Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Helping behavior: Helping behavior in psychology refers to voluntary actions intended to assist or benefit another individual or group, without expecting external rewards. See also Altruism, Bystander effect, Social Behavior._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Social Identity Theory on Helping Behavior - Dictionary of Arguments
Haslam I 210 Bystander effect/helping behavior/Social identity theory: the social identity approach (Haslam 2004)(1) (Cf. Taifel, 1978(2), Tajfel and Turner 1979(3)) rejects the idea that groups have a negative impact on psychological functioning. >Bystander effect/psychological theories. Thesis: when people define themselves as a member of a particular social group (---), then the norms and the values that are associated with that social identity determine how the individual will behave. Behaviour in collective settings can be pro-social or anti-social depending on what kind of identity is salient, and what the content of that identity actually is (Postmes and Spears, 1998)(4). To know how individuals will behave in the presence of others, one therefore needs to know - whether a personal or a social identity is salient; - the extent to which the salient identity is shared by those who are present; and - the norms and values associated with the salient identity. Haslam I 211 Levine et al. (2005)(5) showed that helping behavior was influenced by the way people felt themselves part of a changing social identity. Levine: this is not yet a demonstration of the utility of the social identity approach as a basis for rethinking the bystander effect itself. Haslam I 212 the key test for the approach would involve exploring the role played by social identities in emergencies that involve both gender and violence (see Cherry, 1995)(6). Mark Levine and Simon Crowther (2008)(7) conducted two interrelated experiments that manipulated both the salience of social identities and the number of bystanders who witnessed an attack by a man on a woman. Male and female participants were recruited to take part in a study about gender and violence. (...) questionnaire responses indicated that women were more likely to say they would intervene when they sat in a group of three women than when they sat on their own. However, women indicated that they would be much less likely to intervene when they were in the presence of two men. This is consistent with the traditional bystander effect, as the presence of others seems to inhibit helping. Yet what is clear from these findings is that the presence of others has a differential effect depending on the salience of particular social identities for participants and their relationship to other bystanders. Specifically, women feel more able to intervene when they have other women around them, but are less inclined to do so when the other bystanders are men. Men are most likely to say they will intervene when they are the minority in a group (...). When men are in a group with other men they are not inhibited from intervening, but when they are surrounded by women the likelihood of intervention seems to be enhanced. (...) it is important to acknowledge that participants in this study are only expressing a willingness to intervene. (…) there may be a significant gap between word and deed. >Attitudes and Behavior. 1. Haslam, S.A. (2004) Psychology in Organizations: The Social Identity Approach, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 2. Tajfel, H. (ed.) (1978) Differentiation Between Social Groups: Studies in the Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. London: Academic Press. 3. Tajfel, H. and Turner, J.C. (1979) ‘An integrative theory of intergroup conflict’, in W.G. Austin and S. Worchel (eds), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. pp. 33–48. 4. Postmes, T. and Spears, R. (1998) ‘Deindividuation and anti-normative behaviour: A meta-analysis’, Psychological Bulletin, 123: 238–59. 5. Levine, M., Prosser, A., Evans, D. and Reicher, S. (2005) ‘Identity and emergency intervention: How social group membership and inclusiveness of group boundaries shape helping behaviour’, Personality and social Bulletin, 31: 443 - 53. 6. Cherry, F. (1995) The ‘Stubborn Particulars’ of Social Psychology. London: Routledge. 7. Levine, M. and Crowther, S. (2008) ‘The responsive bystander: How social group membership and group size can encourage as well as inhibit bystander intervention’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95: 1429–39. Mark Levine, „ Helping in Emergencies. Revisiting Latané and Darley’s bystander studies“, in: Joanne R. Smith and S. Alexander Haslam (eds.) 2017. Social Psychology. Revisiting the Classic studies. London: Sage Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Social Identity Theory Haslam I S. Alexander Haslam Joanne R. Smith Social Psychology. Revisiting the Classic Studies London 2017 |
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> Counter arguments against Social Identity Theory
> Counter arguments in relation to Helping Behavior
