Discuss Factors That Facilitate or Impede Helping Behaviour
Discuss factors that facilitate or impede helping behaviour
In this essay we will discuss what defines behaviour/ helping behaviour, the social, environmental and biological influences that affect a person’s behaviour, pro-social behaviour, and the different factors that impede helping behaviour. Also Latané and Darley’s 1968 – 1980 experiments and studies that were conducted to understand human behaviour will be discussed, as well as the Kitty Genovese incident, in order to research into why help was not shown when there were so many people around.
Behaviour can be defined as the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. Behaviour can happen consciously or subconsciously, overt or covert, and can also be voluntary or involuntary to humans. Human behaviour can be common, unusual, acceptable or unacceptable. Helping behaviour refers to voluntary actions intended to help others. It is a subcategory of pro-social behaviour; intentional act that helps or benefits another individual or group of individuals. This can be demonstrated by sharing, comforting, rescuing and helping. Altruistic behaviour is a subcategory of helping behaviour, which refers to pro-social behaviour that is carried out with the desire to benefit another without expectation of obtaining external or internal reward. According to the theory of universal egoism, people are fundamentally selfish and altruism is an impossibility, (Dovidio 1995, as cited in Gross 2001.) However certain kinds of casual helping (McGuire, 1994) or low-cost altruism (Brown, 1986) seem to be fairly common, such as giving a stranger directions or telling them the time.
Pro-social behaviour can be defined as behaviour that has positive social consequences and contributes to the physical or psychological well being of another person. It is thought that Kin Selection is a genetic response to supporting the broader gene pool. Social conditioning can also have been a cause and
In this essay we will discuss what defines behaviour/ helping behaviour, the social, environmental and biological influences that affect a person’s behaviour, pro-social behaviour, and the different factors that impede helping behaviour. Also Latané and Darley’s 1968 – 1980 experiments and studies that were conducted to understand human behaviour will be discussed, as well as the Kitty Genovese incident, in order to research into why help was not shown when there were so many people around.
Behaviour can be defined as the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. Behaviour can happen consciously or subconsciously, overt or covert, and can also be voluntary or involuntary to humans. Human behaviour can be common, unusual, acceptable or unacceptable. Helping behaviour refers to voluntary actions intended to help others. It is a subcategory of pro-social behaviour; intentional act that helps or benefits another individual or group of individuals. This can be demonstrated by sharing, comforting, rescuing and helping. Altruistic behaviour is a subcategory of helping behaviour, which refers to pro-social behaviour that is carried out with the desire to benefit another without expectation of obtaining external or internal reward. According to the theory of universal egoism, people are fundamentally selfish and altruism is an impossibility, (Dovidio 1995, as cited in Gross 2001.) However certain kinds of casual helping (McGuire, 1994) or low-cost altruism (Brown, 1986) seem to be fairly common, such as giving a stranger directions or telling them the time.
Pro-social behaviour can be defined as behaviour that has positive social consequences and contributes to the physical or psychological well being of another person. It is thought that Kin Selection is a genetic response to supporting the broader gene pool. Social conditioning can also have been a cause and
References: Anabelaoliveira writing on Understanding Helping Behaviour_[On-line] Available: http://socyberty.com/psychology/understanding-helping-behavior/ (2009) Crosbie, L http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:1gOfvopoeu4J:www.virtualpsychology.co.uk/Latane+and+Darley+deffinition+of+behaviour&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk (2000) Dewey, R http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch15_social/diffusion_of_responsibility.html (2007) Ellis-Christensen, T http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-social-influences.htm (2003) Darley, J Piliavin et al.(1969) Good Samaritanism – an underground phenomenon. In Gross, R. (Psychology, The Science of Mind and Behaviour (ch. 30)(pp. 439) 2001 Jones, L https://teach.lanecc.edu/kime/Psy203Ch12E.pdf (2009) Straker, D http://changingminds.org/books/changingminds_book.htm (2002) Appendix 1.