PUBLIC-SERVICE ADVERTISEMENTS - EMOTIONS AND EMPATHY GUIDE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

The authors develop and test a theory of how public service advertisem ents function to induce helping responses. Building on Lazarus's gener al theory of emotion and adaptation, they hypothesize that public serv ice ads designed to reduce the incidence of child abuse stimulate nega tive emotions. these, in turn, lead to empathic reactions and end with the decision to help. Two field experiments are conducted to test the theory.