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An Attribution-Empathy Model of Helping Behavior
Abstract
In this article, the integration of an attribution approach and an empathy approach to helping behavior is pursued, and causal relationships among variables independently studied in these two areas are investigated. The data from two experiments (on judgments of help-giving and actual help offered, respectively) strongly suggest that causal attributions and empathy induced by manipulating the subjects' perspective in approaching a helping scenario additively determine helping behavior. The proposed mediating role of perceived controllability of attributions and empathic emotions was supported. In addition, the perspective of a potential helper (empathic vs. objective) was found to influence the perception of controllability of the causal attribution for a victim's need. A structural equations model was developed and tested, integrating causal attributions, induced empathy, and empathic emotions as determinants of helping behavior.
... Alongside the role of more idiosyncratic personal aspirations in shaping prosocial behavior, we also expected that group identities would play a role in shaping in-group and out-group prosocial behavior-both directly and via their association with aspirations. Prosocial behaviors are not developed in isolation but rather are shaped and motivated by social settings, particularly by group boundaries (Betancourt, 1990;Esses & Dovidio, 2002). The current literature demonstrates that people are more likely to support their own group members over the wellbeing and interests of other group members (e.g., Dovidio et al., 1997;Maner & Gailliot, 2007;Simon et al., 2000). ...
... The current research revealed that both Iranian and Afghan group identity was positively associated with in-group prosocial behaviors. This finding aligns with prior research, which suggests that identification with one's own group fosters a willingness to assist fellow group members (Betancourt, 1990;Y. Chen & Li, 2009;Esses & Dovidio, 2002). ...
In this paper, we consider how aspirations for “who I can be” in the future could shape support for prosocial actions that benefit an ethnic out-group, relative to their own group. We suggest that aspirations are, in turn, influenced by individuals’ group memberships, which vary in their degrees of collective agency. The hypotheses were tested using data collected from Afghan youth immigrants (N = 392) and Iranian youth (N = 672), representing a relatively understudied immigrant–host context. We explored the drivers of both in-group and intergroup prosocial behaviors, and how they differed in these unique social settings. The findings indicated that in-group identification was linked to in-group but not out-group prosocial behaviors. In addition, in-group identification was associated with three components of aspirations: personal, influence, and relational. Moreover, only the relational aspiration was associated with in-group prosocial behaviors while the influence aspiration was linked to out-group prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, the study revealed that the relationships between in-group identity and all components of aspirations were fully mediated by perceived collective agency among Iranian youth, but partially among Afghan immigrants, suggesting distinct effects for disadvantaged group members. The research highlights how identities shape aspirations and behaviors for a better world.
... For example, individuals who report greater sensitivity to others' feelings, emotional responsiveness, and a tendency to be moved by others' positive and negative emotional experiences, tend to be better at accurately assessing emotions in facial expressions (Martin et al., 1996), suggesting that affective empathy is positively associated with emotional facial recognition (but see Holland et al., 2021). Similarly, the intention to help others has been argued to increase with empathy when operationalized as perspective-taking (Betancourt, 1990) or emotion experiencing (Lockwood et al., 2014) but some work has also found that these effects are related to self-concept clarity which predicts empathic responses (Krol & Bartz, 2022). ...
Past research on the use of motivational voice (or motivational prosody) has found that the way we modulate acoustic cues when we speak can have profound effects on others. However, it is unclear whether the effects also hold for other forms of social communication, such as emotional tone of voice, and what role empathy plays. Across three experiments (two preregistered), we found very large effects indicating that listening to an angry vs. happy voice reduced positive affect in participants, lowered their self-esteem, and eroded their intention to disclose information. These effects were mediated by perceived effort to interact with the speaker, feelings of discomfort, and norm violation, which were higher for an angry voice than for a happy one. Importantly, the effects were, as predicted, stronger for participants scoring high in cognitive empathy and especially affective resonance: More empathic people reported even lower positive affect, self-esteem, and intention to disclose information after listening to the angry vs. happy sounding speaker. This suggests that empathic people are more strongly affected by the tone of voice, even if emotions are only conveyed through vocal tone, without face-to-face interaction. Our findings help to advance related research areas and have important implications for clinical and organizational settings.
... When bystanders attribute the mistreatment to internal factors, they may perceive the target as partially or fully responsible for their negative treatment (Hellemans et al., 2017). This internal attribution reduces empathy and makes bystanders less likely to intervene, as they may believe the mistreatment is a logical or justified consequence of the target's behavior (Betancourt, 1990). Additionally, attributing mistreatment to internal factors allows co-workers to maintain a psychological distance from the situation, reducing their sense of responsibility to act (Kim & Kim, 2023). ...
