PSYC 1250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Murder Of Kitty Genovese, Social Exchange Theory, Cognitive Dissonance
19 Jun 2018
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Processes Operating in Emergency Situations (Sometimes)
Audience Inhibition Effect: people are inhibited from helping for fear that other
bystanders will evaluate them negatively if they intervene and the situation is
not an emergency
2 reasons:
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Information dependence
What other people say can determine how you act and whether or
not you think it is an emergency
§
1.
Outcome dependence
You think someone is choking but really someone just has a weird
laugh, now this guy is pissed and your friends are going to make fun
of you
§
2.
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Diffusion of Responsibility- belief that the presence of others in a situation
makes one less personally responsible for the events that occur in that situation
One person- they have 100% of the responsibility
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Two people-50%
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Kitty Genovese, 36 people who saw a murder and didn’t call the police
Further research demonstrated that a few people did call the police
but they never showed up, they claimed that x number of people
saw it and didn’t say anything when in fact they never would have
really seen anything because of where there windows were
§
○
Meta-analysis in the 80s, 50 different studies, when people think they are
alone over 75% are willing to help, in presence of others this drops to 50%
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•
When Do We Help?
Arousal-Cost Reward Model- focuses on why we intervene. Seeing an
emergency is emotionally arousing for us; this is uncomfortable so we try to
reduce this discomfort
•
Cost of Helping
Low
High
Cost of Not Helping
Low
Depends on social norms
Less likely to help
High Will intervene Intervene indirectly
Redefine situation
The cost of not helping could cause cognitive dissonance, poor attitudes
of you from others around you
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The cost of helping could be "wasted" time, physical needs, money, etc.
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Feeling guilty can bring one to help others- makes me feel better
Give us money! --> Donate more because you feel guilty
§
People are less likely to donate more money after confession than
before because you feel guilty, and helping others will help you
reduce that negativity
§
○
Negative State Relief Model- The proposal that prosocial behaviour is
motivated by the bystander's
•
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis- Experiencing empathy for someone in need
produces an altruistic motive for helping
People typically have 2 types of reactions when they see someone else
suffer
Personal Distress
§
Empathy- feeling of compassion and tenderness when seeing a
victim's plight
§
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In a best care scenario, if we could remove ourselves from that situation
we would.
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Those of us with higher levels of empathy are more likely to help when
someone is in a state of pain or distress
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•
Empathic-Joy Hypothesis-Empathically aroused bystanders will help in order to
share the person's improvement vicariously
If I wont benefit from helping you, I am less likely to help you, if you don’t
feel better afterwards then I won't feel better so I am less likely to help
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Showing before and after photos of starving orphans for a commercial,
lets you in on the happiness
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•
Empathy-Avoidance Theory- Because we know we have empathy for others, we
sometimes avoid situations where our empathy will be turned on
Knowing there is a homeless person in the same place every day and
going out of your way in order to avoid them and not want to give them
money
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•
Altruistic Personality- The combination of dispositional variables that make an
individual more likely to engage in altruistic behaviour
You want me to help, what’s in it for me?
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Personality Traits of People who Offered Assistance
Higher empathy
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Internal locust of control
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Belief in a just world
§
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Relationships
Interpersonal Attraction
Gain knowledge via social comparison
Informs us about the other person
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Secure psych and material rewards via social exchange
Social exchange theory
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You are more likely to compare yourself with people who are more like
you because you get better results
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Being able to borrow clothes from your friends, they give you something
and you give them something in exchange for friendship
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Offer emotional support, food, excitement, etc.
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•
Individual Characteristics and Attraction
Genetic factors
Teenagers spend 75% of their waking time with their peers, they are
genetically programmed to be by the people who they are attracted to
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Personality factors
Need for affiliation
Quantity, a greater number of attractions/friends, the more the
merrier
§
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Need for intimacy
Quality over quantity, happens more as you get older
§
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Cultural factors
I need many people so I can function, a collectivistic culture you would
find this within your own family or group
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•
Lecture 03/28
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
11:29 AM
Document Summary
Audience inhibition effect: people are inhibited from helping for fear that other bystanders will evaluate them negatively if they intervene and the situation is not an emergency. What other people say can determine how you act and whether or not you think it is an emergency. You think someone is choking but really someone just has a weird laugh, now this guy is pissed and your friends are going to make fun of you. Diffusion of responsibility- belief that the presence of others in a situation makes one less personally responsible for the events that occur in that situation. One person- they have 100% of the responsibility. Kitty genovese, 36 people who saw a murder and didn"t call the police. Meta-analysis in the 80s, 50 different studies, when people think they are alone over 75% are willing to help, in presence of others this drops to 50% Arousal-cost reward model- focuses on why we intervene.
