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PSY205: Part Three - Social Relations (Chapter 8: Attraction and Intimacy…
PSY205: Part Three - Social Relations
Chapter 6: The Power of Prejudice
Fundamental concepts
Discrimination
Prejudice is a negative attitude; discrimination is
negative behaviour
.
That is, an unjustified negative behaviour toward a group or its members and it is often traceable to a prejudice.
Racism
Racism can be defined in two ways:
(1) An individual’s
prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviour
toward people of a given race, or
(2)
institutional practices
(even if it was not motivated by prejudice) that subordinate people of a given race
Sexism
Sexism is also a kind of prejudice and discrimination, but it is directed at people of a given sex.
As in racism, sexism also refers to institutional practices even if it was not motivated by prejudice; it subordinates people of a given sex
Stereotyping
The negative evaluations that mark prejudice often are supported by
negative/inaccurate beliefs,
called stereotypes.
A stereotype is a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people. It is an
over-generalization
which is based on inaccurate information and resistant to new information.
For example, we might make generalizations such as ‘The British are reserved. Americans are outgoing’
Prejudice
Prejudice is a
preconceived negative judgment /evaluation
of a group and its individual members.
A prejudiced person may dislike those different from self and behave in a discriminatory manner, believing them ignorant and dangerous.
Prejudice is an attitude
—a combination of feelings, inclinations to act, and beliefs. It can be easily remembered as the ABCs of attitudes:
affect (feelings)
behaviour tendency (inclination to act)
cognition (beliefs).
Types of prejudice
There are two kinds of prejudices—explicit (overt) and implicit (covert)
in
Covert implicit prejudice
, the attitudes are
automatic/ instinctive
In
Overt explicit prejudice
, people are
conscious
about their attitudes toward the target
Sources of prejudice
Social sources of prejudice
Socialisation
prejudice may be an outcome of socialization by the family, religious communities and the broader society.
through socialisation, people may inherit certain ethnocentric views and adopt authoritarian personality.
Ethnocentricism
Believing in the superiority of one’s own ethnic and cultural group, and having a corresponding disdain for all other groups.
Authoritarian personality
Refers to a personality that is disposed to favour
obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups
and those lower in status.
Those who have an authoritarian personality often experience harsh discipline as children. Hence, they repress their hostility and impulses and eventually ‘project’ them onto out-groups.
According to Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford (1950), having an authoritarian personality makes a person particularly prone to prejudice and stereotyping
Social institutions
Such as government, schools and the media
may support prejudice through overt policies
such as segregation.
Before the 1970s, many banks did not grant mortgages to women and members of minority groups. Hence, many homeowners were White married couples.
Social inequalities
When there are social inequalities,
prejudice helps
those who desire to
maintain the status quo rationalize
their economic and social superiority of position, wealth and power.
For example, stereotypes of Blacks and women justify their respective inferior status.
This is highlighted in Social dominance orientation.
Social dominance orientation
Refers to a
motivation
to have one’s group
dominate other
social groups.
Those high in social dominance orientation would like their own social group to occupy the top level of social hierarchy.
Motivational sources of prejudice
Scapegoat theory
The scapegoat theory suggests that
people who are frustrated
may
displace their aggression
and direct their hostility
at competing groups
, who have become the scapegoats.
Examples of displaced aggression are evident in the lynching of African Americans in the American South after the Civil War and between 1882 and 1930
Social Identity Theory
Social identity theory is a theory of intergroup relations, which attempts to explain
how and why intergroup discrimination and prejudice occurs
in society and how marginalised
groups cope with it.
According to the social identity theory,
we are motivated to uphold our self esteem and self-concept.
Seeing as our self-concept is pegged to social-group categorisation, we are then motivated to feel superior to other groups.
Occurs in a 3 stage process:
2. Social Denitrification
Social Identity is defined as
"that part of the individual’s
self-concept
which derives from his knowledge of his
membership of a social group
(or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership."
1. Social categorisation
refers to the
process in which we mentally segment our world into different social groups
or categories and locate ourselves and those around us in these social groups or categories
These
social categories
provide members with a definition and evaluation of
who they are
and a description and evaluation of
what this entails
.
As we socially categorise our world,
we divide the world into in-groups and out-groups
. We consider those who are within the same groups as us as in-group while classifying those that are not, as belonging to the out-group.
