Prosocial behaviour and crowd behaviour · GCSE Psychology

Prosocial behaviour and bystander intervention

Prosocial behaviour is helping others, such as helping someone who has fallen.
Piliavin's subway study (1969) staged a man collapsing on a New York subway train. He was helped far more often when he carried a cane (seeming ill) than when he smelt of alcohol (seeming drunk).
There was little sign of diffusion of responsibility on the busy train, perhaps because people couldn't easily leave.
Factors: the presence of others (diffusion of responsibility), the cost of helping, similarity to the victim, and expertise (such as first-aid training).

Collective behaviour is how people act in groups and crowds. It can be prosocial (such as crowds helping at a disaster) or antisocial (such as rioting).
Social loafing: people put in less effort when working in a group.
Deindividuation: losing a sense of personal identity in a crowd, which can make people act in ways they normally wouldn't.

Culture affects collective behaviour: people from collectivist cultures may be less likely to social loaf.
Dispositional factors, such as personality and morality, affect whether individuals follow the crowd.

Prosocial behaviour: Behaviour that helps others.
Bystander intervention: When a bystander helps someone in need.
Diffusion of responsibility: Feeling less responsible to help when others are present.
Social loafing: Putting in less effort when working in a group.
Deindividuation: Losing a sense of personal identity in a crowd.
Collective behaviour: How people act in groups and crowds.