جامعه شناسی کاربردی (Jul 2013)
Prosocial Behaviors and Altruism among Citizens of Isfahan
Abstract
Introduction People live in groups and by cooperating with each other they obtain various benefits. Because life condition is dangerous and unpredictable, cooperation and partnership for survival is very valuable (Haynde, 2001). Indeed, the material and spiritual life of each society is dependent on the existence of people who have internalized moral values and try to serve others by prosocial behaviors. Stable people who are less affected by situations and conditions, may behave more according to their own moral values and standards, enjoying a high level of shared responsibility (Schuvartz, 1976). Shared responsibility is a valuable, protective and helpful behavior for people or groups which is based on commitment (Tome, 1999, Schuvartz, 1994) and includes different moral and actual aspects and considers the outcomes of every single act. Human beings react responsibly when they act according to moral perspectives and accepts that are responsible for outcomes of their actions (Avhagen, 2001). We define prosocial behavior in terms of four clear aspects including putting ourselves in others' place conceptionally, socially and emotionally. Beside these three points, moral reasoning is added as a conceptual scale in this study. Paying attention to others, social responsibility and piety can be summarized as paying attention to other's issues more than one's issues. Previous studies show that people who help others have high internal control standards and value moral commitments more than others (Emler, 1974). Altruism, as a type of prosocial behavior stems from, like responsibility, internal standards and sympathy. During the course of history a great number of people have defended their countries and made great sacrifices for defending their homelands, but history does not remember any period like the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq in which Iranian soldiers defended borders of their country and its religious authority in such a courageous way that is unprecedented, without any kind of compromise (Salmani 2008). It was a defense which has essentially shown high levels of moral reasoning and prosocial behaviors not just in words but in practice. The purpose of this research is to study the amount of prosocial behaviors and levels of moral reasoning among two groups of veterans and released war prisoners of this holy defense war. Methods and Materials This research is a retrospective research (causal comparison- after event). Statistical population of this research includes all veterans and released war prisoners of the 8-year holy defense and citizens who were older than 20 years old in Isfahan city in the 1388. By using random sampling method 80 citizens of Isfahan were chosen. Of this number, 40 were veterans (20 ex-soldiers and 20 released war prisoners), and 40 were ordinary citizens older than 20 years old. In this research, veterans are individuals who participated in Iran-Iraq war who, according to the Institute of Martyr and Veterans, have been injured physically-psychologically or have been captured and are now recognized as released prisoner. The number of statistical sample was calculated by moral judgment test of Kohlberg and prosocial behavior questionnaire. The method of performing test contains stories that were read by researchers for participants and they were asked to answer questions in written format by yes or no and then provide their reason for the answers they gave. It was emphasized that the reason they give is very important for measurement. After going through this section, participants answered questions related to prosocial behaviors. The results were collected and analyzed statistically to see if research hypotheses are significant. Overall, this research includes 7 main hypotheses as follow: 1) The level of moral reasoning is significantly correlated with the level of prosocial behaviors. 2) The level of moral reasoning of veterans is different from that of other citizens of Isfahan. 3) The amount of prosocial behavior of veterans is different from that of other citizens of Isfahan. 4) The level of moral reasoning of released war prisoners is different from that of other citizens of Isfahan. 5) The amount of prosocial behavior of released war prisoners is different from that of other citizens of Isfahan. 6) The level of moral reasoning of released war prisoners is different from that of the veterans. 7) The amount of prosocial behavior of released war prisoners is different from that of the veterans. Table 1 show s correlation tests between prosocial behavior and moral reasoning. Table 1- The Correlation between Prosocial Behavior and Moral Reasoning The level of significance The amount of correlation Statistical index/variables 0/001 0/73 The level of moral reasoning and the amount of prosocial behaviors Discussion of Results and Conclusions The first hypothesis of research is approved. There is a significant correlation between the levels of moral reasoning and the amount of prosocial behaviors in the sense that by increasing levels of moral reasoning, the amount of prosocial behaviors also increases. According to Kohlberg theory, the higher the level of moral reasoning, the more attention to others' rights. People who do get involved in moral reasoning in higher levels, respect others' interests more than their own interests. It is also the same when it comes to prosocial behavior. Altruistic people behave in such a way that satisfy others' interests even if their own interests remain unsatisfied and even if they get heart as a result of performing prosocial behavior. Table 2 - The Results of Covariance Analysis Comparing Levels of Moral Reasoning And Prosocial Behaviors between War Veterans and Ordinary Citizens The average of squares The degree of freedom The amount of difference The a mount of significance The statistical power The level of moral reasoning 9/68 1 39/7 0/001 1 Prosocial behaviors 1/86 1 0/54 0/001 1 Table 3- The Results of Covariance Analysis Comparing Levels of Moral Reasoning and Prosocial Behaviors between Released War Prisoners and Ordinary Citizens The average of squares The degree of freeness The amount of difference The a mount of significance The statistical power The level of moral reasoning 13/34 1 0/50 0/001 1 Desirable social behaviors 2/43 1 0/64 0/001 1 The results of testing hypotheses 2 to 5 indicate that there are significant relationships between levels of moral reasoning and prosocial behaviors. In fact, war veterans and released war prisoners tend to show more prosocial behavior and higher levels of moral reasoning in comparison to ordinary citizens. Likewise, there is a positive relationship between increasing or decreasing levels of moral reasoning and the amount of altruistic behaviors. This is the same thing that Kohlberg addressed in his theory of socially desirable moral reasoning. According to Kohlberg's theory, growth of knowledge leads to preference for moral reasoning, but Hoffman said that it is sympathy that may lead to moral reasoning. Table 4- Results of Covariance Analysis Comparing Levels of Moral Reasoning and Prosocial Behavior between War Veterans and Released War Prisoners The average of squares The degree of freeness The amount of difference The a mount of significance The statistical power The level of moral reasoning 0/41 1 0/07 0/93 0/39 Desirable social behaviors 0/04 1 0/027 0/126 0/61 The results of testing hypotheses 6 and 7 show that there is no significance difference between the two groups of veterans and released prisoners. Altruism can be effective in increasing levels of moral reasoning and prosocial behavior, but it was not an effective factor in classification of veterans of the holy defense in this research.
