How Can Social Learning Theory Be Used To Increase Pro-Social Bystander Behaviour?

Both events had thirty-eight witnesses. None of these bystanders intervened, meaning the murder could have been prevented in both cases, had they not been examples of the bystander effect.

Humans are prenatally motivated to help those around us due to its evolutionary benefits that our species has a better chance of survival if all cooperate. Humans can also be nurtured to exhibit altruistic behavior through good parenting. Although most of the population agrees that altruism benefits society, scientific research has shown that even those who believe they are altruistic are not when they are put in situations which calls for selfless behavior. One phenomena that refutes the claim that most of the population strives for selfless behavior is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is when a person feels less responsible for doing selfless acts when they are in an environment of a group of

Imagine the impact of helping someone when they need it. When you help someone, it can make someone’s day, or make them want to help someone else, including you. Because of this, not only you feel better but others will want to help you to. Characters who help someone will receive a benefit, even if they do not know it at the start. In the novel, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, Santiago learns, “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.” First, good came after bad. Next, Santiago helps people who eventually help him. Last, important lessons make Santiago become a better person.

What became evident in my life, were the snowball effect consequences that come with making good or bad choices. Due to this, I arrived to the realization that helping others is principal for all to do. In my opinion, helping others is like guiding and counseling them consciously like a counselor. When family would support me with a difficult situation, I was advised and able to transcend. Everyone will

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory describes the process through which people acquire new info, forms of behavior, or attitudes from others firsthand or vicariously. The likelihood of a behavior presenting itself will rely on the amount of reinforcement it receives and the value that the individual associates to it. While some behavior may be rewarded, others may produce unfavorable responses. An individual will learn from the consequences of these actions and when a similar situation arises, they will alter their behavior according to what was most successful in the past.

different times) act as if they were is a lot of pain or a drunk. The test was to see how long it took

Social learning theory, developed by Bandura, discusses how people learn from one another through observation, modeling, and imitation bridging an individual’s attention, memory and motivation. Social learning theory identifies the importance of cognition, observable behavior, individual self-efficacy, and the extent of how the events surrounding an individual affect them; their locus of control. Social learning theory also looks at individual problem behavior being influenced by positive or negative reinforcement (Ashford & LeCroy, 2012).

Pro-social behaviour can be defined as 'any actions that benefit another regardless of the benefits or self-sacrifices of the actor' (Wispe 1972, as cited in Collins 2004). A subcategory of pro-social behaviour is helping behaviour, which can be defined as an intentional behaviour or act that benefits another human being. There are many factors that can facilitate or impede helping behaviour and it is important to recognise the situations in which this may occur.

Since elementary schools, kids have been taught about the importance of helping others. Flashy catchphrases like, “If you see something, say something!” have made appearances in schools all across the country. However, when the time comes for standing up for others, many find themselves turning away from the situation. All individuals have a responsibility to intervene on the behalf of others and a moral obligation to help those in need.

The bystander effect is an age-old social practice that has existed outside of our social culture, and yet makes up so much of it. Inspiring shows like What Would You Do?, and teaching lessons of love and respect in several monotheistic religions across the globe, the bystander effect is as relevant as ever. The conflicting social rules we are raised with- to help others, and to also not make a scene in public- clash in this everyday dilemma. The bystander effect doesn’t necessarily brand people “good” or “bad”, but shows the power of mass influence and our instinctive herd-like behaviors our species still carries with us today.

The bystander effect is both a social and psychological phenomenon in which an individual’s inclination towards showing helping behaviours are minimised by the influence of other people. Research has found that the more people acting as bystanders in a situation, the less likely it is that helping behaviours will be demonstrated. However in the correct conditions, where conditioned cues increase self-awareness, it is possible to reverse the bystander effect phenomenon. The bystander effect is prevalent in everyday life, and often decorates the news, shocking the world, especially when authority figures such as police men and women succumb to the effect. Diffusion of responsibility, ignorance of others interpretation of an event and self-consciousness are all social processes which appear to lead to social inhibition of helping behaviours and one of the main theories of the bystander effect is provided Latané and Darley (1970) whose cognitive model provides a series of decisions that can lead to social inhibition. The bystander effect is influenced by the conditions an individual is in when an event occurs, for example the bystander effect appears to be most dominant when an individual is in a group of strangers with low group cohesiveness. FINISH

Social learning theory is a general theory which takes into account cultural, social, and non-social factors to explain crime and deviance. There has been much support for this theory including cross-culturally, smoking among teens in Iowa stud, Akers test with Drinking of the elderly, cheating with college students, adolescent and drug/alcohol abuse with Boys Town study, and more. Social learning theory states that it social learning shapes a person self-control, so growing up a person that learns from non-deviant peers and family members will learn to have high self-control. This theory focuses on four different concepts to explain crime and deviance.

In this essay, I will try to evaluate Social learning theory as originated by Albert Bandura. I am going to use three pieces of evidence, in a form of case studies, which have been done previously to support or contradict Bandura’s theory. I will demonstrate my knowledge of these studies throughout their analysis, trying to highlight their strengths and limitations.

Akers and Sellers (2013) has stated that social learning theory is an expanded theory of differential association processes and improves it with differential reinforcement and other principles of the behavior theory. They added classical conditioning (the sharpening of involuntary reflex behavior); discriminative stimuli (internal stimuli that lead to signals for behavior); schedules of reinforcement (rewards and punishment ratio following behavioral feedback); and other theories of behavior (Akers & Sellers, 2013).

According to Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (2013) prosocial behavior is defined as an act performed for the benefit of another person. Altruism is referred to as the want to help another individual even if it means no benefits, or possibly a cost, for the helper (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2013). One particular factor, the bystander effect, has a profound impact on whether or not people help others. The bystander effect states that as the number of people who witness an emergency increases, the likelihood that any of those people will help decreases (Aronson et al., 2013). Processes associated with the bystander effect such as pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility, and victim effect all impact the likelihood of prosocial