Interpersonal workplace mistreatment (IWM) is a pervasive issue with varied co-worker reactions. Despite significant growth in IWM research, understanding co-workers’ responses remains challenging due to scattered research streams and a focus on isolated components. Therefore, this integrative review synthesizes the existing literature to examine when and how co-workers respond to IWM. We identify key factors influencing both the intention and actual behavior of co-workers when initially witnessing IWM. These factors are categorized into eight overarching individual (perceived responsibility, emotion and affect, personal characteristics) and contextual themes (social relationships, risks and costs considerations, workplace characteristics, target characteristics, characteristics of the perpetrator and the act of IWM). By integrating these factors into a comprehensive framework drawing on dual processing accounts, we highlight the complex interplay between cognitive and affective processes in shaping co-worker responses. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for designing effective intervention programs that encourage co-workers to counteract IWM. Our findings offer valuable theoretical insights and practical implications for fostering a more supportive and just workplace environment.
... For example, individuals who report greater sensitivity to others' feelings, emotional responsiveness, and a tendency to be moved by others' positive and negative emotional experiences, tend to be better at accurately assessing emotions in facial expressions (Martin et al., 1996), suggesting that affective empathy is positively associated with emotional facial recognition (but see Holland et al., 2021). Similarly, the intention to help others has been argued to increase with empathy when operationalized as perspective-taking (Betancourt, 1990) or emotion experiencing (Lockwood et al., 2014) but some work has also found that these effects are related to self-concept clarity which predicts empathic responses (Krol & Bartz, 2022). ...
Past research on the use of motivational voice (or motivational prosody) has found that the way we modulate acoustic cues when we speak can have profound effects on others. However, it is unclear whether the effects hold for other forms of social communication, such as emotional tone of voice, and what role empathy plays. Across three experiments (two pre-registered), we found very large effects indicating that listening to an angry (versus happy) voice reduced positive affect in participants, lowered their self-esteem, and eroded their intention to disclose information. These effects were mediated by perceived effort to interact with the speaker, feelings of discomfort, and norm violation, which were higher for an angry voice than for a happy one. Importantly, the effects were, as predicted, stronger for participants scoring high in cognitive empathy and especially affective resonance: More empathic people reported even lower positive affect, self-esteem, and intention to disclose information after listening to the angry (versus happy) sounding speaker. This suggests that empathic people are more strongly affected by the tone of voice, even if emotions are only communicated online. Our findings help to advance related research areas and have important implications for clinical and organisational settings.
... Empathy is thought to incorporate both empathic emotions (e.g., sympathy, anger) or 'state empathy', as well as the cognitive adoption of another's perspective, sometimes referred to as 'trait empathy' (Betancourt, 1990). Empathy has long been linked with mental health stigmafor example, lower 'trait empathy' has been reported to be associated with greater prejudice against people experiencing depression and 'nondescript mental illness' (Foster et al., 2018). ...
Depression is among the most prevalent mental health issues affecting adolescents. Parents may play an important role in identifying warning signs of depression and providing support. However, little is known about how parents understand and respond to the early signs of adolescent depression, or their depression literacy (DL). The factors associated with their DL are also unclear. This questionnaire-based study aimed to explore DL in a sample of primary caregivers (n = 321, Mage = 46.2 years, 76% female) of 12–18-year-old adolescents living in the Republic of Ireland, through responses to a vignette depicting a character displaying symptoms of depression. Two-thirds (66.7%) attributed the character’s symptoms to depression, while 92.2% believed the character needed help. One third (34.6%) believed asking the adolescent about suicide would be harmful. Only parent empathy significantly predicted labelling the symptoms as ‘depression’. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant differences identified based on parents’ gender, their child’s gender, or their child’s age. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the link between empathy and DL in parents, and may inform targeted interventions to improve DL.
... political) reasons to their country (Bansak et al., 2016;Ditlmann et al., 2016). Second, it has been found that majority residents are more willing to help someone in apparent need for help with little personal control over the situation (Betancourt, 1990; see Reisenzein, 1986). Thus, a refugee's perceived personal (internal) control, which we expect to vary by flight reason, should predict the willingness to accept and to help this refugee. ...
