A group-level theory of helping and altruism within and across group boundaries

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

Authors

The main objective of our chapter is to present a group-level theory of helping and altruism within and across group boundaries and to review the empirical evidence in support of its key assumptions. We derive the basic tenets of this theory from the integration of two social psychological research traditions: research and theory on group processes and intergroup relations and research into helping behaviour and altruism. A key proposition of the theoretical account presented in our chapter is that salient ingroup/outgroup distinctions play a crucial role in moderating the motivational processes underlying helping owing to their effects on self–other similarities. In a first part, we elaborate on the specific predictions concerning motivational differences in ingroup and outgroup helping. It also outlines the subtle ingroup/outgroup biases in helping that might result from these motivational differences. Moreover, we propose different factors (in the sense of interventions) that can reduce ingroup/outgroup biases in helping. In a second part of the chapter, we present empirical data from a research programme designed to test these propositions. Here, we refer to a coordinated series of studies employing a variety of research methodologies (field research, laboratory experiments) and focusing on different intergroup contexts (natural groups, artificial groups), different samples of research participants (community volunteers and students, Westerners and Muslims, helpers and recipients of help), and different forms of helping situations (volunteering versus spontaneous helping). In a final part, we (re-)address the issue of outgroup discrimination in helping, taking a closer look at the subtleties of this phenomenon and its consequences for potential recipients of help.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntergroup Helping
EditorsEsther van Leeuwen, Hanna Zagefka
Number of pages25
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Publication date17.05.2017
Pages103-127
ISBN (print)9783319530246, 978-3-319-85042-9
ISBN (electronic)9783319530260
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17.05.2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Problems in Mathematizing Systems Biology
  2. Multitrait-Multimethod Analysis
  3. Guest editorial
  4. Sustainable Development
  5. SoilTemp: A global database of near-surface temperature
  6. New product development and flawed cause-and-effect relations in strategy maps
  7. Algorithmisches Management
  8. Editorial overview
  9. Achieving consumer trust on Twitter via CSR communication
  10. How Did It Get So Late So Soon? The Effects of Time Management Knowledge and Practice on Students’ Time Management Skills and Academic Performance
  11. Applying standard network analysis to hypermedia systems
  12. Feature Extraction and Aggregation for Predicting the Euro 2016
  13. The Structure and Behavioural Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences
  14. Soziale Netzwerke im Internet
  15. Non-invariance? An Overstated Problem With Misconceived Causes
  16. Effectiveness of a Web-Based Intervention in Reducing Depression and Sickness Absence
  17. We'll get them to do anything! Funny Inventions and Marketing
  18. Trainingsqualität durch Trainingsquantität?
  19. Demarcating transdisciplinary research in sustainability science—Five clusters of research modes based on evidence from 59 research projects
  20. A scale-up procedure to dialkyl carbonates; evaluation of their properties, biodegradability, and toxicity
  21. Effect of ECAP Process on the Activation of Deformation Mechanisms During Subsequent Uniaxial Tension of Mg-ZEWK2000 Sheets
  22. Fictions of the Possible
  23. Information Extraction from Invoices
  24. Native vegetation cover thresholds associated with species responses
  25. Endemic predators, invasive prey and native diversity
  26. The informed society - Final report of SAFECOAST action 2
  27. Towards the design of organosilicon compounds for environmental degradation by using structure biodegradability relationships
  28. Local expansion concepts for detecting transport barriers in dynamical systems
  29. The First 50 Contributions to the Data Observer Series - An Overview
  30. Physicochemical properties and biodegradability of organically functionalized colloidal silica particles in aqueous environment
  31. Mapping water ecosystem services: Evaluating InVEST model predictions in data scarce regions
  32. Structure and Organization of Product Development Projects
  33. Special Issue: Habitual Action, Automaticity, and Control

Press / Media

  1. Ostern