Self-Focus,Helping Request Salience,Felt Responsibility,and Helping Behavior

Abstract

The present study represents a further investigation of the apparently complex relationship between self-focus and helping behavior. We propose that the relationship between self-focus and helping is mediated by felt responsibility. Increasing self-focus will increase helping behavior provided that it also leads to increased felt responsibility for the distressed other. We also suggest that salience of the helping request, in part, determines whether or not increased self-focus leads to increased felt responsibility and, thus, helping. Specifically, we predicted that under conditions of high helping request salience, increasing self-focus should lead to increased felt responsibility for the welfare of the distressed other and, thus, willingness to help. Under conditions of low helping request salience, increasing self-focus should not lead to increased felt responsibility or helping. The data supported our predictions. Implications of these findings for recent research (Rogers, Miller, Mayer, & Duval, 1982; Gibbons & Wicklund, 1982; Duval, Duval, & Neely, 1979; Wegner & Schaefer, 1978) relating self-focus to helping is also discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bar-Tal, D. (1976). Prosocial behavior: Theory and research. New York: Halsted.

Berkowitz, L. (1972). Social norms, feelings, and other factors affecting helping and altruism. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6). New York: Academic Press.

Duval, S. , Duval, V. H. , & Neely, R. (1979). Self-focus, felt responsibility, and helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1769-1778.

Duval, S. , & Hensley, V. (1976). Extensions of objective self-awareness theory: The focus of attention-causal attribution hypothesis. In J. H. Harvey , W. J. Ickes , & R. F. Kidd (Eds.), New directions in attribution research (Vol. 1). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Duval, S. , & Siegel, K. N. (1978). Some determinants of objective self-awareness: Quantitative novelty. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.

Geer, J. H. , & Jarmecky, L. (1973). The effect of being responsible for reducing another's pain on subjects' response and arousal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 232-237.

Geller, V. , & Shaver, P. (1976). Cognitive consequences of self-awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 12, 99-108.

Gibbons, F. X. , & Wicklund, R. A. (1982). Self-focused attention and helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 462-474.

Latane, B. , & Darley, J. M. (1970). The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn't he help? New York: Appleton.

10.

Mayer, F. S. , Duval, S. , Holtz, R. , & Bowman, C. (1981). Novelty of a personal characteristic and objective self-awareness. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.

11.

Rogers, M. , Miller, N. , Mayer, F. S. , & Duval, S. (1982). Personal responsibility and salience of the request for help: Determinants of the relation between negative affect and helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 956-970.

12.

Schwartz, S. H. (1973). Normative explanations of helping behavior: A critique, proposal, and empirical test. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 9, 349-364.

13.

Schwartz, S. H. (1977). Normative influences on altruism. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 10). New York: Academic Press.

14.

Schwartz, S. H. , & Clausen, G. T. (1970). Responsibility, norms, and helping in an emergency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 299-310.

15.

Tilker, H. A. (1970). Socially responsible behavior as a function of observer responsibility and victim feedback. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 14, 95-100.

16.

Velten, E. A. (1967). The induction of elation and depression through the reading of structured sets of mood-statements. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

17.

Wegner, D. M. , & Schaefer, D. (1978). The concentration of responsibility: An objective self-awareness analysis of group size effects in helping situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 147-155.