a person in need do you have a desire to help them purely for their benefit? If not only to benefit the other person why do you help them?

We feel pain = We help

When we see another in pain, we feel their pain. The different states in how we feel pain can be categorized as such:

1. Empathy2. Sadness3. Reflexive Distress: “refers to a kind of self-oriented, highly

aversive, arousal based affective state that results from exposure to cues of pain or suffering from a victim”

4. Normative Distress: “refers to an unpleasant feeling arising from the violation of social or personal standards of conduct”

(Cialdini, 1991)

How does it benefit us to help others, whether they are strangers or relatives?

If we help a genetic relative are we doing so innately for the sake of evolution and the passing on of our genes?

If we see a stranger suffering do we help because it will reduce our empathic feelings of distress?

“When you help someone else it reduces your stress”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjqCojle9Bk&feature=related

If this video clip is indeed true, then it could be said that no matter what the motive behind helping is, at the end of the day, it will never be truly Altruistic.

FACT

PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO HELP A STRANGER WHEN THERE IS NO ONE ELSE AROUND…

EXPLANATION

“ T H E M O R E B Y S TA N D E R S, T H E L E S S L I K E LY T H E V I C T I M W I L L B E H E L P E D ” ( B R E H M E T A L , 2 0 0 8 ) . T H E B Y S TA N D E R

E F F E C T M E A N S T H AT T H E M O R E P E O P L E P R E S E N T, T H E L E S S L I K E LY Y O U A R E T O B E H E L P E D. T H I S I S U S UA L LY

B E C A U S E I F T H E R E A R E O T H E R P E O P L E A R O U N D T O WAT C H , O N E W O U L D A S S U M E S O M E O N E E L S E I S G O I N G T O

D O I T A N D T H E Y D O N ’ T H AV E T O. A LT H O U G H W H E N E X P L O R E D I N D I F F E R E N T WAY S W E S E E T H I S I S U S UA L LY

O N LY T H E C A S E W I T H T H E B Y S TA N D E R E F F E C T A N D S T R A N G E R S “ W E S U G G E S T T H AT I T I S T H E A B S E N C E O F A G R O U P- L E V E L P S Y C H O L O G I C A L R E L AT I O N S H I P A M O N G S T

B Y S TA N D E R S ( W H I C H M I G H T P R O V I D E P R O S O C I A L N O R M S A N D VA LU E S , C O H E S I O N, O R A S E N S E O F C O L L E C T I V E E F F I C A C Y ) T H AT P R O D U C E S T H E C L A S S I C B Y S TA N D E R

E F F E C T. H O W E V E R , W E S U G G E S T T H AT W H E N O T H E R S A R E C O N S T R U C T E D A S G R O U P M E M B E R S, T H E N G R O U P S I Z E I S

L E S S L I K E LY T O L E A D T O A R E D U C T I O N I N H E L P I N G. ” ( C R O W T H E R , L E V I N E , 2 0 0 8 )

To learn more, watch this clip on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIvGIwLcIuw&feature=related

When Do People Help?

Why We Don’t Help People – The Bystander Effect

Kendra Cherry (2007) states the term bystander effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress. 

The most popular example of the bystander effect refers to what happened on the night of March 13, 1964. Kitty Genovese was brutally raped and murdered. She screamed for her life for half an hour in the presence of many inactive neighbors who later told police, "I just did not want to get involved." This tragedy could have been avoided if just one individual had stepped up earlier and made a simple phone call.

Why no one steps up

When several bystanders are present in an emergency situation the pressure for someone to intervene and help is shared by all members present, therefore people are less likely to take action with the hope that someone else will deal with the situation instead.

However, if a person is alone and a unexpected emergency occurs the responsibility focuses in on the individual and they are more likely to take action (Bickmen, 1972).

Why no one step’s up - continued

 Bickmen (1972) suggests that if people see other people

ignoring a situation then they are more likely to assume that no emergency exists and they proceed as they usually would, which is called a state of pluralistic ignorance.

Another reason why people do not tend to help is audience inhibition. When people know they are being watched by others they are afraid of making a mistake and becoming embarrassed, therefore we avoid a situation if we do not feel we are competent to address a certain condition (Clark, 2003). 

Watch this YouTube clip that shows examples of the bystander effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac

Who Is likely To help

Who is more likely to get help?

In a recent study people said that they would be more likely to help others if they were members of an “in-group” rather than an “out-group.”

 When people see others who are of similar status of themselves

they are more likely to consider helping rather than those who are of less status. An example of this is shown in a recent document where a homeless man had fallen and possibly broken a bone but none of the individuals walking by stopped to help until another homeless lady came to aid the man.