3. Social comparison
According to social identity theory,
we strive for a positive self-concept
in order to maintain or enhance our self-esteem.
In an intergroup context,
this positive self-image is garnered through social comparisons
, we evaluate and compare the social categories that we place ourselves and others in on relevant dimensions.
Thus, in every intergroup context,
people strive to not only gain a positive self-image but also to make the context as unambiguous and meaningful as possible.
Often leads to
in-group bias
Realistic group conflict theory
Competition is a major source of frustration, hence, when groups
compete for scarce resources
, prejudice will arise. This theory is known as the realistic group conflict theory.
For example, many Singaporeans had lost their jobs due to the economic crisis across the globe in recent years. As the economic recession intensified and more jobs were lost, affected Singaporeans began to experience ‘resource’ stress; they began to perceive that the foreigners were taking away their jobs, hence, they felt resentful towards the foreigners living and working in Singapore.
Cognitive sources of prejudice
Distinctiveness
Distinctive people with outstanding traits and extreme or unique occurrences often capture our attention and distort judgments.
Distinctive events
Distinctive cases are used as short cuts to judge groups.
Can fortifiy preexisting stereotypes and/or
create illusory correlation
illusory correlation
David Hamilton and Robert Gifford (1976) demonstrate that when two distinctive events occur together, it helps create illusory correlation between people and behaviour.
pre-existing stereotypes
research has shown that our pre-existing stereotypes can lead us to perceive correlations that aren’t there, thus, the stereotypes are being perpetuated
Attribution errors
Attribution errors can create biases in people’s explanations of group members’ behaviour
Group-serving bias
Involves explaining away outgroup members’ positive behaviours; also attributing negative behaviours to their dispositions. we tend to
assume the worst when explaining the behaviour of outgroup members.
When explaining the behaviour of in-group members, we tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Just-world phenomenon
refers to the tendency of people to believe that the world is just and that people, therefore, get what they deserve and
deserve what they get.
It assumes that those who are good, work hard, are rewarded while evil, immorality, and vice are punished.
In brief, the victim warrants blame.
Categorization
refers to the process of organizing the world by clustering objects into groups. It is the way our minds simplify the complex world.
When we cluster people into groups, there is a
tendency to exaggerate the similarities within the groups and the differences between them
. Thus, we are prejudiced.
Spontaneous categorisation
We find it especially easy and efficient to rely on stereotypes when we are:
pressed for time
preoccupied
tired
emotionally aroused
too young to appreciate the diversity
Outgroup homogeneity effect
There is a
strong tendency to see objects within a group as being more uniform than they really are.
We assume that other groups are more homogeneous than our own. i.e. a sense that they are “all alike” and different from “us” and “our” group.
This is known as the outgroup homogeneity effect or the Perception of outgroup members as more similar to one another than are ingroup members. Thus “they are alike; we are diverse.”
Own-race bias
The tendency for people to more accurately recognise faces of their own race
Consequences of prejudice
Self-Perpetuating Prejudgments
Prejudice and Stereotypes can be self-perpetuating and resistant to change.
This can be explained by subtyping and subgrouping
Subtyping
involves accommodating individuals who deviate from one’s stereotype by thinking of them as “exceptions to the rule“.
Subgrouping
Sometimes, when people are unable to accommodate the inconsistent information to the stereotype, they form a new stereotype.
This is known as subgrouping, defined as accommodating individuals who deviate from one’s stereotype by forming a new stereotype about this subset of the group
Self-fulfilling prophecies
A self-fulfilling prophecy refers to a belief or
expectation
that an individual holds about a future event that leads one to
unconsciously behave
in such a manner so as to
confirm his expectation
According to Allport (1954), the impact of prejudice can be grouped into two types
Self-blame
the victim may engage in withdrawal, self-hate and aggression against one’s own group
Blame external causes
the victim may fight back, become suspicious and increase group pride.
Stereotype threats
A
disruptive concern
, when facing a negative stereotype, that one will be
evaluated based on a negative stereotype.
Unlike self-fulfilling prophecies that hammer one’s reputation into one’s self concept, stereotype threat situations
have immediate effects
Example
Cultural stereotype (Women do not do well in maths)
Creates stereotype threat (Female student might fail maths)
Leads to:
performance Deficit
( - Does not do well in maths due to
self-confirming apprehension
)
cognitive Disidentification
(Disidentify with stereotype domain - Math is not important to women anyway)
How does stereotype threat undermine
performance?
