Leveraging Video Footage for Ethological Observation of Human Behavior

Originating in biology, the ethological approach to studying human behavior has increasingly spread across various disciplines, including the social sciences. In addition to off ering biologically proximate and evolutionary explanations, ethology provides a methodological framework for systematically observing and analyzing human behavior in natural face-to-face settings. This chapter discusses the relevance of using the ethological approach for the study of human behavior, particularly by leveraging video recordings of public behavior for ethological observation. This prospect is demonstrated through an outline of recent video-observational research on violent and bystander helping behaviors. Further avenues are discussed to advance video-based human ethology.