Course Syllabus
syllabus_prosocial_spring_2013.docx | |
File Size: | 45 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Presentation from Week 1:
Introduction to the Issues
presentation_1_-_introduction_to_the_issues.pptx | |
File Size: | 996 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 2:
Social/Cognitive Perspectives
presentation_2_-_social_perspectives.pptx | |
File Size: | 1022 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 3:
Social/Cognitive Perspectives -
The Egoism-Altruism Debate
presentation_3_-_egoism_altruism.pptx | |
File Size: | 609 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 4:
Social/Cognitive Perspectives -
Felt-Oneness vs. Empathy-Altruism
presentation_4_-_felt_oneness.pptx | |
File Size: | 546 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 5:
Social/Cognitive Perspectives -
Intentionality and Ego-Depletion
presentation_5_-_intentionality_and_ego_depletion.pptx | |
File Size: | 276 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 6:
Personality Influences
presentation_6_-_personality_influencees.pptx | |
File Size: | 210 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 7:
Components of Prosocial Personality
presentation_7_-_prosocial_personality_components.pptx | |
File Size: | 325 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 8:
Evolutionary Perspectives
presentation_8_-_evolutionary_perspectives.pptx | |
File Size: | 720 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 9:
Developmental Perspectives
presentation_9_-_developmental_perspectives.pptx | |
File Size: | 395 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Presentation from Week 10:
Social Learning/Developmental Perspectives
presentation_10_-_parenting_and_prosocial_behavior.pptx | |
File Size: | 235 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Social/Cognitive Psychology Perspectives
Social-cognitive psychologists have studied the environmental influences on whether or not individuals will help in a need situation.
Early work helped to understand the bystander effect, which is "the tendency for an individual to be less likely to help during an emergency if other bystanders are present" (Myers, 2010), and is demonstrated in the videos on the Home Page.
Early work helped to understand the bystander effect, which is "the tendency for an individual to be less likely to help during an emergency if other bystanders are present" (Myers, 2010), and is demonstrated in the videos on the Home Page.
Image: Myers (2010).
Latane & Darley's Bystander Intervention Model (1970):
Image: Myers (2010).
Next, social psychologists wanted to understand why people helped or did not help, in addition to when. What are the risks of helping or not helping? Does the needy person deserve help, or did they get themselves into the mess they are in? Who needs help? Someone similar to the bystander? A child? When someone helps - is it ever truly a selfless act?
Personality Perspectives
Before the 1980's, psychologists did not believe that there was an "altruistic personality."
"There are... reasons why personality should be rather unimportant in determining people's reactions to the emergency. For one thing, the situational forces affecting a person's decision are so strong." -Latane & Darley (1970, p. 115).
"...just about everyone will help in some situations; just about nobody will help in other contexts; and the same people who help in some situations will not help in others." - Krebs (1978, p. 142).
Personality research on helping behavior was characterized as a "quagmire of evanescent relations among variables, conflicting findings, and low order correlation coefficients." - Gergen et al. (1972, p. 113).
Part of the reason that social psychologists were so resistant to a 'prosocial personality' was because it seemed to do very little to predict helping in situations. Over time, however, it was demonstrated that helping in one situation was not a good proxy for helping consistently over time. When aggregating over multiple indices of helping, there does appear to be a prosocial personality characteristic, which is characterized by feelings of empathy, nurturence, perspective-taking, feelings of social responsibility, etc...
In fact, these prosocial characteristics, when aggregated over time, are about as powerful as social characteristics!
"There are... reasons why personality should be rather unimportant in determining people's reactions to the emergency. For one thing, the situational forces affecting a person's decision are so strong." -Latane & Darley (1970, p. 115).
"...just about everyone will help in some situations; just about nobody will help in other contexts; and the same people who help in some situations will not help in others." - Krebs (1978, p. 142).
Personality research on helping behavior was characterized as a "quagmire of evanescent relations among variables, conflicting findings, and low order correlation coefficients." - Gergen et al. (1972, p. 113).
Part of the reason that social psychologists were so resistant to a 'prosocial personality' was because it seemed to do very little to predict helping in situations. Over time, however, it was demonstrated that helping in one situation was not a good proxy for helping consistently over time. When aggregating over multiple indices of helping, there does appear to be a prosocial personality characteristic, which is characterized by feelings of empathy, nurturence, perspective-taking, feelings of social responsibility, etc...
In fact, these prosocial characteristics, when aggregated over time, are about as powerful as social characteristics!