By Dennis L. Poepsel and David A. Schroeder, Truman State University, University of Arkansas. People often act to benefit other people, and these acts are examples of prosocial behavior. Such behaviors may come in many guises: helping an individual in need; sharing personal resources; volunteering time, effort, and expertise; cooperating with others to achieve some common goals. The focus of this module is on helping—prosocial acts in dyadic situations in which one person is in need and another provides the necessary assistance to eliminate the other’s need. Although people are often in need, help is not always given. Why not? The decision of whether or not to help is not as simple and straightforward as it might seem, and many factors need to be considered by those who might help. In this module, we will try to understand how the decision to help is made by answering the question: Who helps when and why?
- Subject:
- Psychology
- Material Type:
- Lecture Notes
- Reading
- Author:
- Maura Krestar
- Date Added:
- 05/20/2021