Migrants who flee their home country for economic (vs. political) reasons often elicit more negative responses in receiving countries. We examined psychological processes underlying this flight‐reason bias, focusing on majority residents’ perceptions of migration circumstances and their emotional responses. In three preregistered studies (total N = 1394), participants read texts about an individual refugee (Studies 1 and 2) or groups of refugees (Study 3) who fled because of economic versus political reasons. Overall, participants perceived migration as less forced in the economic‐flight reason condition. Economic (vs. political) flight reasons also elicited less willingness to accept refugees. Additional analyses suggest that the flight‐reason bias was driven by greater perceived control of refugees over emigration (for perceived forcedness), by lower empathy (for willingness to accept refugees) and by lower perceived pre‐migration perils (for both outcomes) in the economic‐flight reason conditions. We discuss implications for political and humanitarian issues surrounding refugee immigration and integration.
... Empathy has traditionally been conceptualized to encompass both 'state' or situational affective experiences (such as sympathy and anger) in response to specific scenarios, as well 'trait' cognitive abilities to comprehend others' emotions more generally [39,40]. Empathy's role in influencing helping behaviour has been linked with attributions of low perceived controllability, low anger, and high sympathy [41]. In one Irish study with 14-to 17-year-old adolescents, high sympathy, low anger, and low perceived controllability of symptoms predicted greater acceptance of a hypothetical peer with depression [42], however 'trait' empathy and help-giving responses were not assessed. ...
This questionnaire-based study aimed to explore depression literacy (DL) and help-giving experiences in 12–18-year-old adolescents (N = 535, Mage = 14.9 years, 51.8% male) in Ireland. In response to a vignette depicting a character displaying symptoms of depression, 46.7% labelled these symptoms ‘depression’, with increasing age and empathy associated with increased likelihood of labelling as such. Almost all (92.1%) believed the character needed help, but the perceived helpfulness of potential responses varied. Over one-third (38.2%) indicated they knew someone who had displayed similar symptoms in the past year, with 85.2% of these reporting having helped this person. Reported help-giving responses included comforting the person, encouraging professional help-seeking, and informing an adult. The findings suggest adolescent DL can be best supported by developmentally-sensitive interventions that encourage empathy and the importance of engaging adults’ assistance.
This theoretical article summarizes the various psychological and motivational processes that underlie prosocial decision-making. To this aim, we propose a novel way to organize and synthesize research related to emotions, thoughts, and beliefs (i.e., psychological mechanisms) that motivate or demotivate human prosociality. This is done with a new typology including four overarching interrelated categories, each encompassing multiple subcategories: (a) emotions; (b) moral principles; (c) anticipated impact; and (d) anticipated personal consequences. We highlight differences and commonalities to other influential frameworks and showcase how the proposed typology can help researchers and practitioners better differentiate and understand the diverse psychological mechanisms that underlie human prosociality.
Introduction: While empathy is generally regarded as a positive trait, the emergence of empathic anger among nurses can have adverse effects on their mental well-being and, more importantly, on their tendency for violence. Aim: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between empathic anger and violence tendencies in nurses. Method: The study was carried out as a cross-sectional study. This study was conducted on 348 nurses who agreed to participate in the research working in a hospital in Erzurum, Turkey. The study data were collected with a personal information form, empathic anger scale, and violence tendency scale. The research data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 22.0). The analyses included the Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, as well as descriptive statistics such as frequency percentages, means, standard deviations, medians, percentiles, maximum and minimum values. Additionally, One-Way ANOVA and independent samples t-tests were employed. Results: It was found that the mean Emphatic Anger Scale scores score of the nurses included in the study was 23.20 ± 5.66, and the Violence Tendencies Scale score was 44.35 ± 11.01. It was found that there was a positive, statistically significant relationship between the Emphatic Anger Scale scores and Violence Tendencies Scale mean scores of the nurses (p < 0.001). Regression analysis shows that the Empathic Anger Scale has a significant and positive effect on violent tendencies (B = 0.601, p < 0.0001 ). Conclusion: It was determined that the nurses' empathic anger and violence tendencies levels were above the average. As a result, it shows that empathic anger in nurses has a significant and positive effect on violent tendencies . In addition, it was determined that as the empathic anger levels of the nurses increased, their level of violence tendencies also increased. Keywords: Angry; empathic; nurse; tendencies; violence.
