Helping and Harming Others

Prosocial Behaviour

Prosocial behaviour refers to actions intended to benefit another person. This includes helping, giving, sharing, and cooperating. Such behaviours are fundamental to social cohesion and positive group dynamics.

• Helping: Providing assistance to others in need.

• Giving: Donating resources, time, or effort for the benefit of others.

• Sharing: Distributing resources or opportunities among individuals.

• Cooperating: Working together towards a common goal.

Situational Influences on Helping

People are more likely to help in certain situations, influenced by both the context and characteristics of those involved.

• Escape Difficulty: Helping is more likely when people cannot easily leave the situation.

• Victim Characteristics: Individuals are more likely to help those perceived as deserving (e.g., someone using a cane vs. someone intoxicated).

• Good Mood: Positive emotions increase the likelihood of helping.

• Positive Role Models: Observing others help can encourage similar behavior.

• Conformity: Social norms and group actions (e.g., community drives) can promote helping.

• Lack of Hurry: People not in a rush are more likely to stop and help (as shown in the Samaritan study).

The Bystander Effect

The bystander effect describes the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when others are present. This is due to diffusion of responsibility and social influence.

• Five Steps to Helping in an Emergency:

  1. Notice the event

  2. Interpret it as an emergency

  3. Assume responsibility

  4. Know how to help

  5. Decide to help

• Diffusion of Responsibility: The presence of others leads individuals to feel less personal responsibility.

• Social Influence: People look to others for cues on how to behave.

Why Do We Help Others?

Helping behavior is influenced by both genetic and learned factors.

• Kin Selection: Evolutionary theory suggests we are more likely to help close relatives to ensure the survival of shared genes.

• Norms of Reciprocity: Social norms encourage helping those who have helped us.

• Learning: Helping can be learned through rewards, internalized values, and observing others.

Altruism

Altruism is the motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s self-interest. True altruism is debated, as some argue all helping has underlying self-benefit.

• Examples: Providing disaster relief to strangers, helping others in emergencies without expectation of reward.

Aggression, Attitudes, and Prejudice

Aggression

Aggression is any physical or verbal behavior—or deliberate failure to act—intended to harm another person or living thing. It can be hostile (driven by anger) or instrumental (goal-oriented).

• Hostile Aggression: Motivated by anger, with the intent to cause pain.

• Instrumental Aggression: Used as a means to achieve a goal.

• Intention: The intent to harm is a key factor in defining aggression.

Situational Influences on Aggression

Several factors can increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior:

• Frustration-Aggression Theory: Frustration from blocked goals increases aggression.

• Evolutionary Theory: Aggression can serve adaptive functions, such as defending resources.

• Media Influences: Exposure to violent media can increase aggressive thoughts and behaviors.

• Aggressive Cues: Presence of weapons or aggressive symbols can trigger aggression.

• Arousal: Physiological arousal can intensify aggressive responses.

• Alcohol & Drugs: Lower inhibitions and increase impulsivity.

• Temperature: Higher temperatures are associated with increased aggression.

Culture of Honour

Some cultures promote the idea that defending one's honor justifies aggression. Research shows that individuals from such cultures may have higher testosterone levels and more aggressive responses to insults.

Attitudes and Persuasion

ABC Model of Attitudes

The ABC model describes attitudes as having three components: affective (emotions), behavioral (actions), and cognitive (beliefs).

• Affective: Emotional response to an object or idea.

• Behavioral: Actions or intentions toward the object.

• Cognitive: Beliefs or thoughts about the object.

Persuasion and the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes to influence behavior. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) proposes two routes to persuasion:

• Central Route: Focuses on the quality and content of the message; effective when the audience is motivated and able to process information.

• Peripheral Route: Relies on superficial cues such as attractiveness, credibility, or emotional appeal; effective when the audience is unmotivated or unable to process information deeply.

Determinants of Persuasion Route

The route taken depends on motivation, ability, source, message, and audience characteristics.

• Source: Credibility, attractiveness, and expertise can enhance persuasion, especially via the peripheral route.

• Message: Two-sided messages are more effective; emotional appeals can be powerful if they provide a way to reduce fear.

• Audience: Younger individuals, those with low self-esteem, and those low in need for cognition are more easily persuaded.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort experienced when holding conflicting beliefs or behaviors. People are motivated to reduce this tension by changing their attitudes, behaviors, or rationalizing the inconsistency.

• Reduction Strategies:

  1. Change behavior

  2. Change cognitions (rationalize or deny)

  3. Add new cognitions

Prejudice and Discrimination

Definitions

• Prejudice: Negative attitude toward an individual based on group membership.

• Stereotype: Specific belief or assumption about a group.

• Discrimination: Negative action toward an individual based on group membership.

Nature and Roots of Prejudice

• Adaptive Conservatism: Evolutionary tendency to distrust unfamiliar individuals.

• In-group Bias: Favoring one's own group.

• Out-group Bias: Viewing out-group members as similar.

• Explicit Prejudice: Conscious, openly expressed negative attitudes.

• Implicit Prejudice: Unconscious, automatic biases measured by tools like the Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Implicit Bias and Policing

Research shows that implicit biases can influence police decisions, leading to racial disparities in outcomes such as the "shooter bias." Training and exposure to counter-stereotypical imagery can reduce bias, but unconscious biases often persist.

Learning Prejudice

Prejudice is learned through parents, peers, and media. Observational learning shapes attitudes toward different groups from a young age.

Contributing Factors to Prejudice

• Scapegoat Hypothesis: Blaming other groups for one's problems.

• Just-world Hypothesis: Belief that the world is fair, leading to victim-blaming.

• Conformity: Adopting prejudiced attitudes to fit in with a group.

• Scarcity: Competition for resources increases prejudice.

• Religiosity: Extrinsic (for social gain) vs. intrinsic (genuine belief) religiosity can influence prejudice levels.

Reducing Prejudice

• Contact Hypothesis: Increased contact between groups can reduce prejudice under certain conditions.

• Superordinate Goals: Working together toward shared goals (as in the Robber’s Cave study) can reduce intergroup hostility.