Stress
Self-monitoring
Suppressing unwanted thoughts and emotions
Reducing prejudice
Social psychologists have been more successful in explaining prejudice than in alleviating it. As there are many sources to prejudice, no simple remedy exists.
Nevertheless, we can now anticipate techniques for reducing prejudice.
Cooperative relations
If unequal status breeds prejudice, we can seek to create cooperative, equal-status relationships.
Mandate nondiscrimination
If prejudice rationalizes discriminatory behavior, we can mandate nondiscrimination
Reduce support
If social institutions support prejudice, we can pull out those supports
Personalise outgroup members
If outgroups seem more homogeneous than they really are, we can make efforts to personalize their members.
Break habits
If our automatic prejudices lead us to feel guilt, we can
use that guilt to motivate
ourselves to break the prejudice habit
Chapter 7: Aggression: Hurting Behaviour
What is aggression
aggression is physical or verbal
behaviour intended to cause harm.
Types of aggression
There are essentially two types of aggression: “hostile” and “instrumental” aggression
Hostile aggression
Hostile aggression (affective aggression) refers to aggression motivated by strong emotions (i.e. anger) and it is acted out as an end in itself. It has a goal to cause injury.
Hostile aggressions are often impuslivie
Instrumental aggression
refers to Aggression that aims to injure, but only as a means to a specifc end/goal.
Examples of instrumental aggression include terrorism and wars.
Examples of aggression
Social aggression
or Hurting someone else’s feelings or threatening their relationships.
Sometimes called relational aggression, it includes cyberbullying and some forms of in-person bullying.
Physical aggression
or Hurting someone else’s physical body.
Theories of aggression
Aggression as learned social behaviour
Behaviourist / Observational learning and aggression
According to the
social learning theory
, we learn social behaviour by
observing and imitating
by being rewarded and punished.
In other words, the social learning theory presents
aggression as a learned behaviour.
By experience and by observing others’ success, we sometimes learn that there are rewards in aggression.
Aggressive attitudes and style of play is instrumental in achieving some measure of success in sports.
Aggression and family
Social learning links family and subcultural influences to aggression. The home environment and parents may
serve as models of aggression.
Researchers noted that physically aggressive children tend to have aggressive parents, role models from whom they learn aggression (screaming, slapping and beating).
There is a correlation between parental absence, particularly father absence, and violence; father absence increases the risk of violence.
Culture
The broader culture outside the home may also serve as models for aggression.
For example: a
violent subculture
of teenage gangs also provides its members with models of aggression.
In some cultures, the men are predisposed to aggressive behaviour
Aggression as a response to frustration
Frustration-aggression theory (Revised)
The original theory overstated the frustration-aggression connection.
-The revised frustration-aggression theory proposes that frustration causes anger and hostility.
Given aggressive cues, anger may provoke aggression.
Frustration (Revised)
Frustration does not stem from deprivation itself but from the
gap between expectations and attainments.
Thus, satisfaction is felt when our aspirations are fulfilled by our achievements.
Frustration and social comparrison
Frustration is not only caused by complete deprivation; more often, frustration arises from the gap between expectations and attainments.
In this light, relative deprivation suggest that frustration is compounded when we compare ourselves to others
Relative deprivation
refers to the perception that one is less well off than others with whom one compares oneself.
Frustration-aggression theory
refers to the theory that
frustration triggers a readiness to aggress.
According to this theory, frustration always results in some form of aggression.
Frustration
refer to the blocking of goal-directed behaviour
Displacement
refers to the redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of the frustration. This is so as direct retaliation might result in punishment and/or disapproval.
For example, when reprimanded or humiliated by our boss, we may yell at our spouse and kick the dog when we return home.
Aggression as a biological phenomenon
The instinct theory.
The instinct theory is most commonly associated with Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz.
Freud
saw human aggression as stemming from a
self-destructive impulse (Thanatos)
, which is then redirected towards others.
Lorenz
, on the other hand, saw
aggression as adaptive
.
Both share the view that aggression is an innate, unlearned instinctive behaviour which is universal. They also agree that aggressive energy
must be released
, or it will build up until it explodes.
However, there is inadequate evidence to support this view.
