Discuss about Masculinity and bystander helping behaviour.
Gender difference has its effects on different spheres of social life. Helping or prosocial behavior is one of the important phenomena of modern human society. Difference in sex and gender are the key factors that affect situations that require altruistic behavior. Different studies on how men and women act in situations when help to a stranger required showed different and often contradictory results.
The difference of men and women in perceiving reality is also a cause of the difference in the way they react in situations where there is a need to offer assistance to others. To understand this some basic theories about gender difference may be understood which will help in better contemplation of the topic. Firstly, mention may be made about Hofstede’s model of cultural dimension (Hofstede-insights.com, 2018). Though there is nothing specific about gender roles in this model, however the model in its conception of masculinity describes a culture as masculine which is more driven by logic, the masculine side also represents “achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success”, on the other hand the feminine aspect in this model include “preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life”, this aspect is mainly driven by emotion. Therefore, this theory clearly describes the perception of the difference of men and women in terms of intelligence.
The academic performance of the person is also affected by the gender; it has been seen according to trends. Though these trends cannot be generalized, however it is seen that male students are more likely to have likings for science group subjects, whereas girls are more likely to be affiliated to literature (Schmitt, 2016). However, this is not to be taken as a stereo type and certainly there are women good at science and vice versa. More than the gender of that person research proves it is the masculine or feminine mindset in the students (as mentioned in Hofstede model) that determine the above factors. A girl who has traits of masculinity (as described in Hofstede model) in her perception is more likely to be affiliated to science subjects.
CNN reports about a study published in “Nature” which states that “In women, part of the brain showed a greater response when sharing money, while in men, the same structure showed more activity when they kept the cash for themselves”. Studies have already shown previously that women are more altruistic than men (Scutti, 2017). What is the reason that there is a difference of approach in men and women in this regards are stated by the researchers of the study as the level of Dopamine which plays a fundamental role in the reward system of the brain. The level of Dopamine determines whether a person will determine helping others as valuable or not. In the study about fifty-six male and members participated in which the final result came out as the women being satisfied to help others or sharing money even when there is no reward to that, whereas men perceive the whole situation by logic and what exactly can be the consequences if the money is shared and whether there will be any reward or any returns after the money is shared.
Researches have shown that girls and women are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior than men and boys. The difference in the level of Dopamine in their brain causes the difference of approach towards prosocial behavior of men and women. In the above experiment the authors had given only Placebo to the subjects of the study, and the women “acted less selfishly than the men”. After a particular drug called “amisulpride” was administered in the women it was found that the women “acted more selfishly”, whereas men became more generous in their approach (Scutti, 2017). Therefore, the conclusion can be claimed that the level of dopamine had been historically affecting the way men and women perceive the concept of sharing or helping others. In the second phase of the experiment the researchers utilized “functional MRI” to look for the changes in the brain when the male and female members participating in the experiment were making choices (Scutti, 2017). The results showed that if there was a comparison in the male and female members it was evident that the striatum of the brain of the females showed more activity than their male counterparts. Women use more the emotional areas of brain on the other hand the male s use more reflective areas of their brains. Women have higher care reasoning morality whereas the men of the society give preference to the Justice Reasoning rather than the care reasoning (Schmitt, 2016).
Women have been found to be more “emphatic”, and various other emotional traits are more in women, and the tendency to display the emotional traits are also more in women than the males (Adleberg, Thompson & Nahmias, 2015). In the professional choices women are more likely to choose professions that are related to caring others, doing social service or some vocational work like teaching, nursing, whereas men may show preference towards mechanics, computer science, engineering and similar kind of jobs that require more technical knowledge (Schmitt, 2016).
In consequence, this research is initiated to be a study of how gender difference influence helping behavior. This will focus on how men and women react during an emergency situation.
Does gender different influence helping behavior?
To show that gender different is one of the factors that influence helping
History of bystander effect: There are several witnesses to a mishap but nobody came forward to help.
Diffusion of responsibility: Every other person is thinking that the other person has the responsibility to take upon his or her own shoulder and simply shirk off the social responsibility to help the person at stake.
Relationship between gender and helping behavior: Some studies have shown that there is no significant difference between men and women in case they are required to help the other person. There is also gender role model. According to that, male are willing to help when there is bravery needed, or when chivalry is required. Whereas, women engage in more emotional help, and help that requires understanding of more subtle psychological complications.
