Social Psychology - Schindler's List and Pro-Social Behaviour

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The Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (Coleman, 2009) states that pro-social behaviour, or altruism, are those behaviours that are directed towards uplifting or positively influencing society. In other words, pro-social behaviour or altruism can be defined as those behaviours that are directly aimed at helping an individual or a group in some way or another.
These behaviours are exhibited by Oskar Schindler’s attempts to save a group of Jews from an exile to Auschwitz (Spielberg, 1993).
Pro-social behaviour, present in humble gestures such as helping an aged individual to carry their bags, or in the heroic effort by Oskar Schindler to save the lives of others, possibly risking his own life, seemingly have only positive outcomes. This, however, is not always the case.
Some of the negative effects of altruism include injury to or even the death of the helper, the lack of addressing all possible needs, burnout, a threat to justice and equality, and the promotion of indifference to those that are not in immediate need of assistance (Myers, 2010).
In terms of helping those that form part of a perceived out-group, negative effects may include strong sanctions against the offending in-group member or even ostracism (Baron, Branscombe, & Byrne, 2009).
In Schindler’s case, his pro-out-group behaviour wasn’t merely shrugged off. At one point, he is arrested and imprisoned after kissing a Jewish girl in thanking her for a birthday cake. This indicates that pro-social behaviour, when going against in-group norms, is not always met with acceptance.
If there are clear risks involved in acting pro-socially, what motivates individuals to help?
Firstly, Batson et al. (1981) suggested in their empathy-altruism hypothesis, that a pure d...

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Myers, D. G. (2010). Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nobelprize.org. (1993). The Nobel Peace Prize 1993. Retrieved from Nobelprize.org: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/
Smith, K. D., Keating, J. P., & Stotland, E. (2012). Altruism Reconsidered: The Effect of Denying Feedback on a Victim's Status to Empathic Witnesses. Retrieved from APA PsycNET: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/57/4/641/
South African History Online. (1996). South African Constitution 1996. Retrieved from South African History Online: http://www.sahistory.org.za/writers-constitution
Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Schindler's List [Motion Picture].
Tait, D. J., & Whiteman, M. C. (2009, 07 3). Personality Traits of Altruistic People: Empathy and the Big Five Factors. Retrieved from Edinburgh Research Archive: https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/3547

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