Adaptive value in aggression
Evolutionary psychologists (Including Lorenz) contend that there is adaptive value in aggression
aggressive behaviour helps to gain resources
defend against attack
eliminate male rivals for females,
deter mates from sexual infidelity.
Neural and genetic influences
Scientists have also found that the neural system facilitates aggression. When the neural system is activated, hostility increases. When it is deactivated, hostility decreases.
There are genetic influences on the neural system’s sensitivity to aggression. Our temperaments, which are enduring, are influenced by our sympathetic nervous system’s reactivity.
Among convicted criminals who are twins, it is found that half of the identical twins (compared to one out of five fraternal twins) have criminal records. In sum, genes predispose some children to aggression
Biochemical influences
Extreme imbalances in biochemical compositions can affect the regulating of emotions which may result in anger and lead to a readiness to aggress.
Testosterone
Human aggressiveness also correlates with testosterone;
It is noted that testosterone levels tend to be higher among prisoners convicted of planned and unprovoked violent crimes than of nonviolent crimes
Low level of serotonin
Researchers also noted low levels of the neurotransmitter
serotonin is found among violence-prone children and adults
Alcohol
By reducing self-awareness and people’s ability to rationalize about consequences, alcohol deindividuates and disinhibits
This then promotes implusivity and aggresion.
influences on aggression
specific influences include
Aversive incidents,
Arousal
Aggresion cues
Media
Group
Arousal
Arousal
fuels emotions
and, dependending on how the arousal is interpreted and labeled, may result in or amplify existing aggresive predispositions.
i.e. A frustrating or insulting situation heightens arousal. When it does, the arousal, combined with hostile thoughts and feelings, may produce aggressive behaviour
Aggression Cues
Offensive Objects such as guns can serve as an aggression cue by
subconsciously evoking particular mental schemas, associating emotions
such as fear and aggression with that object.
This works closely with media influence.
Aversive Incidents
aversive/
discomforting events
, can disrupt emotional stability and influence aggression
These include
pain
uncomfortable heat
attack
Pain
Researchers discovered that physical and psychological pain (i.e. frustration) results in aggressive reactionary behaviours.
The greater the shock (and pain), the more violent/pronounced the aggressive response will be
Heat
Studies have correlated heat discomfort to aggressive behaviour and noted that discomfort from heat triggers behaviour that is retaliative
Attack
Physical and verbal personal attacks (insults) contribute to aggression. Studies have
found that intentional attacks promotes retaliatory attacks
Media Influence
Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence
According to social psychologists, viewing fictional scenes of sexual violence can distort a person’s perceptions of how women actually respond to sexual coercion and increase men’s aggression against women.
Evidence from correlational studies suggests that pornography contributes to men’s actual aggression toward women
Media awareness education.
As a counter measure researchers propose media awareness education, this involves debunking the myths communicated by media or films portraying sexual violence, resensitizing and educating participants to women’s actual responses to sexual violence.
Media Influences: Television
results suggest that the more violent the TV content viewed, the more aggressive is the child’s behaviour.
There are two explanations on how TV viewing of violence affect behaviour
Disinhibition
First of all, viewing violence disinhibits: In Bandura’s experiment, the adult’s punching of the Bobo doll seemed to
make those outbursts legitimate
and to
lower
the children’s
inhibitions
.
Viewing violence primes the viewer for aggressive behaviour by
activating violence-related thoughts
.
Listening to music with sexually violent lyrics seems to have a similar effect.
Imitation
Secondly, viewing violence portrayed in media evokes imitation: The children in Bandura’s experiments re-enacted the specific behaviours they had witnessed.
Cognitive effects
TV viewing of violence results in
desensitization
acquisition and enactment of social scripts
altered perceptions of the real world
as well as cognitive priming
Desensitization (emotional numbing)
occurs when people are exposed to thousands of cruel acts in television and movies that they are no longer emotionally affected by cruelty.
Primes neuro-network
Researchers suggests that watching violent videos primes networks of aggressive-related ideas.
Social scripts
refer to culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations.
When we are in a cultural situation, we
rely on social scripts
such as the
media
to acquire and
enact social norms
.
Altered perception
Perhaps the most potent effects of television involve altered perceptions of the real world.
Researchers found that viewers who watch more than 4 hours of television a day tend to exaggerate the prevalence of violence in the world around them
Group influence
Circumstances that provoke individuals (such as frustrations, insults, and aggressive models) may also prompt similar reaction in groups.