Also, age has an influence on who receives help as well. Children 10 years and younger or 60 and older likely to receive help from bystanders than those who are between the age of 13 to 40.

Altruistic Personality

A person who has an altruistic Personality is a person who displays two different qualities,

empathy and moral reasoning.

Does Race Have a factor when it comes to helping people?

Could you imagine the colour or your skin preventing you from receiving help if you needed it?

Based on the studies of white and black people placed in staged emergencies where the length of time was measured and the overall decision on whether they chose to help or not, the following information was found (Kunstman & Plant, 2008);

• White participants in this study were slower and less likely to help

Black victims than white victims.• Black Participants in the exact same study helped black and white

people out equally (Kunstman & Plant, 2008).

The truth is alarming! Has race ever influenced your decision to help someone out or not?

Media Pressures affecting people’s motivations to help

The media’s influence on people’s willingness to help others

The media’s influence on the thoughts and desires for many has never been stronger in North America. Children between the ages of 8-18 spend 7 hours and 38 minutes a day engaged in their cell phones, tv, videogames, and I-pods (Painter, 2010).

While this devotion to media and electronics has been commonly seen as a problem, it has also led to substantial increases in awareness of important social issues , such as the “Save the Air” campaign through Facebook (De Lancie, 2010) as well as the impressive coverage of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

This coverage was no doubt intended to educate the viewer on the immense damage done to the country but also to show relatable, well-spoken survivors in an effort to illustrate the similarities between the Haitian and American people; this strategy played a large role in the $150 million dollars raised in the first four days after the disaster. This was a conscious effort by charities to capitalize on the strong presence of Haiti coverage throughout media, as it was believed that “Americans may lose interest in Haiti sooner than they did for Katrina” (Borochoff, 2010).

Haiti relief organizations capitalized on modern technology as they received over 8 million dollars in donations through text messages alone (Preston & Wallace, 2010). In addition to the mere convenience of donating through electronics, modern media has also determined which causes are worthy of the viewers attention. The Haiti earthquake received round the clock coverage on CNN, where reporters crews were shown traversing wreckage and speaking to survivors.

Haiti S E Asia

Katrina 911 Chile0

100

200

300

400

500

600

First Week Donations in mil-lions $

First Week Donations in millions $

In addition, celebrity endorsements have further contributed in creating attention and support for a variety of social and political issues throughout recent history. The earthquake in Haiti was no different; hugely successful celebrities appeared regularly on television asking for donations. Jessica Simpson endorsed “Soles 4 Soules”, a cause that aimed to donate 50,000 shoes, while a variety of popular singers recorded a song together called “Wavin’ Flag”. George Clooney, Wyclef John, and Anderson Cooper organized “Hope for Haiti Now”. This television event garnered 83 million viewers in the US alone (Nielsen, 2010).

There is no question that the influence of popular celebrities has, and will continue to have a great impact on the beliefs and desires of the public; this influence may even exceed that of the traditional media.

Check out some of these links

Young Artists for Haiti- Wavin’ Flag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB7L1BIDELc

Hope for Haiti Now Highlightshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pFSe2ALUNU

Bono & Rihanna performing at “Hope for Haiti Now”.

While the disaster in Haiti was devastating and required the degree of media coverage that it received, one must ask why other disasters and events do not receive a fraction of the attention.

The recent earthquake that killed 200,000 people and destroyed much of Haiti was a 7.0 magnitude quake; in contrast, the earthquake that hit Chile within a few weeks was measured as being a 8.8 magnitude quake (Lacey, 2010). This disaster didn’t receive nearly as much media attention and virtually no celebrity endorsements despite the 1.5 million people who were displaced because of the immense damage (Lacey, 2010). “In the two days following the disaster in Chile, World Vision U.S. raised $220,000 for relief efforts, significantly less than the $3.9-million the organization had received during the same period after the earthquake in Haiti ” (Wallace, 2010).

Some may justify this discrepancy with the statement that Chile, as a country, was already in much better shape than Haiti-and therefore required less assistance. The necessity for media attention and public support goes beyond helping countries overcome natural disasters; it is also crucial for countries suffering from civil war and political unrest.

In the case of the Congo, the country has received little to no mainstream attention despite having prolonged impoverished conditions along with a conflict that has left 3.8 million dead (International Rescue Committee).

It should be noted that the media (through modern technology) has helped contribute to the awareness of all of the disasters and conflicts mentioned above, in one way or another. The difference in the amount of coverage that each event has received may be related to celebrity endorsements, or the overall damage to the country, or perhaps it is dependent on a different list of criteria altogether; because of this uncertainty, it is important to be informed of all relevant social and international issues from a variety of sources, and not simply lend aid to charities based on their affiliations with popular websites and television channels.

