Database results:
examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: Review and Practice - Prosocial Behaviour
Prosocial behaviour is a fundamental aspect of human interaction that helps society function smoothly. This session will help you consolidate your understanding of why people help others and what factors influence helping behaviour.
Key Definitions:
Understanding prosocial behaviour helps psychologists explain:
For high marks in exams:
Psychologists explain prosocial behaviour using three main approaches: biological, psychological and social.
These focus on how evolution and genetics might explain helping behaviour.
We're more likely to help relatives who share our genes. This helps ensure our genetic material survives into the next generation. For example, parents making sacrifices for their children.
Evidence: Burnstein et al. (1994) found people were more likely to help close relatives than distant ones, especially in life-or-death situations.
We help others with the expectation they'll help us in the future. This creates mutually beneficial relationships that aid survival.
Evidence: Trivers (1971) observed this behaviour in many species, including humans, where individuals remember and reciprocate helpful acts.
Strengths: Explains universal helping patterns across cultures; supported by animal studies showing similar behaviours.
Limitations: Doesn't fully explain helping strangers or anonymous donations; overlooks cultural differences in helping behaviour.
These focus on internal mental processes that motivate helping.
Feeling empathy for someone in need creates a genuine desire to help them, regardless of personal benefit.
Evidence: Batson's studies showed people who felt empathy helped others even when they could easily avoid doing so.
We help others to reduce our own negative feelings (like guilt or sadness) that arise when we see someone suffering.
Evidence: Cialdini found people in sad moods were more likely to help if they believed helping would improve their mood.
Batson et al. (1981) conducted experiments where participants watched a person receiving electric shocks. Those who felt high empathy offered to take the shocks themselves, even when they could easily leave the situation. This suggests genuine altruism exists, driven by empathy rather than selfish motives.
These focus on how external factors and social learning influence helping behaviour.
Cultural rules that guide behaviour, including:
We learn to help by:
External circumstances like:
One of the most studied phenomena in prosocial behaviour is the bystander effect, which helps explain why people sometimes fail to help in emergencies.
Kitty Genovese was murdered outside her apartment in New York while reportedly 38 witnesses failed to intervene or call police. This case inspired research into the bystander effect, although later investigations revealed the original reports were exaggerated. Nevertheless, it sparked important research into why people don't always help in emergencies.
Latané and Darley (1970) proposed a five-step decision model explaining why bystanders may fail to help:
Failure at any step can prevent helping behaviour.
Darley and Latané (1968) found 70% of alone participants reported smoke filling a room, compared to just 10% when in groups of three.
Understanding prosocial behaviour has important real-world applications:
Training programmes teach people to overcome the bystander effect and take action in emergencies. Clear instructions like "You in the red shirt, call 999" can overcome diffusion of responsibility.
Charities use psychological principles to increase donations, such as showing identifiable victims to increase empathy or emphasising social norms by showing that others are donating.
Schools implement programmes to increase prosocial behaviour through modelling, reinforcement and empathy training to reduce bullying and increase cooperation.
Question: "Explain two factors that might influence whether someone helps in an emergency situation." [4 marks]
Sample Answer: One factor is the number of bystanders present. Research by Latané and Darley showed that as the number of bystanders increases, the likelihood of any individual helping decreases, due to diffusion of responsibility. Another factor is the clarity of the emergency. When a situation is ambiguous, people may experience pluralistic ignorance, looking to others to determine if help is needed. If no one else is reacting with concern, individuals are less likely to interpret the situation as requiring intervention.
Remember to apply these concepts to real-world examples in your exam answers and consider multiple perspectives when evaluating theories.
Log in to track your progress and mark lessons as complete!
Login NowDon't have an account? Sign up here.