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Helping Behaviour: Prosocial Action

Introduction to Prosocial Action

Why Study Helping Behaviour?

Helping others, or prosocial behaviour, involves actions intended to benefit other people and society without expecting personal gain. Understanding why and when people help others is a key topic in social psychology and links closely to social influence, group behaviour, and social identity.

Types of Helping

Helping varies significantly based on motivation and context. These are the main classifications.

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Altruism

Motivated solely by the desire to benefit another person, even at a personal cost.
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Prosocial Behaviour

A broader category including any helpful action, which may have social or personal benefits.
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Bystander Intervention

Helping in emergencies or stressful situations with multiple witnesses.

Psychological Theories Explaining Help

These models attempt to explain the cognitive and emotional processes behind intervention.

1

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis (Batson)

Feeling another’s distress motivates genuine concern leading to altruistic help.
2

Negative-State Relief Model

Helping is driven by the helper’s own desire to reduce feelings of personal distress or guilt.
3

Social Exchange Theory

Views helping as a cost-benefit analysis.

The Helping Calculation (Social Exchange)

Perceived Rewards > Perceived Costs = Help
If perceived rewards (e.g., social approval, increased self-esteem) outweigh the costs (e.g., time, effort, risk), people are motivated to help.

Evolutionary Drivers of Cooperation

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Kin Selection Theory Individuals are more likely to help close relatives to ensure the survival of shared genes. Biological relatedness increases helping behaviour.
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Group Selection Individuals help others within their group to strengthen the group’s overall survival chances, explaining in-group helping and cohesion.

Situational Factors & The Bystander Effect

How the immediate environment dictates the likelihood of intervention.

Factor Mechanism Outcome
Presence of Others Diffusion of responsibility Less likelihood to help
Ambiguity of Situation Creates uncertainty Reduced intervention
Cost/Reward Analysis Perceived risk/effort Low-cost helping is more frequent

Personal and Social Influences

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Personal Factors

Mood (positive mood increases helping), Empathy, Competence (feeling able to help), and Personality traits (agreeableness).
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Social Factors

Social Norms (Reciprocity Norm), Similarity (In-group favouritism), and Attribution (blaming the victim reduces help).

Landmark Research Studies

Empirical evidence supporting core helping theories.

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Darley and Latané (1968)

Participants responded slower when more bystanders were present, demonstrating diffusion of responsibility.
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Batson’s Empathy Experiments (1991)

Found that empathy motivates genuine help, even if escape from the situation was easy.
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Shotland and Straw (1976)

Helping was withheld if distress was misinterpreted as aggression, highlighting the importance of attributions.

Practical Applications

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Fostering Intervention: Raising awareness about the bystander effect encourages individuals to take responsibility and intervene in emergencies. Training programs (e.g., first aid) increase competence and willingness to help.

Critiques and Evaluation

Key challenges and limitations of the current research models.

ID Issue Focus Scope Validity
01 Psychological Egoism Altruism Motivation Always selfish?
02 Cultural Bias Generalization Geography Western-centric findings.
03 Ecological Validity Experiment Situations Variables difficult to control.
04 Ethics Research Participants Simulating emergencies causes distress.
Helping Behaviour Deck
Term
Helping Behaviour

What is helping behaviour?

Answer
Definition

Actions intended to benefit others or society without expecting personal gain.

Term
Altruism vs Prosocial Behaviour

What distinguishes altruism from prosocial behaviour?

Answer
Definition

Altruism is helping motivated solely by desire to benefit others at personal cost; prosocial behaviour includes any helpful act with possible personal or social benefits.

Term
Bystander Effect

Define the bystander effect.

Answer
Definition

The decreased likelihood of helping when multiple witnesses are present due to diffusion of responsibility.

Term
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

What does the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis propose?

Answer
Proposition

People help out of genuine concern when they empathize with someone in need.

Term
Negative-State Relief Model

According to this model, why do people help?

Answer
Explanation

To reduce their own feelings of distress or guilt after witnessing someone else's suffering.

Term
Social Exchange Theory

What is the Social Exchange Theory in helping behaviour?

Answer
Definition

Helping is based on weighing costs and rewards; people help if benefits outweigh costs.

Term
Reciprocity Norm

Explain the Reciprocity Norm.

Answer
Definition

A social rule that people help those who have helped them and expect help in return.

Term
Kin Selection Theory

What does Kin Selection Theory suggest about helping?

Answer
Theory

People are more likely to help close relatives to ensure survival of shared genes.

Term
Presence of Others

How does the presence of others affect helping behaviour?

Answer
Effect

The presence of others often reduces the chance of help through the bystander effect.

Term
Key Study: Bystander Effect

Name a key research study demonstrating the bystander effect.

Answer
Study

Darley and Latané’s 1968 Bystander Intervention Study.

Term
Mood and Empathy

How do mood and empathy influence helping?

Answer
Influence

Positive mood and higher empathy increase the likelihood of helping.

Term
Situational Factor

What is a situational factor that increases helping behaviour?

Answer
Factor

Clarity of an emergency situation.

Term
Personality Traits

What personality traits predict more frequent helping?

Answer
Traits

Agreeableness and high moral reasoning.

Term
Social Norms

How are social norms related to helping?

Answer
Relation

They create cultural expectations that encourage prosocial behaviour.

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Similarity and In-Group Membership

What effect does similarity or in-group membership have on helping?

Answer
Effect

People tend to help those similar to themselves or who belong to their social group more readily.

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🌸 Helping Behaviour Quiz

1. What is the main difference between altruism and prosocial behaviour?

Altruism is defined by selfless help despite personal cost, whereas prosocial acts may have social or personal benefits.

2. The bystander effect occurs because of:

When more people are present, each feels less personal responsibility to intervene.

3. True or False: According to the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis, people help primarily to relieve their own distress.

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis explains helping as motivated by genuine concern for others, not self-relief.

4. Which theory suggests people help when benefits outweigh the costs?

Social Exchange Theory focuses on cost-benefit analysis guiding helping decisions.

5. Which factor makes someone more likely to help?

Feeling competent enhances the likelihood of helping.

📊 Results

  • Notes and Quiz
  • Psychology
  • GCSE
  • Social Influence Studies
  • AQA