Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Emergency helping
Giving someone the Heimlich when they are
choking
Emotional helping
Accompanying someone to a funeral
Altruistic motivation?
We help others as an end in itself
Even if it involves a cost to the helper
Empathy-altruism hypothesis
Social norms
Modeling helpful behaviour
Mood
Individual differences
Gender
Culture
Norm of reciprocity
The expectation that helping others will
increase the likelihood that they will help us
in the future
Individual Differences in
Helping
Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)
A measure reflecting the extent to which
people feel empathy in response to
others experiences
Dimensions of empathy
Perspective taking
Empathic concern
Personal distress
Fantasy generation
Gender Differences in
Helping
Consider the following two scenarios:
1.Someone performs a dramatic, heroic act, like
storming the cockpit of a plane to fight
hijackers
2.Someone is involved in a long-term helping
relationship, such as assisting a disabled
neighbor with chores around the house
Cultural Differences in
Helping
People in all cultures are more likely to
help anyone they define as a member of
their in-group than those they perceive
as members of out-groups
In-group: The group to which an individual
indentifies as a member
Out-group: Any group to which an
individual does not identify
Cultural Differences in
Helping
Individualism-collectivism plays a role in
influencing helping
Cultural comparisons to Kenya, Mexico, Japan, India,
and the Phillippines have been made
Cultural Differences in
Helping
1. Many interdependent cultures focus
on the needs of in-group members
over personal needs
1. Focus on the in-group creates a
bigger distinction between us and
them
To be helped by other people, it is
important that they view you as a
member of their in-group, particularly in
Why?
Belief in a Just World
People need to believe that the world is a fair
and just place
Can lead us to think that bad things happen to
bad people, and good things happen to good
people
Helping in an Emergency
A decision tree of helping:
1. Notice the emergency
2.
3.
4.
5.
Yes?
A no
Yes?
at any
Interpret it as such
one of
Assume personal
these
Yes?
responsibility for acting stages
will
Yes?
result
Choose a strategy
in no
Yes?
Implement strategy
HELP!
helping
Barriers to Helping in an
Emergency
1. Noticing the Event
Being in a hurry can affect your likelihood
of noticing that someone needs help
Darley and Batson (1973)
Only 10% of seminary students helped a man
slumped in a doorway when they were in a
high hurry situation
This, in spite of the fact that the reason they
were in a hurry was because they were late
to give a talk on being a
Good Samaritan!
Barriers to Helping in an
Emergency
2. Interpreting the Event as an
Emergency
If people assume that nothing is wrong
when an emergency is taking place, they
will not help
Pluralistic Ignorance
When people assume nothing is wrong in an
emergency situation because others who are
present do not appear concerned
Barriers to Helping in an
Emergency
3. Assuming Responsibility
Even if we interpret an event as an
emergency, we have to decide that it is
our responsibility to do something about
it
Diffusion of Responsibility
The phenomenon whereby each bystanders
sense of responsibility to help decreases as
the number of witnesses increases
Barriers to Helping in an
Emergency
4. Knowing How to Help
Suppose that on a hot summer day, you see a
woman collapse in the street. No one else seems
to be helping, and so you decide it is up to you.
Barriers to Helping in an
Emergency
5. Deciding to Implement the Help
Even if you know exactly what kind of
help is appropriate, there are still reasons
why you might decide not to intervene:
You might not be qualified to deliver the right
kind of help
You might be afraid of making a fool of
yourself
You might be afraid of doing the wrong thing
You may not want to put yourself in danger
Threats to self-esteem
People who want to be seen as independent or
self-sufficient can be threatened by receiving help
Attributions
If people think you are helping them because they
cant help themselves, they can be offended
Questions?