Social Norms, Feelings, and Other Factors Affecting Helping and Altruism

Berkowitz, Leonard

doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60025-8

Cited by 312 publications

(278 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

256

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Research on prosocial behavior has a rich history in psychology and has focused mainly on identifying situational factors that promote helpful behavior (Batson, 1998;Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroeder, 2005). Impressively, decades of work have uncovered many such help-promoting factors, including social norms, rewards, empathy, mood, and number of bystanders (Berkowitz, 1972;Cialdini et al, 1987;Latane & Darley, 1970;Schaller & Cialdini, 1990). However, psychological models of helping have only more recently begun to address the questions of why and how factors such as empathy became so relevant in eliciting prosocial behavior (MacAndrew, 2002;Van Vugt & Van Lange, 2006).…”

Section: Evolution Of Prosocial Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: When romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals.

Griskevicius¹,

Tybur²,

Sundie³

et al. 2007

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

552

556

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conspicuous displays of consumption and benevolence might serve as "costly signals" of desirable mate qualities. If so, they should vary strategically with manipulations of mating-related motives. The authors examined this possibility in 4 experiments. Inducing mating goals in men increased their willingness to spend on conspicuous luxuries but not on basic necessities. In women, mating goals boosted public-but not private-helping. Although mating motivation did not generally inspire helping in men, it did induce more helpfulness in contexts in which they could display heroism or dominance. Conversely, although mating motivation did not lead women to conspicuously consume, it did lead women to spend more publicly on helpful causes. Overall, romantic motives seem to produce highly strategic and sex-specific self-presentations best understood within a costly signaling framework.

show abstract

Section: Evolution Of Prosocial Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: When romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals.

Griskevicius¹,

Tybur²,

Sundie³

et al. 2007

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

552

556

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…5 For example, see Fehr et al (1998), Fehr andGaechter (2000) and Gneezy (2004). 6 See Sherif (1935), Asch (1956), Milgram, Bickman, andBerkowitz (1969), Zimbardo (1969), Berkowitz (1972), Krauss, Freedman, and Whitcup (1978), and…”

Section: Related Work On Norms and Focusingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The focusing and informational effects of norms on pro-social behavior

Krupka¹,

Weber²

2006

PsycEXTRA Dataset

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reports an experiment examining the effect of social norms on pro-social behavior. We test two predictions derived from work in psychology regarding the influence of norms. The first is a "focusing" influence, whereby norms only impact behavior when an individual's attention is drawn to them; and the second is an "informational" influence, whereby a norm exerts a stronger impact on an individual's behavior the more others he observes behaving consistently with that norm. We find support for both effects. Either thinking about or observing the behavior of others produces increased pro-social behavior -even when one expects or observes little pro-social behavior on the part of others -and the degree of pro-social behavior is increasing in the actual and expected pro-social behavior of others. This experiment eliminates strategic influences and thus demonstrates a direct effect of norms on behavior. Keywords: Social norms Altruism a b s t r a c tThis paper reports an experiment examining the effect of social norms on pro-social behavior. We test two predictions derived from work in psychology regarding the influence of norms. The first is a ''focusing" influence, whereby norms only impact behavior when an individual's attention is drawn to them; and the second is an ''informational" influence, whereby a norm exerts a stronger impact on an individual's behavior the more others he observes behaving consistently with that norm. We find support for both effects. Either thinking about or observing the behavior of others produces increased pro-social behavior -even when one expects or observes little pro-social behavior on the part of others -and the degree of pro-social behavior is increasing in the actual and expected pro-social behavior of others. This experiment eliminates strategic influences and thus demonstrates a direct effect of norms on behavior.

show abstract

“…Several authors have developed models of political influence where influence behavior affects outcomes primarily through affect Villanova & Bernardin, 1989;Wayne & Ferris, 1990). The effect of affect or liking on personnel/human resource management outcomes is consistent with social psychological explanations of behavior, as positive affect has been shown to increase benevolence and generosity toward others (Berkowitz, 1972;Isen, 1970;lsen & Levin, 1972). If influence behaviors only affect outcomes through their effect on liking, attempts by individuals to promote themselves would only be effective in obtaining these outcomes if liking increased.…”

Section: Theoretical Underpinningsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Political Influence Behavior and Career Success.

Judge¹,

Bretz²

1992

AMPROC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a recent review of the literature on politics and influence behavior in personnel/human resource management, noted that no studies had directly investigated the relationship between influence behavior and overall career success. In the present study the effect of political influence behavior on career success was investigated. Drawing from past research on influence behavior and relevant theory from social psychology, the effect of political influence behavior on career success was hypothesized to depend on the type of influence tactic employed. Support was found for the effect of political influence behavior in predicting career success, and for the differential effectiveness of influence behaviors. Implications of the results for the study of careers and career management processes are discussed . In a recent review of the literature on politics and influence behavior in personnel/human resource management, Ferris and Judge (1991) noted that no studies had directly investigated the relationship between influence behavior and overall career success. In the present study the effect of political influence behavior on career success was investigated. Drawing from past research on influence behavior and relevant theory from social psychology, the effect of political influence behavior on career success was hypothesized to depend on the type of influence tactic employed. Support was found for the effect of political influence behavior in predicting career success, and for the differential effectiveness of influence behaviors.Implications of the results for the study of careers and career management processes are discussed . 3Past research from the careers literature has identified a number of influences on career success. These influences broadly can be classified as individual or organizational in nature . Some of the more prominent organizational determinants of career success identified by past research include: socialization (Feldman, 1981;Louis, 1980;Reichers, 1987;Wanous, Reichers, & Malik, 1984), mentoring (Dreher & Ash, 1990;Hunt & Michael, 1983;Kram, 1983;Whitely, Dougherty, & Dreher, 1991), type of position (Whitely et al., 1991), early career challenge (Kaufman, 1974), and career systems (London & Stumpf, 1982). Similarly, a number of individual-level influences have been identified by past research, including cognitive ability (Dreher & Bretz, 1991), motivational variables such as hours worked (Whitely et al., 1991), human capital variables such as education, experience, and career interruptions (Hall & Hall, 1979;Mills, 1985;Pfeffer, 1977;Whitely et al., 1991), work/family variables such as spousal and familial demands (Cook, 1987;Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985), and demographic influences such as gender, marital status, and socioeconomic status (Dipboye, 1986;Dreher, Dougherty, & Whitely, 1985;Pfeffer, 1977;Powell, 1988).Although this research has contributed a great deal to understanding of career success (Howard & Bray, 1988), several authors have argued that past research has been limited by...

show abstract

Social Norms, Feelings, and Other Factors Affecting Helping and Altruism

Cited by 312 publications

References 35 publications

Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: When romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals.

Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: When romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals.

The focusing and informational effects of norms on pro-social behavior

Political Influence Behavior and Career Success.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About