Negative-state Relief Model - Future Study Direction and Conclusion

Future Study Direction and Conclusion

The nature of helping has been debated for a long time. On the one hand, under the negative state relief model, the ultimate goal of helping is to relieve bystander’s negative mood, thus, pro-social behaviors are viewed as the results of helper’s selfishness and egoism. On the other hand, some disagree with this stance, and think that empathy, other than negative states, leads to helping behaviors. The debate continues, and it is thought that there is still a long run before reaching a consensus on the nature of helping.

In recent years, a large body of researches showed that motivations to help are different in different relationships and across different contexts. For example, it was found that empathic concern was linked to the willingness to help kin but not a stranger when egoistic motivators were controlled (Maner & Gailliot, 2007). To get a more comprehensive view, future studies should test the negative state relief model under different contexts. Such explorations would be crucial to dig out the contextual effects and psychological factors underlying prosocial behaviors.