Prosocial

Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help
Prosocial Behavior
Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous Karl Christoph Klauer

Factors

Universität Freiburg - Institut für Psychologie

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 Introduction

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

Es lag einer, 7 min 32 sec 2 / 41

 Outline

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help Motives.
Theories and
Motives
The Decision to Help.
Miscellaneous Theories and motives.
Factors
Miscellaneous factors.

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 Definitions

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives Prosocial Behavior: Acts that help other people.

Decision to
help Altruistic Behavior: Prosocial behavior with the only goal to help other people.
Theories and
Motives
Empathy: The ability to to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to
Miscellaneous
experience events and emotions (e.g., joy and sadness) the way that person
Factors
experiences them.
Reciprocity Norm: The expectation that helping others will increase the
likelihood that they will help us in the future.

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 Prosocial Behavior and Evolutionary Psychology

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives
If the primary goal is to survive, why prosocial behavior?
Decision to Kin selection: Passing on one’s genes
help
not only by means of having children,
Theories and
Motives but also by helping genetic relatives to have children.
Miscellaneous
Factors
Natural selection should favor prosocial behavior towards genetic relatives.
Extension by Rushton’s genetic similarity theory.
Tomasello et al.: Cooperation as an evolutionary product via interdependence
as collaborative foragers

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 Helping as Social Exchange: Some Benefits

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help Reciprocity norm.
Theories and
Motives
Can relieve distress experienced as bystander.
Miscellaneous Can improve one’s mood and self-esteem.
Factors
Social approval.

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 Helping as Social Exchange: Some Costs

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to Physical danger.

help

Theories and
Pain.
Motives
Embarrassment.
Miscellaneous
Factors Time.
Liability.

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 Social Exchange Theory

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives
Social exchange theory argues that true altruism, in which people help only for the
Miscellaneous
sake of helping, does not exist. People help when the benefits outweigh the costs.
Factors

Can this be falsified?

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 Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help
Batson, 1991
Theories and
Motives
The idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help that
Miscellaneous
Factors person purely for altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain.

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 Motives Underlying Prosocial Behavior

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives Helping is an instinctive reaction to promote the welfare of those genetically

Decision to
help
similar to us or of interdependent group members (according to evolutionary
Theories and psychology).
Motives
The rewards of helping often outweigh the costs, so helping is in our
Miscellaneous
Factors self-interest (according to social exchange theory).
Under some conditions, powerful feelings of empathy and compassion for the
victim prompt selfless giving (according to the empathy-altruism hypothesis).

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 The Decision to Help

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Step 1: Noticing the Emergency

Prosocial
Behavior
Darley & Batson, 1973
K. C. Klauer

Motives Participants were students studying to be ministers.

Decision to Prepare talk to be given in another building about
help

Theories and
Good Samaritan vs.
Motives job opportunities for seminary students.
Miscellaneous
Factors ×
Time Condition:
Much time to go to the other building,
just in time,
already too late.
A helpless, coughing person in door entry on way to building.

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Results
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Step 2: Interpreting the Event as Emergency

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

smokefilled room, 3 min 53 sec 14 / 41

 Prosocial
Behavior
Results: Darley & Batson, 1973
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

Pluralistic ignorance: One’s conclusion that help is not needed from monitoring the inaction of others. 15 / 41
 Step 3: Assuming Responsibility

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer
Darley & Latané, 1968: The bystander effect
Motives

Decision to
help
Participant in cabin.
Theories and There are (ostensibly)
Motives
2 more,
Miscellaneous
Factors
4 more, or
6 more participants.
They engage in a conversation (via loudspeakers and microphones).
One of the participants has a seizure and asks for help.

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Results
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Focusing Responsibility

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer Explanation: Diffusion of responsibility. Can be counteracted by focusing

Motives
responsibility.
Decision to
help
Moriarty, 1975
Theories and
Motives New York beach; radio on towel.
Miscellaneous
Factors
Person owning the radio has to leave.
Next person either
asked to watch, or
asked for a light (control condition).
A confederate tries to steal the radio.

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Results
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Assuming Responsibility

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help Group leader is expected to take responsibility.
Theories and
Motives Diffusion of responsibility.
Miscellaneous Competent person is expected to take responsibility.
Factors
Is there a medical doctor in the audience?