Witnesses of moral violations stand up for their moral principles, despite facing substantial costs for intervening. Notwithstanding its importance, little is known whether responsibility attributions and the relation between the victim and a witness (i.e., kinship) have different effects on the intention to intervene in situations of different severity (e.g., moral courage situations). We predict an interaction between the situation’s severity and the victims’ responsibility for their plight. In less-severe situations, witnesses would be less willing to help when they perceive the victim to be responsible for their plight. However, those who are not seen as responsible would receive more help. For more-severe situations, responsibility is predicted to have no effect. Opposite effects are predicted for the relationship between the helper and the victim. We further predict that perceived costs for helping mediates witnesses’ willingness to intervene. Two studies showed that people are more willing to help individuals who are perceived as being innocent, but only in less-severe situations. In more-severe situations, people’s willingness to intervene increases, regardless of responsibility attributions. We did not observe effects for kinship. Moreover, we provide partial evidence that witnesses of more-severe situations indeed accept higher costs for intervention.
This investigation examined the perceived properties of causal attributions for success and failure and their consequences. Eight attributions or perceived reasons for success and failure, such as ability, effort, and luck, were rated by Chilean and U.S. samples for three causal properties—locus (internal versus external), stability (endurance over time), and controllability (degree to which the person can volitionally alter the cause). The ratings between the two cultures were quite similar and in accordance with attribution theory classifications, although Chilean subjects perceived the external causes as more external, the stable causes as less stable, and the controllable causes as less controllable than did subjects from the United States. In addition, predicted relations between causal stability-expectancy of success and controllability evaluation and liking were also generally confirmed in both cultures. Results were discussed in terms of the generality versus cultural specificity of attributional principles in the achievement domain.
For a long time I have had the gnawing desire to convey the broad motivational sig nificance of the attributional conception that I have espoused and to present fully the argument that this framework has earned a rightful place alongside other leading theories of motivation. Furthermore, recent investigations have yielded insights into the attributional determinants of affect, thus providing the impetus to embark upon a detailed discussion of emotion and to elucidate the relation between emotion and motivation from an attributional perspective. The presentation of a unified theory of motivation and emotion is the goal of this book. My more specific aims in the chapters to follow are to: 1) Outline the basic princi ples that I believe characterize an adequate theory of motivation; 2) Convey what I perceive to be the conceptual contributions of the perspective advocated by my col leagues and me; 3) Summarize the empirical relations, reach some definitive con clusions, and point out the more equivocal empirical associations based on hypotheses derived from our particular attribution theory; and 4) Clarify questions that have been raised about this conception and provide new material for still further scrutiny. In so doing, the building blocks (if any) laid down by the attributional con ception will be readily identified and unknown juries of present and future peers can then better determine the value of this scientific product."
Proposed that a distinction be made between 2 emotional responses to seeing another person suffer—personal distress and empathy—and that these 2 emotions lead to 2 different kinds of motivation to help: Personal distress leads to egoistic motivation; empathy, to altruistic motivation. These distinctions were tested in 3 studies, each using 10 male and 10 female undergraduates. Across the 3 studies, factor analysis of Ss' self-reported emotional response indicated that feelings of personal distress and empathy, although positively correlated, were experienced as qualitatively distinct. The pattern of helping in Studies 1 and 2 indicated that a predominance of personal distress led to egoistic motivation, whereas a predominance of empathy led to altruistic motivation. In Study 3, the cost of helping was made especially high. Results suggest an important qualification on the link between empathic emotion and altruistic motivation: Ss reporting a predominance of empathy displayed an egoistic pattern of helping. Apparently, making helping costly evoked self-concern, which overrode any altruistic impulse produced by feeling empathy. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
84 female undergraduates were exposed to a person in distress and instructed either to observe the victim's reactions (low empathy) or to imagine the victim's feelings (high empathy). This empathy manipulation was crossed with a manipulation of ease of escape without helping (easy vs difficult) to form a 2 × 2 design. As predicted by the empathy-altruism hypothesis, Ss in the low-empathy condition helped less when escape was easy than when it was difficult. This suggests that their helping was directed toward the egoistic goal of reducing their own distress. Ss in the high-empathy condition, however, displayed a high rate of helping, even when escape was easy. This suggests that their helping was directed toward the altruistic goal of reducing the distress of the person in need. Analyses of Ss' self-reported emotional response provided additional support for the hypothesis that feeling a predominance of empathy rather than distress on witnessing someone in need can evoke altruistic motivation. