Altruism and helping Flashcards
Helping
doing something with the intention to aid or benefit another person
prosocial behaviour
actions that are beneficial to others
altruism
helpful behaviour that is carried out in the absence of seeking external rewards
empathy
the characteristic of relating to another persons emotions and experiences
david divides empathy into 4 parts
empathic concern, perspective taking, personal distress, fantasy
empathy-altruism hypothesis
- empathy motivates altruistic acts
- this view holds that empathy can invoke true altruism the person doing the kind act does not act in order to feel better or to avoid distress
the negative effect challenge
Batson and colleagues have tested if prosocial behaviour can be done in the absence of wanting to alleviate negative mood
pluralistic ignorance
people will look to others in an unusual situation requiring help because it is not something people typically experience
diffusion of responsibility
if a group of people sees someone being harmed then the pressure is off to help. you might assume others will help
audience inhibition
in some cases, people might help less in front of others out of fear for not doing it right
helping increases: god/religion primes
- studies show that reminding people of God increase prosocial behaviour
- but this is often specific to people who are at least somewhat religious
Norm of reciprocity
- those who treat us well deserve to be treated well
- person feels obligated to return the favour
prosocial behaviour: gratitude
studies show that when a person receives a favour, they experience a gratitude. in turn, this increased their likelihood of sharing money they had been given with someone else
altruism in children
altruism and helping in children is associated with higher levels of empathy, less competitive motivation. as children aged, the link between empathy and altruism increased
