Extensions of the Earlier Research

While research continues in all these areas, other questions also attract interest.
Studies of people’s responses to others’ physical distress have been
extended by research on how people respond to someone in psychological
distress. Similarly, researchers have extended their interests in the potential
helper to examine how the person in need of help is affected by seeking and
receiving it.

Also important in understanding helping behavior has been the study of
personality and how individuals differ in their tendency to help. Some of
this work is related to research on norms, in that it looks at whether people
develop a personal set of rules or standards which govern their helping behavior.
Another approach, adopted by Margaret Clark and Judson Mills, has
looked at how the relationship between the help requester and the help
giver influences helpfulness. Research on helping now incorporates many
different influences on the helping process, from individual to social to developmental
factors. In the process, the applicability of the research findings
has grown and has given rise to a broader understanding of the types of
helping behavior that may occur, when they may occur, who might engage
in them, and why.

Sources for Further Study
Batson, Charles Daniel. The Altruism Question: Toward a Social-Psychological
Answer. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1991. Discusses altruism and
empathy from a social psychological perspective and addresses the debate
about whether or not altruism is merely self-serving egoism. Also discusses
altruistic motivation and personality. Batson is highly regarded for
his many experimental studies of helping behavior.
Blumenthal, David R. The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Lessons from the
Shoah and Jewish Tradition. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University
Press, 1999. The author is a theologian who reviews social, psychological,
child developmental, and personality research in the presentation of his
ideas regarding the ordinariness of good and evil. The book is a study of
the behavior, character, and motivation of people who rescued or protected
Jews in Nazi Europe. The commentary on what it means to be a
moral human is often moving. This book is especially important in light
of the Christian bias in much of the helping and prosocial research literature.
Very highly recommended.

Clark, Margaret S., ed. Prosocial Behavior. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications,
1991. Focuses on the broad area of positive social behaviors and
therefore includes discussions of altruism as well as chapters on helping.
Two chapters deal with the development of prosocial behavior. Also noteworthy
is a chapter that covers aspects of help-seeking behavior. A chapter
on moods and one on the arousal cost-reward model are included as
well.

Derlega, Valerian J., and Janusz Grzelak, eds. Cooperation and Helping Behavior:
Theories and Research. New York: Academic Press, 1982. The first chapter
provides a nontechnical discussion of the similarities and differences
between the related issues of helping and cooperation, while also serving
as an introduction to later chapters. Chapters on helping discuss the
arousal cost-reward model and extend the model to show how help seekers
may be influenced by cost/reward considerations.
Oliner, Pearl M., and Samuel P. Oliner. Toward a Caring Society: Ideas into Action.
Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995. The Oliners are social scientists affiliated
with the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute.
They offer guidelines for promoting caring behavior in families, in
schools, at work, and in religious organizations based on careful consideration
of a variety of sources, including the literature on altruism, helping,
and prosocial behavior. They present caring, or the assumption of
responsibility for the welfare of others, as a way to redress an overly individualistic
and materialistic culture. Many poignant and inspiring narrative
excerpts are included.

Rushton, J. Philippe, and Richard M. Sorrentino, eds. Altruism and Helping
Behavior: Social, Personality, and Developmental Perspectives. Hillsdale, N.J.:
Lawrence Erlbaum, 1981. Covers, as the title implies, three main areas.
Under developmental issues, varied topics such as the influence of television and the role of genetics (sociobiology) are covered. Also includes a
discussion of moods and a model of how norms may influence helping.
Schroeder, David A., Louis A. Penner, John F. Dovidio, and Jane A. Piliavin.
The Psychology of Helping and Altruism: Problems and Puzzles. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1995. Good review of the research literature. Includes discussions
of the relationships among biology, personality, and social learning
as they relate to prosocial behavior. The reciprocity involved in seeking
and giving help is also discussed. The book is intended for upper-level
undergraduate and graduate students.

Staub, Ervin, Daniel Bar-Tal, Jerzy Karylowski, and Janusz Reykowski, eds.
Development and Maintenance of Prosocial Behavior: International Perspectives
on Positive Morality. New York: Plenum Press, 1984. This set of twenty-four
chapters from various researchers focuses not only on helping but also on
other positive behaviors such as cooperation, generosity, and kindness.
Covers a range of topics, from developmental aspects of prosocial behavior
to the effects of help seeking and help receiving to applications of
knowledge about helping behavior. A unique aspect of this book is its
consideration of research done in many different countries.
Tiffany A. Ito and Norman Miller; updated by Tanja Bekhuis
See also: Aggression; Crowd Behavior; Moral Development.