Helping Behavior

This section is categorized by the type of measure.

Dan Batson paradigm – Empathic response to Kathy’s plight, perception of similarity and perception of need all measure how much compassion and sympathy we feel for others, particularly strangers.

• Batson, D. C., Lishner, D. A., Cook, J., & Sawyer, S. (2010). Similarity and nurturance : Two possible sources of empathy for strangers. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 27(1), 37-41.

Recording time taken to offer assistance after to exposure to violence.

• Bushman, B. J. & Anderson C. (2009). Comfortably numb: desensitizing effects of violent media on helping others. Psychological Science, 20(3), 273-7.

Opportunity to Give/Willingness or Likelihood of Helping – Participants read hypothetical scenarios where they have a chance to help strangers and indicate the likelihood of their helping based on how they would behave in each situation at the present moment.

• On a scale from 1 (not at all likely) to 9 (very likely), responses to the scenarios were averaged to form the dependent measure of helping.

• DeWall, C., Baumeister, R. F., Gailliot, M. T., & Maner, J. K. (2008). Depletion makes the heart grow less helpful: Helping as a function of self-regulatory energy and genetic relatedness. Personality And Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(12), 1653-1662. doi:10.1177/0146167208323981.

Bond and Lader (Visual Analogue) Mood Rating Scale (BLMRS) –  two items of the BLMRS specifically assess subjective prosocial effects:antagonistic/amicable and withdrawn/gregarious.

• Dumont, G. H., Sweep, F. J., van der Steen, R. R., Hermsen, R. R., Donders, A. T., Touw, D. J., & … Verkes, R. J. (2009). Increased oxytocin concentrations and prosocial feelings in humans after ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) administration. Social Neuroscience, 4(4), 359-366. doi:10.1080/17470910802649470.

The number of people approached for a contribution and the average amount of the contributions made can be measured in response to being asked for help.

• Flynn, F. J., & Lake, V. (2008). “If you need help, just ask”: Underestimating compliance with direct requests for help. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 128 -143.

Dichotomous measure of whether voluntary help is provided measures prosocial behavior.

• Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946-955. doi:10.1037/a0017935.

Charitable Giving Behavior by self-reported satisfaction after either voluntary or mandatory giving.

• Harbaugh, W. T., Mayr, U., & Burghart, D. R. (2007). Neural responses to taxation and voluntary giving reveal motives for charitable donations. Science, 316(5831), 1622-1625. doi:10.1126/science.1140738.

Magnitude of donations as a measure of altruism.

• Reuter, M., Frenzel, C., Walter, N., Markett, S., & Montag, C. (2011). Investigating the genetic basis of altruism: The role of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 6(5), 662-8.