Individual differences in helping dispositions

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Assessing individual differences in prosocial behavior is crucial.
• Existing measures may not capture the multifaceted nature of helping predispositions.
• Developing a comprehensive instrument is needed to understand the nuances of helping behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the development and validation of an instrument to assess helping dispositions (HDS).
• To create a tool with multiple scales and indicators for measuring various aspects of helping.
• To provide a reliable and valid measure for research on prosocial behavior.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 55-item instrument (HDS) with 20 component scales and 14 composite indicators.
• Four administrations of the HDS to 611 college and noncollege subjects.
• Analysis of internal consistency and various forms of validity.

Main Results:

• The Helping Dispositions Scale (HDS) was finalized with 55 items.
• Evidence of high internal consistency and validity was established across multiple administrations.
• The motivation to help scales and the helping in group situations scale showed the most robustness.

Conclusions:

• The HDS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing helping dispositions.
• The scale effectively measures various dimensions of helping, including motivation and situational context.
• Further research can utilize the HDS to explore factors influencing helping behavior.