Prosocial Behavior: Personality Characteristics
( Discussion Questions)


(Source: Lord, 1997)

Oliner & Oliner: "The altruistic personality: Concern into action"

1. Describe the motivation, cognitions, and emotions of people who helped for the following reasons:

A. Empathetic orientation
B. Normocentric orientation
C. Principles orientation

2. Some rescuers intervened because of an internalized principle of care (i.e., the obligation to help the needy). How can this motivation be distinguished from helping that is due to an empathetic orientation?

3. Comment on the changes in individual orientation over time as the person continued to help others.

4. To what extent can the prosocial theories covered in class account for the results?

5. Much of the prosocial research has failed to find consistent personality characteristics that predict helping across all types of situations. Variables associated with greater helping in some contexts include:

A. High self-efficacy
B. High independence
C. Empathetic orientation
D. Collectivistic orientation
E. Extroversion
F. High openness to experience
G. High agreeableness

Simon et al.: "Helping individuals or group members? The role of individual and collective identification in AIDS volunteerism"


1. Summarize the major findings.

2. To what extent can the prosocial theories covered in class account for the results?

3. How can the results of this study be used in campaigns to enlist more volunteers?

4. Increasingly, HIV/AIDS has become a disease that affects substantial numbers of heterosexuals. How might the results be different were the study to be conducted ten years from now?

5. How well did the authors address the limitations of the study?