Social anxiety

While social psychologists are often motivated by simple curiosity to study social behavior, they are also frequently motivated by the desire to help resolve social problems, such as increasing conservation of natural resources, increasing the practice of safe sex, understanding the relationship between viewing television violence and aggressive behavior, developing effective negotiation strategies for the reduction of international conflict, finding ways to reduce racial prejudice, and helping people adjust to life changes. In this week's Assignment, you will explore prosocial, or helping, behavior. Prosocial behavior can be observed in situations ranging from everyday interactions with friends and family to the extraordinary circumstances of natural disasters. Some of these behaviors go unnoticed while others are highly publicized. Some helping behavior is spontaneous, such as when someone helps a person in a wheelchair by opening a door, whereas other helping behavior is highly structured, such as that which takes place within volunteer organizations.