ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on giving help rather than receiving it, recipients' reactions to receiving help—and people's willingness to seek help in the first place—are important topics that also deserve attention. It seems obvious that the generally expected response to helping is gratitude and appreciation. The chapter also focuses on helping specific others, there are more organizationally based forms of prosocial behavior that are also of interest to social psychologists. It considers a handful of other such factors: experiences with models of helping, mood, and the potential costs of helping. Altruism, another kind of prosocial behavior, is voluntary behavior intended to benefit another with no expectation of external reward. This intent is an important component of altruism. The empathy-altruism model proposes that adults can experience two distinct states of emotional arousal while witnessing another's suffering: distress and empathy. Acquaintanceship and liking of another person can increase the chances of helping behavior when that person is in need.