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the relations of causal attributions and affect to judgments of help-giving in a total of 280 undergraduates in 6 experiments. The influence of 3 dimensions of causality (locus, stability, and control) on judgments concerning the lending of class notes was evaluated. Ratings of help were lowest when the cause of the need was internal to the actor and controllable (e.g., lack of effort). It is suggested that ascriptions to internal controllable factors maximized negative affect (disgust and anger) and promoted avoidance behavior. However, attributions to uncontrollable factors (e.g., ability or teacher shortcomings) were anticipated to generate positive affect (sympathy) and give rise to approach behavior (help). These hypotheses and an attributional model of helping were investigated using a simulational judgment paradigm with both correlational and experimental designs and scenarios describing a drunk or a disabled individual in need of aid. ANOVA indicated the existence of a temporal sequence of attribution-affect-action in which attributions guide feelings, but emotional reactions provide the motor and direction for behavior. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested 2 aspects of the J. A. Piliavin and I. M. Piliavin model of bystander behavior in emergencies. Ss were New York City subway riders ranging in age from 6-72 yrs. A total of 166 trials were run at all hrs of the day. The average number of persons in the car when the victim fell was 11.5. 2 manipulations of personal costs to the helper were predicted to affect speed and likelihood of helping. One, placement of the emergency in the middle (low cost) or at the end (high cost) of a subway run, was ineffective. The other, presence (high cost) or absence (low cost) of a "port wine stain" birthmark on the face of the man who collapsed, had a strong effect. Then, in a test of a specification of the diffusion of responsibility effect, it was predicted and found that only in a demonstrated high-cost situation was less help given if an intern was present than if he was not. A very large serendipitous effect of victims' natural appearance on the rendering of help was also found. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested the hypothesis that empathy leads to altruistic rather than egoistic motivation to help. 44 female college students watched another female undergraduate receive electric shocks and were then given a chance to help her by taking the remaining shocks themselves. In each of 2 experiments, Ss' empathic emotion (low vs high) and their ease of escape from continuing to watch the victim suffer if they did not help (easy vs difficult) were manipulated in a 2 × 2 design. It was reasoned that if empathy led to altruistic motivation, Ss feeling a high degree of empathy for the victim should be as ready to help when escape without helping was easy as when it was difficult. But if empathy led to egoistic motivation, Ss feeling empathy should be more ready to help when escape was difficult than when it was easy. Results followed the former pattern when empathy was high and the latter pattern when empathy was low, supporting the hypothesis that empathy leads to altruistic rather than egoistic motivation to help. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated the influence of outcome-related affect on subsequent causal attributions. After working on a social skills test, 66 male college students engaged in physical exercise. Ss were given success or failure feedback on the test 1, 5, or 9 min after the exercise. Excitation transfer theory suggests that the residual arousal from the exercise in the 5-min condition would elevate the positive and negative affective states elicited by success–failure feedback. Thus, increased attributional egotism in the 5-min condition was predicted. Findings show that Ss preferred internal factors to explain success, whereas external factors were blamed for failure. Ego-defensive attributions following failure and ego-enhancing attributions following success were more pronounced in the 5-min condition than in the other conditions. Results support the idea that outcome-related affect mediates egotistical performance attributions. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Factor analysis, path analysis, structural equation modeling, and related multivariate statistical methods are based on maximum likelihood or generalized least squares estimation developed for covariance structure models (CSMs). Large-sample theory provides a chi-square goodness-of-fit test for comparing a model (M) against a general alternative M based on correlated variables. It is suggested that this comparison is insufficient for M evaluation. A general null M based on modified independence among variables is proposed as an additional reference point for the statistical and scientific evaluation of CSMs. Use of the null M in the context of a procedure that sequentially evaluates the statistical necessity of various sets of parameters places statistical methods in covariance structure analysis into a more complete framework. The concepts of ideal Ms and pseudo chi-square tests are introduced, and their roles in hypothesis testing are developed. The importance of supplementing statistical evaluation with incremental fit indices associated with the comparison of hierarchical Ms is also emphasized. Normed and nonnormed fit indices are developed and illustrated. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Proposed that a distinction be made between 2 emotional responses to seeing another person suffer--personal distress and empathy--and that these 2 emotions lead to 2 different kinds of motivation to help: Personal distress leads to egoistic motivation; empathy, to altruistic motivation. These distinctions were tested in 3 studies, each using 10 male and 10 female undergraduates. Across the 3 studies, factor analysis of Ss' self-reported emotional response indicated that feelings of personal distress and empathy, although positively correlated, were experienced as qualitatively distinct. The pattern of helping in Studies 1 and 2 indicated that a predominance of personal distress led to egoistic motivation, whereas a predominance of empathy led to altruistic motivation. In Study 3, the cost of helping was made especially high. Results suggest an important qualification on the link between empathic emotion and altruistic motivation: Ss reporting a predominance of empathy displayed an egoistic pattern of helping. Apparently, making helping costly evoked self-concern, which overrode any altruistic impulse produced by feeling empathy. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).