Chapter 10
Helping Others
It was their bravery that compelled them to risk their lives, but it was their compassion that ultimately saved them. Six firefighters from New York City’s Ladder Company 6 were among the many rescue workers who courageously climbed up the stairs of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Evolutionary and Motivational Factors: Why Do People Help?
Evolutionary factors in helping (prosocial behaviors)
The “Selfish Gene” kin selection
Reciprocal Altruism; empathy;
Rewards of helping: Helping others to help oneself; feeling good
The cost of helping or not helping;
Altruism or Egoism: the great debate
The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
Convergence of Motivations: Volunteering;
Helping as a default?
The Bystander Effect
Noticing; Interpreting; pluralistic ignorance;
Taking responsibility; diffusion of responsibility;
The Bystander Effect Online; Avoiding the Bystander Effect;
The Legacy of the Bystander Effect Research;
Deciding how to help and providing help –audience inhibition
Time Pressure;
Moods and Helping – Good Moods and Doing Good; Bad Moods and doing Good
Prosocial Media Effects
Role Models and Social Influence;
Are some people more helpful than others?
What is the Altruistic Personality?
Culture and Helping
Interpersonal Influences: Whom Do People Help?
Perceived Characteristics of the Person in Need: Attractiveness; Attributions of Responsibility;
A Little Help for Our Friends, and Others like Us –identity fusion
Gender and Helping
Culture and Who Receives Help – Social norms
Chapter 14: Stress and Health
What Causes Stress?
Crisis and Catastrophes; Major Live Events; Microstressors: The Hassles of Everyday Life
How Does Stress Affect the Body?
The General Adaptation Syndrome; What Stress Does to the Heart; What Stress Does to the Immune System; The Links Between Stress and Illness;
Processes of Appraisal
Attributions and Explanatory Styles; The Human Capacity for Resilience; Pollyanna’s Health
Ways of Coping With Stress
Problem-Focused Coping; Emotion-Focused Coping; Proactive Coping; Culture and Coping
Treatment and Prevention
Treatment: The “Social” Ingredients; Prevention: Getting the Message Across
The Pursuit of Happiness
Does Money Buy Happiness?
Emerging Science on How to Increase Happiness