Abstract
Helping often occurs in a broader social context. Every day, people observe others who require help, but also others who provide help. Research on goal contagion suggests that observing other people’s goal-directed behavior (like helping) activates the same goal in the observer. Thus, merely observing a prosocial act could inspire people to act on the same goal. This effect should be even stronger, the more the observer’s disposition makes him or her value the goal. In the case of prosocial goals, we looked at the observer’s social value orientation (SVO) as a moderator of the process. In three studies (N = 126, N = 162, and N = 371), we tested the hypothesis that prosocial observations (vs. control) will trigger more subsequent casual prosocial behavior the more the observer is prosocially oriented. In line with the original research, we used texts as stimulus material in Study 1 and short video clips in Study 2 and 3. In Study 1 and 2, SVO was measured directly before the manipulation was induced and in Study 3 even a week prior to the actual experiment. Additionally, we included a second control condition video clip in Study 3, which did not depict human beings. Despite thoroughly developed stimulus material and methods, we found no support for an effect of the interaction, nor of the prosocial observation, but some support for an effect of SVO on casual helping behavior in Study 1 and 2. A mini meta-analysis revealed an effect equivalent to zero for goal contagion and a small, but robust SVO effect across studies. The main implication for the theory of goal contagion is that prosocial goals might not be as contagious as other goals addressed in the literature. We suggest a meta-analytic review of the literature to identify suitable goals and moderators for the goal contagion process.
Highlights
Human beings are inherently social animals, as they constantly interact with each other and influence each other’s lives in many ways (Dijksterhuis, 2005)
A prerequisite for those institutions to work on the societal level are functional and positive interpersonal relations built on trust and cooperation among individuals (Cook, 2001; Newton et al, 2018)
Thereby, we focus on casual prosocial behavior that could be understood as voluntary helping and assisting in situations where neither the benefits of receiving help nor the costs of providing help are very high
Summary
Human beings are inherently social animals, as they constantly interact with each other and influence each other’s lives in many ways (Dijksterhuis, 2005). Prosocial behavior is essential to both the society and interpersonal relations (e.g., Dovidio et al, 2006, Chapter 8, Tomasello, 2014, Chapters 4 & 5) and is likely innate to humans (Warneken and Tomasello, 2009). A prerequisite for those institutions to work on the societal level are functional and positive interpersonal relations built on trust and cooperation among individuals (Cook, 2001; Newton et al, 2018). Because positive interpersonal relations and trust might be fostered by prosocial behavior (Yamagishi et al, 2005), it would be desirable to know how people can get inspired to behave prosocially. One social-cognitive mechanism that might have the potential to facilitate prosocial behavior is goal contagion
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