Gender and Intergroup Helping: Forms of Prosocial Behavior as Differential Social Control Mechanisms for Women and Men

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Abad-Merino ◽  
John F. Dovidio ◽  
Carmen Tabernero ◽  
Ignacio González
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Helping Behavior ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Support Interaction ◽  
Group Hierarchy

AbstractThe present research, drawing on the Intergroup Helping as Power Relations Model (Nadler, 2002), investigated the ways in which different forms of helping behavior can strategically affect responses to women and men who display socially valued or devalued characteristics. Participants read scenarios about concrete problems faced by a woman or man in need, who displayed positive (i.e., prosocial) or negative (i.e., antisocial) characteristics, and indicated the extent to which they would be willing to support small tax increases if that money were used to help address the target’s issues. The predicted Target Gender × Target History × Type of Support interaction, controlling for political orientation, was obtained, F(1, 149) = 6.49, p = .012, ηp2 = .04. Participants tended to give less autonomy-oriented (i.e., empowering) help to a man displaying antisocial (vs. prosocial) characteristics, F(1, 36) = 3.39, p = .074, ηp2 = .09.; they also tended to off more dependency-oriented (i.e., disempowering) help to a woman women exhibiting prosocial (vs. antisocial) qualities, F(1, 38) = 3.42, p = .072, ηp2 = .08. The role of seemingly positive forms of social behavior as a mechanism for social control and the relation of helping to processes of group-hierarchy and system-justifying processes are considered.

scholarly journals The Public Employee Facing Unconstitutional Policies: Organization, State, Power, Stability and Social Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helder Gusso
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Control Agency ◽  
Public Employee ◽  
Organizational Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
And Control

This article highlights the duty of the public employee to oppose any government policy that goes against constitutional principles and objectives. The defence of this position is made from an organizational analysis of the State. Theoretical contributions such as the understanding of State and Domination in M. Weber, Organization in D. Katz and R.L. Khan, and Control Agency in B.F. Skinner have been used. The analysis of contingencies that control the behavior of the public employee and the understanding of the notions of State and Organizations enable greater clarity about what constitutes the role of workers in the public sector. It also highlights the importance of existing mechanisms to reduce the imbalance in power relations between governors, servants and the population.

scholarly journals Trust, Control, and Value Creation in Strategic Networks of SMEs

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1873
Author(s):  
Fabio Antoldi ◽  
Daniele Cerrato
Keyword(s):  
Process Control ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Substitution Effect ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Output Process ◽  
Output Control ◽  
Strategic Networks ◽  
And Control

This paper investigates the role of trust and control in networks of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on both their direct and interaction effects on value creation. To delve into the interplay between trust and control, we unpack control mechanisms into three different forms: output, process, and social control. Our hypotheses are tested on a sample of 58 Italian SME networks based on formal agreements. Results show that the competitiveness and sustainability of inter-firm networks require trust-based relationships among entrepreneurs. Additionally, the adoption of output control mechanisms reinforces the positive link between trust and value creation, whereas a substitution effect exists between trust and process control and, with limited significance, between trust and social control.

scholarly journals Anxiolytic treatment impairs helping behavior in rats

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Ben-Ami Bartal ◽  
H. Z. Shan ◽  
N. M. R. Molasky ◽  
T. M. Murray ◽  
J. Z. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Affective Response ◽  
Helping Behavior ◽  
Door Opening ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Corticosterone Response ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Pro Social Behavior ◽  
Behavior Test

AbstractDespite decades of research with humans, the biological mechanisms that motivate an individual to help others remain poorly understood. In order to investigate the roots of pro-sociality in mammals, we established the helping behavior test, a paradigm in which rats are faced with a conspecific trapped in a restrainer that can only be opened from the outside. Over the course of repeated test sessions, rats exposed to a trapped cagemate learn to open the door to the restrainer, thereby helping the trapped rat to escape (Ben-Ami Bartal et al., 2011). The discovery of this natural behavior provides a unique opportunity to probe the motivation of rodent helping behavior, leading to a deeper understanding of biological influences on human pro-sociality.To determine if an affective response motivates door-opening, rats received midazolam, a benzodiazepine anxiolytic, and tested in the helping behavior test. Midazolam-treated rats showed less helping behavior than saline-treated rats or rats receiving no injection. Yet, midazolam-treated rats opened a restrainer containing chocolate, highlighting the socially specific effects of the anxiolytic. To determine if midazolam interferes with helping through a sympatholytic effect, the peripherally restricted beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist nadolol was administered; nadolol did not interfere with helping.The corticosterone response of rats exposed to a trapped cagemate was measured and compared to the rats’ subsequent helping behavior. Rats with the greatest corticosterone responses showed the least helping behavior and those with the smallest responses showed the most consistent helping at the shortest latency. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the interaction between stress and pro-social behavior.Finally, we observed that door-opening appeared to be reinforcing. A novel analytical tool was designed to interrogate the pattern of door-opening for signs that a rat’s behavior on one session influenced his behavior on the next session. Results suggest that helping a trapped rat has a greater motivational value than does chocolate.In sum, this series of experiments clearly demonstrates the fundamental role of affect in motivating pro-social behavior in rodents and the need for a helper to resonate with the affect of a victim.

