SOME DETERMINANTS OF ALTRUISM TOWARDS MEMBERS OF STIGMATIZED GROUPS.
Item
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Title
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SOME DETERMINANTS OF ALTRUISM TOWARDS MEMBERS OF STIGMATIZED GROUPS.
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Identifier
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AAI8103941
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identifier
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8103941
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Creator
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LAMAR, ANSLEY WILTON.
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Contributor
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Irwin Katz
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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A field experiment was conducted at a northeastern urban public college to investigate the effects of belief in a just world (high vs. low); social support (weak vs. strong); and disability status of a child needing tutoring (physically handicapped vs. normal) on altruism. The relation between personal norm for helping and actual commitment to help was also examined. The Rubin & Peplau (1975, 1973) Belief in a Just World scale and an item designed to measure an individual's personal norm for helping was administered to two hundred and ten college students in various psychology classes by their instructors. Approximately one week later, a white female confederate attempted to recruit volunteer tutors from each of these classes by reading a prepared script. The disability status and social support manipulations were embedded in the script. In the Physically Handicapped condition, the subjects were told that the children who needed tutoring were ". . . handicapped kids of normal intelligence . . . kids who have muscular dystrophy, rheumatic heart disorder, and various physical deformities. They all need to use a wheelchair or crutches." There were no references made concerning the physical condition of the child in the Normal condition.;In the Weak Social Support condition the subjects were told that their college "is the only college in Hudson County where some students expressed enough interest to make it worthwhile to set up the (tutorial) program." In the Strong Social Support condition, the subjects were told that "students in Hudson County have expressed a lot of interest, so that several colleges in the area are participating in the program." Belief in a just world was varied by determining the median score and considering those above the median as having a high belief in a just world and those below the median as having a low belief in a just world.;To measure altruism the confederate circulated a pledge form and asked the students to indicate how many hours they would be willing to volunteer as tutors. Analysis of the data indicated that (a) there was an interaction effect of belief in a just world and social support on the proportion of subjects who volunteered with the highest proportion volunteering in the Strong Social Support/Low Belief condition; (b) the amount of time volunteered was greatest in the Strong Social Support/Low Belief condition; (c) there was a nonsignificant tendency for more time to be volunteered to tutor the physically handicapped child than the normal child; (d) personal norm for helping was associated with the actual commitment to help; (e) belief in a just world was negatively correlated with helping in the Normal/Strong Social Support condition, and (f) belief in a just world was negatively correlated with helping in the Strong Social Support condition. The results are discussed with reference to relevant earlier studies. Suggestions are made for a subsequent study.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
