Pro- and Antisocial Behaviour – lectures
THEME 1 DEFINITION AND THEORIES OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR .............................................. 2
WHY EXAMINE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR? ................................................................................................ 2
WHEN ARE PEOPLE PROSOCIAL?........................................................................................................... 3
WHY ARE PEOPLE PROSOCIAL? ............................................................................................................ 3
THEME 2 DEFINITION AND THEORIES OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ............................................. 5
THEME 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ......................................................... 8
HOW DOES PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR DEVELOP OVER TIME? .......................................................................... 8
WHAT ARE THE UNDERLYING PROCESSES? ............................................................................................ 10
THEME 4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR....................................................... 12
DEVELOPMENT OF PHYSICAL- AND RELATIONAL AGGRESSION .................................................................... 12
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 14
SOCIAL INFLUENCES ........................................................................................................................ 16
THEME 5 CONTEXTUAL EFFECTS OF PRO- AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR................................... 17
SITUATIONAL FACTORS .................................................................................................................... 17
GROUP FACTORS ............................................................................................................................ 19
GROUP MEMBERSHIP ...................................................................................................................... 20
THEME 6 EFFECTS OF MEDIA ON PRO- AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ....................................... 20
EFFECTS OF MEDIA ON VIOLENCE ON ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR .................................................................... 20
AMONG WHOM AND WHEN DOES MEDIA VIOLENCE LEAD TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ..................................... 21
WHY CAN MEDIA VIOLENCE LEAD TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR.................................................................... 22
ONLINE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ......................................................................................................... 24
,Theme 1 Definition and theories of prosocial behaviour
Why examine prosocial behaviour?
- Important theme in religion, philosophy, folktales…
o Universal
o Adaptive function (evolutionary psychology)
- 1900: scientists (Mc Dougall) show interest in prosocial behaviour, but interest readily
declines
→ Turning point in the 60’s
Murder of Kitty: neighbours watched but nobody did anything → examination of prosocial
behaviour
Prosocial behaviour: behaviour that is defined by the society as generally beneficial to other
people and/or to the ongoing political or cultural system
- Always interpersonal
- Context dependent
Specific forms of prosocial behaviour
1. Helping: any action that has the consequence of providing some benefit to or improving
the well-being of another person
4 types of helping (McGuire, 1994):
1. Casual helping: small behaviour
2. Substantial personal helping: considerable effort
3. Emotional helping: emotional support
4. Emergency helping: helping with an acute problem
3-dimensional classification system (Pearce & Amato, 1980):
2. Altruism: helping purely out of the desire to benefit someone else, with no benefit (and
often a cost) to oneself
3. Cooperation: acting together (in a coordinated way) in the pursuit of shared goals, the
enjoyment of the joint activity, or simply furthering the relationship
2
, When are people prosocial?
Latané and Darley model: whether a person will act prosocially (or not) is the result of a
logical decision-making process that includes 5 steps
Note: all steps must be passed otherwise no help is given
1. Notice the event: the clarity and context of the event as well as the mood of the helper
determines whether someone notices something is wrong
2. Interpret event as emergency: clear signs of distress increase the chance of bystanders
interpreting the situation as an emergency
3. Taking personal
Bystander effect: when you are the only person witnessing an emergency, you are more
likely to help than when there are no witnesses
Inverse relationship: the greater number of bystanders, the less likely anyone will help
→ pluralistic ignorance: looking to one another to (re)interpret situation (step 2.
Interpret the event)
→ diffusion of responsibility: believing that someone else will take responsibility
4. Know what to do
5. Implement decision
Shotland & Heinold (1985): people with a first aid training do not help more often, they do
provide better quality of help
People are more likely to be prosocial when
- People notice the situation
- They categorize the situation as an emergency
- They feel responsible to help
- They know what to do
Why are people prosocial?
We help people because
- The benefits outweigh the costs
- It is the norm
- We feel empathy and we want to reduce stress/arousal
- We learned this from others (see theme 4)
- It is an inherited characteristic (evolutionary psychology)
1. Cost-benefit analysis: the decision to help depends on the consideration of costs and
benefits: people want to minimalize their costs and maximize their benefits
Benefits for helping: Cost for helping: Costs for not helping:
- Social recognition - Time and effort - Social disapproval
- Positive self-view - Loss of goods - Physical/mental problems
- Positive emotions - Risk getting injured
- Emotional toll
3
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