scholarly journals Sharing the Space With the “Victim” Can Increase Help Rates. A Study With Virtual Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Spagnolli ◽  
Mariavittoria Masotina ◽  
Mattia Furlan ◽  
Patrik Pluchino ◽  
Massimiliano Martinelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Helping Behavior ◽  
Spatial Region ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
Pro Social Behavior

A typical protocol for the psychological study of helping behavior features two core roles: a help seeker suffering from some personal or situational emergency (often called “victim”) and a potential helper. The setting of these studies is such that the victim and the helper often share the same space. We wondered whether this spatial arrangement might affect the help rate. Thus, we designed a simple study with virtual reality in which space sharing could be manipulated. The participant plays the role of a potential helper; the victim is a humanoid located inside the virtual building. When the request for help is issued, the participant can be either in the same spatial region as the victim (the virtual building) or outside it. The effect of space was tested in two kinds of emergencies: a mere request for help and a request for help during a fire. The analysis shows that, in both kinds of emergencies, the participants were more likely to help the victim when sharing the space with it. This study suggests controlling the spatial arrangement when investigating helping behavior. It also illustrates the expediency of virtual reality to further investigate the role of space on pro-social behavior during emergencies.

Shame and Guilt in India: Declining Social Control and The Role Of Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pravin J. Patel
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Shame Culture ◽  
Education In India ◽  
Shame And Guilt ◽  
Individual Self

Contemporary Indian society struggles to arrest moral erosion, as traditional social control mechanisms backed by shame have declined. The article argues that unless individual self-control based on a re-configurated morality emphasising shame as well as guilt is sufficiently strengthened, the present negative spiral cannot be reversed. Differences between shame culture and guilt culture are explored to identify how socialisation and education as key mechanisms for transmitting values and morality may be revamped to nurture better consciousness and moral renewal. Educational strategies would need to emphasise duties rather than rights, already reflected in constitutional guidance about Fundamental Duties in the Indian Constitution. Thus, a rational, secular approach that trusts educators to deliver value-based education in India without necessarily strengthening Hindu nationalist tendencies is suggested as a viable way forward.

scholarly journals Neural Responses of Benefiting From the Prosocial Exchange: The Effect of Helping Behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Olivo ◽  
Andrea Di Ciano ◽  
Jessica Mauro ◽  
Lucia Giudetti ◽  
Alan Pampallona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Helping Behavior ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Temporal Pole ◽  
Visual Cortices

Prosocial behavior is critical for the natural development of an individual as well as for promoting social relationships. Although this complex behavior results from gratuitous acts occurring between an agent and a recipient and a wealth of literature on prosocial behavior has investigated these actions, little is known about the effects on the recipient and the neurobiology underlying them. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify neural correlates of receiving prosocial behavior in the context of real-world experiences, with different types of action provided by the agent, including practical help and effort appreciation. Practical help was associated with increased activation in a network of regions spanning across bilateral superior temporal sulcus, temporoparietal junction, temporal pole, and medial prefrontal cortex. Effort appreciation was associated with activation and increased task-modulated connectivity of the occipital cortex. Prosocial-dependent brain responses were associated with positive affect. Our results support the role of the theory of mind network and the visual cortices in mediating the positive effects of receiving gratuitous help. Moreover, they indicate that specific types of prosocial behavior are mediated by distinct brain networks, which further demonstrates the uniqueness of the psychological processes underlying prosocial actions.

It Does Matter If You Win or Lose, and How You Play the (Video) Game

2020 ◽  
pp. 155541202091376
Author(s):  
Vanessa Hemovich
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Helping Behavior ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Primary Outcome Variable ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
Pro Social Behavior ◽  
Screen Condition

Most violent video game (VVG) research focuses on aggressive behaviors as the primary outcome variable of interest. Using pro-social behavior as the dependent variable, this study explores factors beyond VVG content as a contributing factor to player outcomes. Participants were randomly assigned to play VVG or non-VVG content with viewing screens obstructed by large pieces of paper to increase difficulty, or unobstructed. Screen condition accounted for 34.5% of the variance in pro-social behavior of helping to retrieve spilled pens. Players in obstructed viewing conditions experienced more in-game losses and engaged in significantly less helping behavior. Fewer pens were retrieved by participants in obstructed viewing conditions while playing either a VVG or non-VVG. The present study cautions against generalized assumptions that VVG content is a primary determinant of behavior and underscores the role of important contextual factors like failure and achievement loss to consider in future studies of this nature.

scholarly journals Helping in the context of refugee immigration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Echterhoff ◽  
Julia C. Becker ◽  
Judith Knausenberger ◽  
Jens H. Hellmann
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Helping Behavior ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Taking Responsibility

We review psychological approaches of helping behavior in the context of refugee immigration. Refugee migration, compared to non-refugee migration, is characterized by greater forcedness and related perils. Taking into account perceptions of forcedness and perils, we examine potential helpers’ responses at each of four successive stages towards helping people in perilous, distressing, or emergency situations: (1) noticing and recognizing distressing, help-demanding conditions, (2) taking responsibility, (3) knowing how to help, and (4) transfer of one’s knowledge into action. In so doing, we discuss the role of different motives and functions of providing help (e.g., preserving refugees’ dependency or facilitating their autonomy), and implications of unequal power relations between help providers and refugees.

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