7/27/2019 Helpfulness

1/1

In social psychology, the everyday concept of helpfulness is really technicallydefined as (1) the property of providing useful assistance, and (2) friendlinessevidenced by a kindly and helpful disposition [syn: kindliness].For many years, social psychologists have been searching for answers to these questions:Why, and when, will people help?Who will help?What can be done to lessen indifference and increase helping?Contents [hide]1 Introduction2 Why Do People Help?3 When Will People Help?4 Who Will Help?5 Whom to Help?6 How To Increase Helping?7 References8 See alsoIntroduction[edit]

Rewards: Rewards can be internal or external. Internal rewards are rewards thatincrease our sense of self-worth. There are many different negative emotions that people try to reduce by performing good deeds. For example, people will do whatever can be done to expunge guilt, relieve their bad feelings, and restore their self-image (Meyers, 446). Being helpful helps to achieve these goals and can e

ven offset other negative moods.Feel Bad-Do Good Scenario: This effect states that those who feel bad for another person in a situation will be more likely to help compared to a person who feels bad for themselves in that situation. For example, a study was performed thathad people imagine that their best friend had cancer. In this study, the researchers examined people's attention to grief. Those that were focused on the worries of the best friend were those that were more helpful compared to the people who had more selfish worries such as " I will have to act happy when really I amsad about my friends situation" (Meyers, 447).Feel Good, Do Good Scenario: This scenario states that people who are in a goodmood are more helpful. Thus, helping people enhances that positive feeling whichcreates positive thoughts and positive self-esteem.Why Do People Help?