Role of the Researcher/Pro-Social Behavior - Essay Example

Pro-social Behavior/ Role of the Researcher Pro-social Behavior According to Eisenberg and Mussen (Eisenberg and Mussen, 1989), pro-social behavior refers to “voluntary actions that are aimed at helping another individual or group of individuals’. One of the pro-social acts that I once did was helping the aged in their homes. I visited two homesteads of aged people who had no one to take care of them, took some food to them and even cooked for them. One of the aged homesteads had an old man and the other had an old lady who could not talk and the grandson, who had been left with her, seemed to care less as he was involved in drug abuse and peddling (Eisenberg and Mussen, 1989).

One of the reasons that drove me to help those two aged people was the empathy that I felt towards them as a human being. I did not see a point why a rational human being would not care for another in dire need.The second reason that led me to help these two aged people was the care and love that I have for human kind. I am always passionate about life and God’s creation and would not have been comfortable knowing that my neighbor across the streets does not have anyone to take care of him or her (Eisenberg and Mussen, 1989).

The third reason I visited the two homesteads with food was to share the little that I had. This is because it is still again not ethically right for a rational human being to watch over another human being suffer or succumb to starvation. This is because the two aged people had no one to take good care of them.Though pro-social behavior and altruism are two distinct items, pro-social behavior can be altruistic. This is because altruism refers to a situation or act of helping another without any selfish interests (Batson, 1998).

Role of ResearcherAddictions, according to Heyman, refer to being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit forming. These addictions could be either to drugs, behavior or habit which makes a person feel uncomfortable if not taken, if it is drug, or if not done, if we mean behavior and habits. Addictions always occur due to overconsumption of substances or continuous doing or practice of habits and behavior (Heyman, 2009).My role as a researcher is to provide rigorous information on the understanding of human behavior and the reasons behind the actions and behavior.

As a qualitative researcher, I will be able to identify and know why and how the individuals make such decisions to be involved in addictions of either drugs or behaviors. In collecting my data, I would use the grounded theory practice and classical ethnography and in-depth interviewing (Keegan, 2009).I am more lenient on the topic on addictions since I have a personal interest in it. I have always wanted to help the people who are involved in drug addiction in particular. This is because the addictions make an individual a slave who cannot do without drugs.

This biasness will hinder me from looking deeper into the other addictions of habits and behavior because I will spend most of my resources and time on drug addiction.This research will give rise to various ethical issues such as whether we should consider addiction as a disease or whether we should consider taking the addicts who are our loved ones to rehabs or whether addiction should be treated as a mitigating factor to crime in our society(Keegan, 2009). I would corroborate my findings through data from non-governmental institutions which show the addictions present in the region and through testimonials by the addicts.

ReferencesBatson, D. C. (1998). Altruism and Pro-social Behavior. In The Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed., edited by Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, and Gardner Lindzey, Oxford University Press.Eisenberg, N. & Mussen, P. H. (1989). The Roots of Pro-social Behavior in Children. Cambridge University Press.Heyman, M. G. (2009). Addiction: a disorder of choice. Harvard University Press.Keegan, S. (2009). Qualitative research: Good Decision Making through Understanding People, Cultures and Markets.

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