References

Ariely, Dan, Anat Bracha, and Stephan Meier. "Doing Good or Doing Well? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially." Research Review 8 (2007): 14-15. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.

Batson, C. D. (1998). Altruism and prosocial behavior. In D. T.Gilbert, S. T.Fiske, & G.Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 282–316). Boston: McGraw-Hill

Bickman, L. (1972). Social Influence and Diffusion of Responsibility in an Emergency. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 8, 438-445.

Bierhoff, H., & Rohmann, E. (2004). Altruistic Personality in the Context of the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis. European Journal of Personality, 18(4), 351-365. doi:10.1002/per.523.

 Cialdini, R. (1991). Altruism or egoism? That is (still) the question. Psychological

Inquiry, 2(2), 124-126. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0202.

References- Continued

Clark, D. (2003). Bystander effects on pro-social behavior. Pro-social and Anti-Social Behaviour (pp. 60). New York: Routledge.

 Crowther, Simon. Levine, Mark. (2008) “The Responsive Bystander: How

Social Group Membership and Group Size Can Encourage as Well as Inhibit Bystander Intervention.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(6) p.1429-1439

 C. Daniel, B., Karen, O., Jim, F., Mary, V., & Alice M., I. (1983). Influence of self-reported

distress and empathy on egoistic versus altruistic motivation to help. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(3), 706-718. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.45.3.706.

 De Lancie, P. (2010, March 8). Tweeting to Save the Planet: The Role-And Limits-of Social

Media in Environmental Solutions. Econtent Magazine. Retrieved March 18, 2010, from http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/Editorial/Feature/Tweeting-to-Save-the-Planet-The-Role-And-Limits-of-Social-Media-in-Environmental-Solutions-61567.htm.

Dovidio, John F. Penner, Louis A. Pillavian, Jane A. Schroeder, David A. (2006) “The Social Psychology of Prosocial Behavior.” Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

References-Continued

Eagly, Alice H. (2009) “The His and Hers of Prosocial Behavior: An Examination of the Social Psychology of Gender.” American Psychologist, 64(8), p 644-648

 Krebs, D. (1991). Altruism and egoism: A false dichotomy?. Psychological

Inquiry, 2(2), 137-139. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0202. Kunstman, Jonathan W., and E. Ashby Plant. "Racing to Help: Racial Bias in

High Emergency Helping Situations." Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 95.6 (2008): 1499-1510. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.

 Levine, M., Cassidy, C. (2009). Groups, identities, and bystander behavior:

How group processes can be used to promote helping. In S. Stürmer, & M. Snyder (Eds.), The psychology of prosocial behavior: Group processes, intergroup relations, and helping (pp. 209-222). Wiley-Blackwell.

References-Continued

Maner, J., & Gailliot, M. (2007). Altruism and egoism: Prosocial motivations for helping depend on relationship context. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37(2), 347-358. doi:10.1002/ejsp.364.

Newbery, C. (2010, February 28). Frantic Rescue Efforts in Chile as Troops Seek to Keep Order. The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03 /01/world/ americas/01chile.html

 Nugier, A., Chekroun, P., Pierre, K., & Niedenthal P. (2009, Oct). Group membership

influencessocial control of perpetrators of uncivil behaviors. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39(6), 1126-1134. Retrieved March 17, 2010 from EBSCO.

 Painter, K. (2010, February 10). Teenagers do Listen. USA Today, 6D. Retrieved March

10, 2010, from http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20100208/yourhealth08_st.art.htm

Preston, C. & Wallace, N. Donations to Help Haiti Exceed $528 Million, Chronicle Tally. The Chronicle ofPhilanthropy.Retrieved March 20, 2010, from http://philanthropy.com/article/Donations-to-Aid-Haiti-Exceed/63756/.

References- Continued

Sechrist, G. B., & Milford. L. R. "The Influence of Social Consensus Information on Intergroup Helping Behavior." Basic & Applied Social Psychology 29.4 (2007): 365-374. Academic Search Premier. Retrieved on March 18, 2010, EBSCO.

Takooshian, H. (2009). The 1964 Kitty Genovese tragedy: Still a valuable parable. PsycCRITIQUES, Vol 54 (10). Retrieved March 18, 2010 from EBSCO.

Wallace, N. (2010, March 1). Fundraising Efforts for Chile off to a Slow Start as Needs Remain Unclear. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved March 10, 2010, from http://philanthropy.com/article/ Fund-Raising-Efforts-for-Chile/64430/

 Warneken, Felix, and Michael Tomasello. "The roots of human altruism." British

Journal of Psychology 100.3 (2009): 455-471. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.

Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. (2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 222-244. doi:10.1037/a0016984.