By
diffusing responsibility
and
Group polarization
, group situations amplify aggressive reactions.
Diffusion of responsibility
is phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present
Group polarization
refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members
Reducing aggression
Catharsis and retaliation
Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis proposed by Freud, social psychologists argue that viewing or participating in violence does not reduce aggressive drive. Instead of reducing aggression, expressing aggression by
catharsis tends to reinforce aggression
Aggression in the form of retaliation may reduce tension and provide pleasure temporarily , it
reinforces negative feelings in the long run
.
Non-aggressive assertion
A good alternative is using nonaggressive solutions to express our feelings and inform others, in a non-threatening yet assertive way, how their behaviour affects us.
For example, in our communications,
use “I” messages
such as “I feel hurt by your comment” to elicit a positive response from the other person rather than “you” messages which tend to be accusatory.
Social learning approach
Another alternative is the social learning approach.
This approach involves managing aggression by counteracting the factors that provoke it
Reward
Thirdly,
model and reward
sensitivity, cooperation, and
nonaggressive behaviour
. This can be achieved by training parents how to discipline without violence
Innoculate
Fourthly, elicit reactions incompatible with aggression. We can reduce brutal, dehumanizing portrayals in films and on television and
inoculate children against the effects of media violence
Ignore
Secondly,
ignore aggressive behaviour
Reduce
Finally,
reduce the availability of weapons
; this reduces aggressive stimuli which trigger aggression.
Avoid
First,
avoid or reduce aversive stimulations
such as unrealistic expectations and personal attacks.
Chapter 8: Attraction and Intimacy
Define love
Sternberg's theory
According to Sternberg, Love is an emotional concept which consists of three key components:
Intimacy - Liking
Passion - Infatuation
Commitment - Empty love/responsibility
the various combinations of each factor(s) forms the nature or type of love that one is experiencing.
Sternberg's Combinations of Three Basic Components of Love.
Intimacy + Passion = Romantic love
Intimacy + Commitment = Compassionate love
Passion + Commitment = Fatuous love
Combination of all three leads to Consummate love.
Passionate love
is a state of intense
longing for union with another.
Two factor theory
The two-factor theory of emotion suggests that a man who is aroused in his response to a woman tends to misattribute some of his own arousal to the woman.
The theory also suggests that arousal from any source, even painful physical experiences, should intensify passionate feelings
Compassionate love.
Refers to the affection we feel for those with whom our lives are deeply intertwined.
Although passionate love burns hot, like a relationship booster rocket, it eventually simmers down once the relationship reaches a stable orbit.
If a close relationship is to endure, it will settle to a steadier but still warm afterglow called companionate love.
The passion-facilitating hormones (testosterone, dopamine, adrenaline) subside, while the hormone oxytocin supports feelings of attachment and trust.
Factors that contribute to close relationships
Three factors influence the highs and lows of our close relationships:
attachment styles
equity
self-disclosure.
Self-disclosure.
It involves revealing intimate aspects if oneself to others.
As the relationship grows and intimacy progresses, partners reveal more and more of themselves and this self-disclosure will be reciprocated in what is known as Disclosure recirpocity
Disclosure reciprocity
refers to the tendency for one person’s intimacy of self-disclosure to match that of a conversational partner.
i.e. We reveal more to those who have been open with us.
Equity
The
equity principle of attraction
refers to a condition in which the
outcomes
people receive from a relationship are
proportional
to what they
contribute to
it.
Companionate love will likely endure when partners in a relationship perceive the relationship to be equitable.
According to equity theory, t
hose in an equitable relationship are more content than those in inequitable
relationships even if they are over-benefiting.
Attachment styles
Attachment is central to our lives.
When children are deprived of attachment, and under conditions of severe neglect, they may become withdrawn, frightened and silent.
Secure attachment
Refers to attachments that are rooted in
trust
and marked by
intimacy
.
Couples with secure attachments in marriage mark a satisfying and enduring relationship.
Avoidant attachment
(dismissive attachment)
refers to attachments marked by
discomfort
over, or
resistance
to, being close to others.
Avoidant adults tend to a
void closeness
and they invest little in relationships
Anxious attachment
refers to attachments marked by
anxiety or ambivalence
. In an unfamiliar situation, infants are likely to cling on anxiously to their mothers.
