1. Home
  2. Browse
  3. Prosocial Commitments in the Famil…
Book Part

Prosocial Commitments in the Family: Situational, Personality, and Systemic Factors

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Montada, Leo

Abstract / Description

People spend most of their time in social systems: in families, with friends, in educational and work settings, in clubs, and so forth. Therefore, most of their behaviors, including prosocial activities, occur in social contexts that differ with regard to speciic traditions, expectations, norms, possibilities, resources, problems, and restrictions. Research on helping behavior in long-term social relationships is scarce. Even though the evidence from experimental research is impressive (Bierhoff, 1990; Staub, 1980), many questions remain open. The research reported in the present chapter focused on two of these questions: (1) Little is known about whether the variables affecting prosocial behavior in experimental settings are equally important in long-term social systems. For instance, does the phenomenon of diffusing among bystanders the responsibility for helping an anonymous victim hold in situations in which the person in need and the potential helpers know each other well? It is quite possible that the meaning and the significance of experimental factors change if the interacting individuals are friends or kin. (2) Experimental research on help toward a stranger does not tell us whether or not additional variables are important factors in help among members of a social group. Various characteristics of a social system and its individuals may affect the likelihood of help being provided in case of needs, for example, formal and informal norms, the quality of the relationship among the members of a system, mutual expectations, the status of the individuals involved, and so forth. Variables of this kind can hardly be manipulated in experimental studies.

Keyword(s)

Affektive Bindung Prosoziales Verhalten Mutter Kind Familienbeziehung Mutter Tochter Pflegeperson Hauspflege Verbundenheitsgefühl Prosoziales Verhalten Familienbeziehungen Pflegepersonen Häusliche Pflege Mutter-Kind-Beziehungen Mütter Töchter Commitment; *Prosocial Behavior; *Family Relations; Caregivers; Home Care; Mother Child Relations; Mothers; Daughters

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

1991

Is part of

In: Leo Montada Hans Werner Bierhoff (Editors) Altruism in Social Systems. 1991

Citation

Download BibTex
Download as Text
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Montada, Leo
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2022-11-21T13:56:32Z
  • Made available on
    2014-06-12
  • Made available on
    2015-12-01T10:31:06Z
  • Made available on
    2022-11-21T13:56:32Z
  • Date of first publication
    1991
  • Abstract / Description
    People spend most of their time in social systems: in families, with friends, in educational and work settings, in clubs, and so forth. Therefore, most of their behaviors, including prosocial activities, occur in social contexts that differ with regard to speciic traditions, expectations, norms, possibilities, resources, problems, and restrictions. Research on helping behavior in long-term social relationships is scarce. Even though the evidence from experimental research is impressive (Bierhoff, 1990; Staub, 1980), many questions remain open. The research reported in the present chapter focused on two of these questions: (1) Little is known about whether the variables affecting prosocial behavior in experimental settings are equally important in long-term social systems. For instance, does the phenomenon of diffusing among bystanders the responsibility for helping an anonymous victim hold in situations in which the person in need and the potential helpers know each other well? It is quite possible that the meaning and the significance of experimental factors change if the interacting individuals are friends or kin. (2) Experimental research on help toward a stranger does not tell us whether or not additional variables are important factors in help among members of a social group. Various characteristics of a social system and its individuals may affect the likelihood of help being provided in case of needs, for example, formal and informal norms, the quality of the relationship among the members of a system, mutual expectations, the status of the individuals involved, and so forth. Variables of this kind can hardly be manipulated in experimental studies.
    en
  • Publication status
    unknown
  • Review status
    unknown
  • ISBN
    978-0-88937-045-6
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bsz:291-psydok-38076
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11780/762
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.10216
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Is part of
    In: Leo Montada Hans Werner Bierhoff (Editors) Altruism in Social Systems. 1991
  • Keyword(s)
    Affektive Bindung
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Prosoziales Verhalten
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Mutter Kind
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Familienbeziehung
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Mutter
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Tochter
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Pflegeperson
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Hauspflege
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Verbundenheitsgefühl
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Prosoziales Verhalten
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Familienbeziehungen
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Pflegepersonen
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Häusliche Pflege
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Mutter-Kind-Beziehungen
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Mütter
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Töchter
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Commitment; *Prosocial Behavior; *Family Relations; Caregivers; Home Care; Mother Child Relations; Mothers; Daughters
    en
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Prosocial Commitments in the Family: Situational, Personality, and Systemic Factors
    en
  • DRO type
    bookPart
  • Visible tag(s)
    PsyDok