Helping behavior has been a hot psychological topic since the brutal murder of Kitty Genovese occurred in 1964. Psychologists have been studying how three important factors, namely diffuse responsibility, pluralistic ignorance and victim effects affect helping behavior. It is true that these three factors have a profound effect on the behavior of people towards helping fellow human beings who are suffering. This paper reviews the impact of these three dynamics on the helping behavior of people. It further investigates the effect of social and cultural pressure and the beliefs about “self” on helping behavior. First off, the paper will go through the definitions of these dynamics before delving into the specific ways in which they influence helping behavior known from customessayorder review.
Helping behavior is a social behavior of helping other people, with or without regard for a consequent reward. The behavior of helping other people is in need, as it is evidenced by various personal experiences and is greatly modified by three factors. These are diffuse responsibility, pluralistic ignorance and victim effects.
Effect of diffuse responsibility on helping behavior
Diffuse responsibility is a phenomenon in psychology that denotes the decreased likelihood of a person taking responsibility for an action or omission when other people are present. When people are in a group, they tend to believe that the obligation to take responsibility is not for them and they, therefore, pass that responsibility to other people.
Diffuse responsibility has a pretty obvious effect on helping behavior. A person who witnesses an emergency situation, especially one that is disturbing, is in conflict. Rational and irrational fears about what might happen often override the humanitarian norms that would normally engender an act of help. People avoid involvement very often, as evidenced by the proverbial statement “I didn’t want to get involved”.
The fears of what might happen if a person gets caught up in an emergency situation are reinforced by the presence of other bystanders. The presence of other onlookers often weakens the norms that favor intervention, and makes it easy for the individual to shift the responsibility to other people.
Effect of pluralistic ignorance on helping behavior
Pluralistic ignorance is a phenomenon which arises when people who are in a group do not know what other members of the group think or feel about a particular issue. Due to this oblivion, a person in the group may fail to voice his (or her) opinion or act in accordance with his opinion. This is because he (or she) believes incorrectly that the other members of the group hold different opinions.
Pluralistic ignorance could work for or against helping behavior. When one does not know what the people around him or her think, a person is bound to make an inaccurate judgment of what he or she is supposed to do. In the case of an emergency, people weigh the risks and benefits of lending a helping hand. People are usually aroused in a state of emergency. This arousal may lead to reaction among the bystanders. The bystander is likely to react if the benefits of helping the person in trouble far outweigh the risks. One of the risks that pervade helping behavior is the fear of embarrassment. People often think that they are more susceptible to embarrassment than other people and this feeling keeps them from getting involved in lending a helping hand to others in the case of an emergency.
Therefore, pluralistic ignorance could work in favor of helping behavior when a person feels that other people are looking up to him or her to help the victim. On the other hand, pluralistic ignorance could hinder helping behavior when a person thinks that he or she will get caught up in the embarrassment as the other bystanders watch.
Victim effects
Victim effects include such factors as the victim’s race, gender and his or her attitude towards help. Victim effects have a huge impact on helping behavior. In an experiment carried out by the scholars, a ‘drunken’ victim pretended to collapse on the floor in a train cabin full of passengers. In a control experiment, a sober victim also pretended to collapse in the same cabin. The drunken victim will receive about fifty percent less help as compared to the sober victim. This was attributed to the greater cost (risk) of helping the drunken victim.
Other effects of the victim such as the race of the victim and the gender also have a great impact on the helping behavior of people. For instance, female victims are more likely to receive help from men. This is probably because of the perception that men who help other people (especially women) are heroic and chivalrous. It is also possibly because of a perceived reward or recognition.
Effects of social and cultural pressure and beliefs about self
Social and cultural pressure also has a thorough impact on helping behavior. Often, the motivation behind helping behavior is not altruism, but rather a social pressure. In an experiment that was testing altruism and social pressure, a door to door fundraiser was designed such that individuals would either sought or avoid the solicitor. The research had significant findings that only some people promised to help (give) due to social pressure rather than due to altruism. Similarly, cultural pressure may also enhance helping behavior when a person comes from a culture where it is wrong to see other people suffering and ignore helping them.
People have emotions, they care about esteem, and they have a feeling of shame as well as pride. That is why beliefs about oneself are highly likely to impact upon the helping behavior of someone. People who are willing to sacrifice their time, comfort and energy for the sake of others are not necessarily the “perfect agents. The “perfect agent” is the person who always makes decisions without regard for his or her own interest, but the interest of others. These are people who have high regard for the safety of others, because in some way, it will make them feel better and will improve the quality of their lives. Some people even seek recognition by helping other people. This is proof that beliefs about self and self-interest are sometimes a boost to helping behavior.
Indeed, helping behavior is modified by a wide array of factors. The proverbial factors that influence helping behavior are the traditional ones: diffuse responsibility, pluralistic ignorance and victim effects. However, as it was illustrated by experiments and other psychologists, socio-cultural pressures and beliefs about self also play a great role in modifying helping behavior.
