Question: Written Assignment

Written assignment requirements:

• At least 2 full pages long (text fills 80% or more of second page)

• 1 inch margins, 12 point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced

• Do not include the thought question prompts but please mark your answers with the corresponding numbers for each question (1, 2, 3, etc.)

• Avoid unnecessary space in your header or between paragraphs

1. Have you ever gotten a fundraising appeal from a charity that included a little gift, such as address labels with your name? If so, did the gift make you more inclined to donate money to the charity? If so, you were subject to the reciprocity norm; because the charity did something for you, you felt more obligated to do something for the charity. Can you think of times when the reciprocity norm influenced how likely you were to donate money to a charity, buy a consumer product, or help a friend? Describe a specific example, discuss how the reciprocity norm influenced your behavior, and why you think that was.

2. I hope it never happens, but suppose you are injured in an accident in a public place and need help. Based on what you have learned in this chapter, how could you make sure that someone comes to your aid as soon as possible? Hint: As you saw in the section on the bystander effect, the trick is to make sure people notice that you need help, interpret it as an emergency, and assume that they (and not someone else) is responsible for helping. What specific steps could you take to make this happen?

3. Describe the most recent situation in which you were helpful to someone in need. Which of the factors discussed in the text (guilt, sympathy, reward, a good mood, a bad mood, empathy) probably affected your behavior?

4. Provide a personal example of an event in which your reaction to being helped was negative. Why do you think it was negative? For example, equity theory and reactance theory predict that the reaction to helping will sometimes be negative. Equity theory asserts that individuals desire to maintain equity in their relationships, receiving a level of benefits they feel entitled to, and feel discomfort when a relationship becomes inequitable. Reactance theory asserts that any perceived loss of freedom results in a negative psychological state (reactance), which motivates people to restore their lost freedom. The threat-to-self-esteem model purports that a recipient perceives aid as either self-threatening or self-supporting. Simply put, a negative response to aid is likely when the aid contains a negative self-message for the recipient, conflicts with the recipient's values, or is not effective.