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 Steps 4 and 5: How to Help and Implement Decision

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help
Self-perceived competence.
Theories and
Nurses are more inclined to help than students (Cramer et al., 1988).
Motives
Implementation weighs Costs.
Miscellaneous
Factors Danger to oneself, fear to be embarrassed, etc.
social exchange theory.

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 Theories and Motives

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Empathy-Altruism (Batson, 1981)

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and If empathy is elicited: → altruistic behavior.

Motives

Miscellaneous
No empathy: → prosocial behavior depending on costs and benefits.
Factors

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 Predictions

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Batson et al., 1981
K. C. Klauer
2 participants,
Motives
ostensibly by chance, S1 observer, S2 (confederate) receives shocks.
Decision to
help Empathy is elicited or not:
Theories and S1 and S2 are similar in sharing important values, vs.
Motives
S1 and S2 have dissimilar values.
Miscellaneous
Factors ×
Ease of escape (at time of switch):
The experiment is almost over (escape easy),
The experiment is not almost over.
After two shocks: Are you willing to switch roles?
Results as in the previous figure.
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 Negative-State Relief Model (Cialdini et al., 1973, 1981)

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and Helping as a means to reduce negative affect.

Motives

Miscellaneous
Whether negative affect stems from emergency or from other source.
Factors

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Example
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

Guilt appears to be particularly helpful for helping. 27 / 41

 Predictions

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Some Results

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to If empathy is elicited, negative affect results.

help
If negative affect is eliminated prior to decision to help, less help is given.
Theories and
Motives E.g., positive event prior to question whether one is willing to change roles with
Miscellaneous the participant about to receive shocks.
Factors
If participant believes helping will not relieve negative affect, less help is given.
Cialdini et al., 1987: A drug ostensibly fixes one’s mood.

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Results (Cialdini et al., 1987)
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Empathic-Joy Hypothesis

Prosocial
Behavior
Helping, because empathic people share the helped person’s positive feelings.
K. C. Klauer Predictions
Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Miscellaneous Factors

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help
Urban vs. rural environments,
Theories and
Motives the victim’s characteristics,
Miscellaneous
Factors gender differences.

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 Urban vs. Rural Environments (Amato, 1983)

Prosocial
Behavior
A man suddenly falls down and cries out with pain. He rolls up his pants leg,
K. C. Klauer revealing a bandaged shin that is bleeding heavily.
Small town: About half the people walking by offer help.
Motives

Decision to
Big city: 15% of passersby stop and offer help.
help Several studies in different countries show this pattern.
Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Explanations

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer
Urban Overload Hypothesis
Motives

Decision to
The theory that people living in cities are constantly being bombarded with
help stimulation and that they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it.
Theories and
Motives
vs.
Miscellaneous
Factors
Alienation
People who grow up in a small town are more likely to internalize altruistic values.

Studies found that when an opportunity for helping arises, it matters more whether
the incident occurs in a rural or urban area than where the witnesses grew up.

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 The Victim

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to Nature of relationship:

help
Stranger, friend, genetic relative.
Theories and
Motives Helping increases if victim is
Miscellaneous attractive,
Factors
similar to potential helper,
not perceived as responsible for his or her plight.

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 Dissimilarity

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives Shaw, Borough, & Fink, 1994

Decision to
help Wrong number technique:
Theories and
Motives
Male confederate dials wrong numbers, claims to have a flat tire, and
Miscellaneous to be late for anniversary celebration with his
Factors
boyfriend, or
girlfriend.
Claims to have no more change for another call.

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 Prosocial
Behavior
Results
K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

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 Gender Differences

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to Men help more than women when

help
act is dangerous or requires stereotypically male skills (changing flat tire),
Theories and
Motives
the person in need is a woman.
Miscellaneous Women help more than men when
Factors
giving to charity,
(long-term) caring for friends, family, and others.

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 Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Klausurfrage
Motives

Miscellaneous
Was behauptet die empathy-altruism Theorie von Batson? (1 Punkt)
Factors

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 Many Issues Illustrated

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives

Miscellaneous
Factors

Waiting Room, 7 min 29 sec 40 / 41

 The End

Prosocial
Behavior

K. C. Klauer

Motives

Decision to
help

Theories and
Motives Danke für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit!
Miscellaneous
Factors

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