Altruism

Question 1

Define Altruism vs egoism

Answer 1

altruism: motivation to increase another person’s welfare…prosocial behavior that benefits others without regards to consequences to oneself
egoism: motivation to increase one’s own welfare

Question 2

Social exchange theory

Answer 2

Social interactions are guided by a cost-benefit analysis. Strive to minimize the costs and maximize benefits.

Question 3

Give examples of benefits and costs

Answer 3

benefits→ ex: approval
costs → ex: time, energy, risk

Question 4

Sociometer theory

Answer 4

• motivated to enhance our s-e, and self-esteem is strongly tied to social approval

Question 5

When we are positively evaluated, what part of the brain, the same as the one activated by monetary rewards, gets activated?
a. prefrontal cortex
b. amygdala
c. striatum
d. hippocampus

Answer 5

c. striatum

Question 6

Define social reward

Answer 6

benefit, ex: praise/positive attention/tangible thing…., that may be gained from helping others and serves as a motive for altruism

Question 7

Define personal distress

Answer 7

Motive for helping others in distress that may arise from a need to reduce one’s own distress

Question 8

Negative state relief hypothesis

Answer 8

People help others in order to reduce their own distress and guilt
ex: when you see someone fall, you feel distress, that you try reducing by helping that person

-in situations where social norms do not apply, less help is seen (ex: 90% help old man, 20% help drunk m an)

Question 9

What is the social responsibility norm

Answer 9

Should help those who need help, even if they cannot reciprocate
in situations where social norms do not apply, less help is seen

Question 10

Describe Batson’s empathy-altruism model and the experimental evidence for the existence of empathic concern
Explain when we will be more likely to empathize with someone.

Answer 10

Helping has an emotional part…helping depends on empathy levels as well.
When we feel empathy towards someone, we are more likely to feel sadness for them

Question 11

Name 2 counterarguments to the theory that people show altruism only in order to reduce their personal distress.

Answer 11

• People with low self-concept clarity show more distress, but less empathic concern
• Anxiously attached individuals tend to be overwhelmed by personal distress and are not really good at helping others

Question 12

Describe the evolutionary perspective on helping & cooperation, focusing on the role of kin selection and reciprocal altruism

Answer 12

kin selection: propensity to help genetic relatives, in order to promote their survival and reproductive success
reciprocal altruism: seeking exchanging favors for mutual benefits

Question 13

Self-discrepancy theory

Answer 13

when we do not live u p to the “oughts”–>guilt, tension.

Question 14

Name and define the two components of empathy

Answer 14

Empathic concern: identifying with the person in need, including feeling and understanding what the person is experiencing, accompanied by the intention to help the person. “Other-oriented” feelings

Personal distress: “Self-oriented” feelings of personal anxiety and distress

Question 15

describe Batson’s experiment on empathy

Answer 15

diapo 12
Elaine…switch places or not? level of similarity

Question 16

[self-concept clarity]

Answer 16

clearly defined, consistent, stable sense of self

Question 17

How can other people’s presence affect one’s altruism.

Answer 17

Bystander effect
Diffusion of responsibility

Question 18

What are the three stages of the response to an emergency

Answer 18

1. Noticing the emergency
2. Interpreting the emergency
3. Assuming responsibility

Question 19

How does pluralistic ignorance comes into play in ambiguous situations?

Answer 19

Pluralistic ignorance: failure to realize that others are
thinking and feeling the same thing we are
ex: you notice smoke but you see that no one else is reacting, so you assume that ppl think everything is fine.

Question 20

Give an example of situational influence

Question 21

What is informational influence

Answer 21

Looking to others to define a situation

Question 22

Describe the prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 22

Situation involving payoffs to two people who must decide whether to cooperate or defect

Question 23

What is the role of reputation in cooperation

Answer 23

reputation: collective beliefs, evaluations and impressions about an individual’s character that develop within a social network.

Question 24

What is the role of construal processes in cooperation

Answer 24

p.505

Question 25

Describe the tit-for-tat strategy and explain how it encourages cooperation

Answer 25

tit-for-tat strategy: the player’s first move is cooperative, then the player mimics the other person’s behavior, whether cooperative of competitive