In adulthood, insecure adults are less trusting, more fretful of a partner becoming interested in someone
else, hence,
more possessive and jealous
Factors that predict marital dissolution
The predictors of marital dissolution include:
individualistic cultures that value feelings over commitment
couple’s age
education
values and similarity.
Communication styles:
Detachment/stability
Following are the positive and non-defensive communication styles that mark healthy, stable marriages
Positive communication
In one study, it was found that happy couples tend to agree, approve, assent and laugh instead of disagree, command, criticize and put down
Reconciling differences
healthy marriages were marked by an ability to reconcile differences and to balance criticism with affection.
Positive interactions such as smiling, touching, complimenting and laughing also outweighed negative ones such as sarcasm, disapproval and insults.
Ostracism
Comprises of excluding or ignoring
social ostracism – brain response evoked is similar to that triggered by physical pain (Eisenberger, Lieberman & Williams, 2003)
Factors that lead to friendship and attracton
Proximity
Physical attractiveness
Similarity
Relationship rewards
2. Physical Attractiveness
The matching phenomenon
The tendency for men and women to choose as partners those who are a “good match” in attractiveness and other traits.
People choose someone equally attractive or slightly exceeding their own attractiveness
The physical attractiveness stereotype
The presumption that physically attractive people possess other
socially desirable traits as well
: What is beautiful is good
Studies
In 'Beauty Pays', economist Daniel Hamermesh (2011) argues that, for a man, good looks have the earnings effect of another year and a half of schooling.
Patricia Roszell and colleagues (1990) also discovered a corelation between physical attractiveness and monthly income.
Similarity
Similarity versus complementarity
Liking is enhanced by similarity of attitudes, beliefs and values
–Likeness leads to liking; opposites rarely attract.
Studies
At the University of Michigan, Theodore Newcomb (1961) studied two groups of 17 unacquainted male transfer students. After 13 weeks of boardinghouse life, those whose agreement was initially highest were most likely to have formed close friendships. One group of friends was composed of 5 liberal arts students, each a political liberal with strong intellectual interests. Another was made up of 3 conservative veterans who were all enrolled in the engineering college.
At two of Hong Kong’s universities, Royce Lee and Michael Bond (1996) found that roommate friendships flourished when roommates shared values and personality traits, but more so when they perceived their roommates as similar. Reality matters, but perception matters more.
1. Proximity
refers to “geographical nearness” or
“functional distance”
Proximity ensures that there are
repeated exposure and interaction
.
repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for that stimulus.
Proximity not only enables interaction and anticipatory liking, but also fondness
Mere-exposure effect
: “The tendency for novel stimuli to be liked more or rated more positively after the rater has been repeatedly exposed to them”
Bornstein’s Study
The mere-exposure effect is supported by Bornstein's study which concluded that exposure to a stimulus (including subliminal exposure/ not conscious) increases liking for that stimulus
Studies
Research has confirmed that most people marry
someone who lives in the same neighbourhood (McPherson et al., 2001).
Relationship rewards
Reward theory of attraction
“The theory that we tend to like those whose behavior is rewarding to us or whom we
associate with rewarding events
”
Chapter 9: Helping Behaviour
Approaches and factors involved in helping
Batson's approach empathy-distress
Batson argues that true altruism does exist and that empathy is what sets it apart as altruism
a person’s motivation for helping may involve urges that are
either egoistic or altruistic.
Evoked through distress
Egoistic motivation
– people help others hoping to
reduce their own personal distress
(feelings of guilt, worry, shame, fear, etc.)
Evoked through empathy
Altruistic motivation
– people help others because they feel
empathy
toward them and their situation and seek to
reduce other's distress
(feelings like compassion, warmth, soft-heartedness, etc.)
Bystander Effect
:
Fewer people
engage in helping behaviour when others are available because of
Diffusion of responsibility
Pluralistic ignorance
This is confirmed in the 'Smoke-filled room experiment' which concluded that: a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders
Latane and Darley’s Decision Tree
According to this model, Only 1 leads to helping behaviour. At each fork of the path, the presence of other bystanders may divert a person down a branch toward not helping
Attention: - Notices an incident?
Appraisal - Is it an emergency
Social role - Do you take responsibility
Action - proceed to help
When do we help
When Prosocial model are present
Prosocial models promote altruism and a sense of elevation.
