CONCEPT OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Transcription

1 FAQ CONCEPT OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR 1Q: Explain prosocial behavior, helping behavior and altruism. What is the difference between helping behavior and altruism? Ans: As the word indicates, prosocial behavior refers to that kind of behavior which is positive and helpful to the society at large. There are many types of behaviors that can be classified as prosocial for instance, friendship, charity, sacrifice, sharing and cooperation. However, the majority of research on prosocial behavior focuses on two types of prosocial behavior, helping behavior and altruism. Helping behavior refers to acts where people voluntarily and intentionally behave in a way that they believe will benefit others, although at the time the behavior may benefit them as well. We might, for example, donate money to a charity because we want to help, but also because it makes us feel good about ourselves. Altruism is a more specific form of helping behavior referring to an act of prosocial behavior which benefits others but is not expected to have any personal benefits. Helping behavior is nothing but intention act that is designed to benefit another person. Altruistic behavior refers to behaviors that are motivated by the desire to benefit others with no expectation of personal gain or reward. 2Q: Prosocial behavior is influenced by the internal mechanisms of a person. Explain in brief.

2 Ans: When personality theorists first tried to explain this prosocial behavior and antisocial behavior they tended to reject the notion of a simple choice of good versus bad. Instead, they sought reasons for each type of behavior. The regulation of good or bad behavior was still conceptualized as the product of internal mechanisms. Here are two such theoretical explanations of how the internal mechanisms come to be: the super ego and levels of cognitive development. The Super ego: In his pioneering efforts to make sense out of human behavior, Sigmund Freud relied on a series of internal processes. His formulation of three personality structures, the id, ego and superego has not only influenced the thinking of psychologists for many decades. Prosocial behavior was thought to be determined by one of those structures the super ego. The super ego develops if the child learns a set of values from its parents. These values are internalized and incorporated as part of the individual. They serve as an inner source of reward and punishment. Attempts to live up to an ideal standard of conduct and to avoid misconduct make the individual feel righteous. The demands of the superego can be stronger than the demands of id and ego a person may flunk out of school rather than cheat, lose a job rather than lie, and even choose to die rather than violate a crucial moral standard. Strong internalization of values brings forth prosocial behavior. The levels of cognitive development: An alternative way of conceptualizing the growth of a conscience and internal standards is through cognitive development. Both Piaget and Kohlberg have proposed that a child grows and interacts with the environment; there is

3 a natural progression from primitive notions of morality to highly sophisticated ones. Piaget observed that small children are confused about the difference between their own perspective and that of others. As children grown older, they begin to grasp the fact that there are other perspectives besides their own. The rules defining morality also change as the child develops. Very young children perceive them as fixed, natural phenomena, while older children begin to realize that the rules are variable, man-made ideas about conduct. Kohlberg identified a series of six developmental stages that include three different levels of morality. They are the preconventional level, conventional level and the post conventional level. As we mature, we understand more, grasp the consequences of our acts, and accept general principles of morality. Research also supports the notion that as children grow older; they progress to higher levels of cognitive development and different sorts of moral reasoning. 3Q: Prosocial behavior is a result of the power of the situation. Explain by throwing light on reinforcement theory and cognitive analysis. Ans: There are two major theoretical approaches to prosocial behavior that stress the power of the situation: a reinforcement explanation of why people sometimes help others and a cognitive analysis of the way perceptions and judgments influence behavior. Reinforcement Theory: Rewards and punishments form prosocial behavior. From this perspective of social learning theory prosocial responses occur because they have been rewarded in the past. So, altruistic behavior simply depends on the individual s reinforcement

4 history. In addition to direct experience, people are also influenced by expectations about future rewards and punishments. Prosocial behavior can be increased or decreased by associating rewards or punishments with it. Cognitive Analysis: There is a lot of cognition that goes on in the mind before the person actually responds in a prosocial manner. Latane and Darley have focused on the kind of situation in which some sort of emergency presents the subject with the opportunity either to aid a stranger in distress or to ignore the stranger. The theoretical question is: What must go in the individual s mind before a prosocial response can take place? 4Q: Explain the major developmental approaches that explained the origin and nature of prosocial behavior in humans. Ans: There are three other major developmental approaches that have made an attempt to explain the origin and the nature of prosocial behavior in humans. Evolutionary Social Psychology: A biological approach. Social behavior is explained in terms of the genetic factors one is disposed with and has evolved over time, according to the principles of natural selection. Darwin realized that altruistic behavior posed a tough problem to his premise. If an organism acts altruistically, its reproductive fitness may decrease. There is an innate tendency on the part of the individual to help others because of evolutionary reasons. For example, animals exhibit such kind of helping behavior. i) There is KIN SELECTION. The closer people are genetically the more likely they are to help.

5 ii) iii) Then there is RECIPROCITY NORM. This norm of reciprocity refers to the expectation that helping people will better their chances of getting help when they are in need in the future. This suggests that reciprocity will better the likelihood of survival. According to sociobiologists, survivors would be those people who had developed a rapport with their neighbors based on this kind of a norm. Then we have LEARNING SOCIAL NORMS. Simon suggested that people who learnt the societal norms well had a competitive advantage. People are genetically endowed to learn these norms and one such norm is altruism. The claims of these evolutionary psychologists are debated. Retrospective explanations do not provide any hard evidence in support. Social Exchange: the Rewards and costs involved in Helping The Social exchange theory maintains that our behavior stems from a strong desire to maximize our rewards and minimize the costs. This is a theory that is based purely on self interest. According to these theorists, helping can be rewarding and that too in three different ways: 1. It increases the possibility that someone will help us when needed in the future in return of our gesture 2. It will relieve the bystander s personal distress 3. It will bring us social approval and through that increased self-wroth According to these theorists, helping can be costly and when costs are perceived to be high, there is no helping or decreased help.

6 Empathy and Altruism: The Pure Motive for Helping Batson is considered as the proponent of this idea that people help purely out of the goodness that is there in their hearts. He argues that pure altruism that will come into play when we put ourselves in the position of the person who is in need of help empathizing with the person. The empathy-altruism hypothesis states that when we feel empathy for a particular person, we will attempt to help purely for altruistic reasons, that is, regardless of what we have to gain in the process. Empathy motivates the people to reduce other person s distress. If there is low empathy, people will reduce their own distress by escaping from the situation. If there is high empathy, the emotional response corresponds to the feelings of the other person.