PSYC 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Reciprocal Altruism, Empathic Concern, Prosocial Behavior
29 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Prosocial behavior: any action that helps another person, regardless of motives. People might do prosocial things because of the positive attention that they will get from others. A person whose helpful behavior is driven by empathy will help more regardless of any social rewards. People feeling sympathy are more likely to help. Empathic concern is also behind volunteerism nonmonetary assistance. Bystander intervention: when people observing an emergency intervene and help the victim. Bystander effect: people are less likely to help when others are present. People are more likely to help others who clearly need help. When participants were busy, they were less likely to stop and help the man on the street. Perceived cost of helping inhibited altruistic intervention. People in rural areas report more empathic concern than people in urban areas. People are significantly more likely to help strangers in rural areas. The smaller the community, the stronger the effect.