I.e. seeing others enagging in helping behaviours makes us wnat to help
When there is not time pressure
When those needing help are similar to us
Emphatise and help those who are like us - In-group similarity and helping
Similarity breeds cooperation
Theories on helping behaviour
Social norm
Reciprocity norm
The reciprocity norm refers to an
expectation that people will help
, not hurt,
those who have helped them
Responsibility norm
The social responsibility norm refers to an expectation that
people will help those needing help
, even if those receiving help do not reciprocate
How we asses the need for help
Our responses to help are closely tied to attributions.
Is it an external (uncontrollable) or internal (controllable) attribution?
Gender and receiving help
Women received more help
Research has shown that Men offered more help when the needy were females.
Women are also more open to asking for help
Evolutionary psychology
suggests that the motivation to help stem from devotion to
kin (kin selection) and reciprocity.
This theory implies that we have a natural
tendency to be selfish but we’re not naturally altruistic.
Kin selection
refers to the idea that evolution has selected
altruism towards one’s close relatives
to enhance the survival of mutually shared gene
Social exchange theory
This theory suggests that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s rewards and minimize one’s cost.
Motivation and rewards
The motivation for helping may be internal
or external REWARDS.
Internal rewards
Self-fulfilment, inhibiting guilt
Feel bad do good effect
To reduce guilt and redeem their self image, people who have done something wrong are eager to offer help.
Feel good do good effect
To obtain/maintain the inner reward of
feeling good about oneself, adults engage in altruistic behaviour
Do Good feel good effect
i.e. Helping others boosts my self-worth
External rewards:
Money/Status etc
The give-to-get effect - Giving public donations boosts a person’s status
Egoism vs altruism
Egoism
is A self-serving motive (supposedly underlying all behaviour) to
increase one’s own welfare
”
Altruism
“A motive to increase
other's welfare
without conscious regard for one’s self-interests”
Dispositions of helpers
Personality traits
Individual differences persist over time (i.e. Some people are reliably more helpful then others)
Individuals who display high positive emotionality,
empathy, & self-efficacy are likely to engage in helping behaviours.
personality influences how particular people react to situations.
e.g. Those high in self-monitoring are attuned to others’ expectations and are therefore helpful if they think helpfulness will be socially rewarded
Gender
the gender influences on helping behaviour are situational.
Men form 91% of the recipients of the Caregie medal for heroism in saving human life (Eagly, 2009)
Faced with a friend’s problems, women respond with greater empathy and spend more time helping.
Religious faith
Predicts long-term altruism.
• E.g. in volunteerism and charitable
contributions
How can we increase helping?
Socializing altruism
Teaching moral inclusion
Moral inclusion is regarding others as within one’s circle of moral concern.
This is the opposite of Moral exclusion
Moral exclusion
The perception of certain individuals or groups as outside the boundary within which one applies moral values and rules of fairness
Attributing helpful behavior to altruistic motives
i.e. dont attribute helful behaviour to extrinsic rewards. (Overjustification effect)
Hence, we should provide people with just enough justification to prompt a good deed (e.g. just say, ‘the guy really needs help’).
Learning by doing
Ervin Staub (2005b) has shown that just as immoral behavior fuels immoral attitudes, so to helping increases future helping behaviours.
Adults and children can learn by doing, e.g. make toys for disadvantaged children,
Modelling altruism
Real-life modelling
: If we see or read about someone helping, we become more likely to offer assistance
Media modelling
: Viewing prosocial programs has positive effects on preschool children (i.e. cooperative/helpful behaviour)
Learning about altruism.
Learn about the factors that inhibit helping. E.g. in this
topic/class, bystander dilemma
Undo the
restraints on helping
1. Reduce ambiguity, increase responsibility
helping behaviours increases if we can prompt people to correctly interpret an incident and to assume responsibility
A
personal approach
makes one feel less anonymous, more responsible.
2. Guilt and concern for self-image
people who feel guilty will act to reduce guilt and restore their self-worth.
Cialdini and David Schroeder (1976) offer another practical way to trigger concern for self-image: Ask for a contribution so small that it’s hard to say no without feeling like a Scrooge. Cialdini (1995) discovered this when a United Way canvasser came to his door. As she solicited his contribution, he was mentally preparing his refusal—until she said magic words that demolished his financial excuse: “Even a penny will help
door-in-the-face technique
A strategy for gaining a concession.
After someone first turns down a large request (the door-in-theface), the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request.