Role of Social Status in Helping: It is important to note that the social division of gender as per their status within the society largely influences the helping behaviour.
Physical Attractiveness and Helping Behaviour of Different Gender: Physical attractiveness among gender plays a major role while influencing helping behaviour as people who are more attractive are likely to receive more help than others who are not.
Literature gap: Most of the researchers mainly dealt with the role of male and female gender in influencing behaviour, whereas there are very few researches regarding the role of cross-gender in influencing behaviour and also did not provide any clear explanation.
Instrumentation: The assessments are reviewed in six sections, such as demographic questionnaire, Decisional Balance Scale, Slaby Bystander Efficacy Scale, Bystander Intervention Measure (BIM), Conformity to Masculine Role Norms-46 (CMNI-46) and Prosocial Tendencies Measure (PTM).
Based on the results of the quantitative analysis, I expect that there is no significant difference between men and women in case they are required to help the other person. In addition, the study will show that there is also gender role model in society. Male are willing to help when there is bravery needed. Whereas women engage in more emotional help and help that requires understanding of more subtle psychological complications.
Conclusion
Gender role in influencing behaviour is a wider topic in itself that consists of different gender roles while helping other person. Society also plays a significant role in adjusting human behaviour as per the norms of the society. Apart from this, it has also been shown that physical attractiveness also plays a major role in influencing behaviour while helping others, as attractive individuals are likely to receive more help than the unattractive people.
This research is conducted only on a small size of population. The sample size taken is only 40 and it is not large enough to represent the whole population.
Secondly, there are limited outcome in a quantitative questionnaire. Quantitative questionnaire involves structures question with close ended questions. It leads to limited outcomes outlined in the research report. The data may not be robust enough to explain the issues and difficult to understand the context of a phenomenon.
If there is no time limitation in the future, I will recommend using qualitative research method. It will gain a better understanding of underlying reason; opinions and motivations on individual implement the help. It will help to develop hypothesis for potential quantitative research. And quantitative research can dive deeper into the problems. Even though the sample size is typically small but the respondents are selected to fulfill the given quota.
References
Adleberg, T., Thompson, M., & Nahmias, E. (2015). Do men and women have different philosophical intuitions? Further data. Philosophical Psychology, 28(5), 615-641.
Basow, S., & Crawley, D. (1982). Helping behaviour: Effect of sex and sex typing. Social Behavior and Personality Journal, 69-72.
Christov-Moore, L., Simpson, E., Coude, G., Grigaityte, K., Iacoboni, M., & Ferrari. (2014). Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 46, 604-627.
Darley, J., & Latene’, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 377-383.
Dovidio, J., Piliavin, J., Schroeder, D., & Penner, L. (2017). The social pyschology of prosocial behavior. United Kingdom: Psychology Press.
Feldman, R. (2011). Understanding Psychology Tenth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hofstede-insights.com. (2018). National Culture – Hofstede Insights. Hofstede Insights. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/models/national-culture/
Hupp-Wilds, B. (2014). Gender Roles and Helping Behavior. Columbus: The Ohio State University.
Koon, J. (2013). Masculinity and bystander helping behavior: A study of the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and bystander interventions. America: University of Iowa.
Prot, S., Gentile, D., Anderson, C., Suzuki, K., Swing, E., Lim, K., et al. (2014). Long-term relations among prosocial-media use, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Psychological science, 25(2), 358-368.
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Schaller, M. (2016). The behavioral immune system. The handbook of evolutionary psychology.
Schmitt, D. (2016). Are Men More Helpful, Altruistic, or Chivalrous Than Women?. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sexual-personalities/201603/are-men-more-helpful-altruistic-or-chivalrous-women
Scutti, S. (2017). How men’s and women’s brains react when helping others. CNN. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from https://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/09/health/gender-differences-giving-receiving-study/index.html
Seidman, S. (2016). Contested knowledge: Social theory today. United State: John Wiley & Sons.
Starr, C., & Zurbriggen, E. (2017). andra Bem’s gender schema theory after 34 years: A review of its reach and impact. Sex Roles 76(9-10), 566-578.
Turner, S. (2017). The Social Theory of Practices: Tradition, Tacit Knowledge and Prepositions. United States: john Wiley & Sons.
Vogel, D., Wester, S., Hammer, J., & Downing-Matibag, T. (2014). Referring men to seek help: The influence of gender role conflict and stigma. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 15(1), 60.
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