ALTRUISM & JUSTICE

Question 1

Social psychology has always aimed to find a solution to problems like aggression and prejudice BUT…

Answer 1

Social psychology also intersects with positive psychology - a humanistic approach that focuses on the positive aspects of human behaviour and experience.

Question 2

Altruism

Answer 2

Altruism - an action that is performed to benefit another person without benefitting the self.

Question 3

Main question in the study of Altruism

Answer 3

“What leads individuals to perform acts of kindness, especially when the cost to themselves is high?”

Question 4

The study of Altruism has focused on 3 key themes:

Answer 4

1) Situational and dispositional determinants

2) Bystander intervention

3) Social dilemmas

Question 5

Altruism during the Holocaust

Answer 5

• It has been estimated that 50,000-500,000 people helped the Jewish people.
• A lot of early research on altruism was inspired by the events of WW2.
• Why did some people help the Jews while others did not do anything to help or even helped the Nazis?
• Big differences between people in their response to the Holocaust lead early thinkers to theorise that there must be some important personality factors at play.

Question 6

Determinants of Altruism

Answer 6

1) Personality traits of altruistic personality
2) Situational traits that determine altruism

Question 7

Personality traits of altruistic personality

Answer 7

1) Machiavellianism
2) Belief in a just world - those who believe in a just world where everyone gets what they deserve are more likely to help.
3) Empathy
4) Moral reasoning
5) Responsibility
6) Religiosity
7) Gender - men help more in situations involving heroism + women help more in situations involving care and volunteering.
8) Mood
9) Positive role models

Question 8

Situational traits that determine altruism

Answer 8

1) Culture - countries where people earn more people help less (less empathy?)
2) Similarity - reliability.
3) Power of the situation - guilt (e.g. to try and make themselves feel better).

Question 9

Regan et al. (1971) - example of how guilt can influence altruism.

Answer 9

• Female shoppers were approached by a male experimenter who asked for them to take his picture BUT the camera failed to work.
• Experimental group - told they had broken it.
• Control group - told it was NOT their fault.
• Afterwards, another female experimenter was walking past them and their shopping bag broke with all items spilling.
• Results: Experimental group were more likely to help the woman (55% compared to only 15% of control group).
• Conclusion: Experience of guilt can inspire acts of altruism.

Question 10

3 Arguments for Altruism - inspired by empathy or more selfish motives?

Answer 10

• Some argue that people help others to make themselves feel better.
• Others argue that people help others because they feel empathy for them (Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis).
• Others believe that both empathic concern + selfish motives play a role.

Question 11

Evolutionary perspective on Origins of Altruism

Answer 11

Maybe human willingness to sometimes help evolved?

• Any gene that furthers survival + increases the probability of producing offspring likely to be passed on.

1) Kin Selection Theory

2) Reciprocal Altruism

Question 12

Kin Selection Theory

Answer 12

Kin Selection Theory - altruism has persisted as a trait through evolution.

• By helping one’s relatives or kin, one is promoting the successful reproduction of one’s own genes.

Question 13

Reciprocal Altruism

Answer 13

Reciprocal Altruism - if animals evolve a preference to help others who will help them, and to help others who have helped them before, then the prospects of mutual survival are enhanced.

• We help others because we hope to receive help if we were in a similar situation.

Question 14

Greve (2009) - low income more likely to donate money

Answer 14

• Lower income individuals tend to give (proportionately) more money to charity than high income earners.

What might explain this? - empathy?

Question 15

Study of Altruism - Bystander Intervention

Answer 15

Bystander intervention - the act of helping a person in danger or distress by people who are not its cause.

Question 16

Kitty Genovese

Answer 16

• Research on bystander intervention was triggered by a tragic and shocking case of Kitty Genovese (a woman who was raped and murdered while 38 residents did nothing to help despite hearing her cries for help).
• No-one called police bc everyone thought someone else would !
• Limitation - there were actually some people that rang the police + tried to help - the media exaggerated the nr of apathetic witnesses.

Question 17

Fischer et al. (2011) - Meta-analysis: presence of others + dangerous situations + perpetrators + physical costs

Answer 17

• Meta-Analysis of all published studies on the Bystander Effect.
• The presence of others does appear to reduce helping behaviour – it is a real phenomenon.
• The bystander effect was attenuated when situations were (1) perceived as dangerous (compared with non-dangerous), (2) perpetrators were present (compared with non-present), and the (3) costs of intervention were physical (compare with non-physical).

Question 18

Darley & Latane (1968) - Nr of bystanders affects willingness to help someone having a seizure.

Answer 18

• Participants were seated in rooms alone + communicated with each other through an intercom.
• One participant was actually a confederate of the experimenters - pretended to have a seizure.
• Results: Participants’ willingness to help sharply declined as the number of other bystanders increased + hesitated for much longer as group size increased.

Question 19

Why does the number of bystanders affect bystander intervention?

Answer 19

1) Diffusion of responsibility - perception that someone else will intervene.
- BUT does this explain fully what is happening? (What about individualistic and collectivist countries + habituation?

2) Pluralistic ignorance - the situation where people wrongly assume, based on others’ actions, that they endorse a particular norm.

Question 20

Study of Altruism - Social dilemmas

Answer 20

Social dilemmas - often, if the group is going to achieve its goals, it requires individuals to sacrifice their own interests for the benefit of all.

Question 21

Types of Social Dilemmas

Answer 21

1) Prisoner’s dilemma - refusing to confess is an example of cooperation’, serving the group’s interest, whereas confession is ‘defection’, in which the individual does what is best for them despite the overall interests of the group.

2) Commons dilemma - dilemma in which individual interests are served by using a resource but collective interests suffer because the resource is depleted (e.g. resources like food from agriculture, etc.)

Question 22

Ways of encouraging cooperation

Answer 22

1. Communication
2. Punishment

Question 23

The Social Psychology of Justice

Answer 23

Justice - when people treat each other as they are entitled or deserve to be treated.

1) Distributed justice - concern with the fairness of the outcomes that people receive (e.g. people judging a judge for being too lenient with a criminal).

2) Procedural justice - concern with the fairness of the processes used to distribute justice.

Question 24

Deutsch’s (1975) 3 key principles of justice -

Answer 24

1) Equity (outcomes that people receive should be proportional to their merit and contribution).

2) Equality (resources should be distributed equally).

3) Need (focus should be on what people need to survive and thrive).

Question 25

Importance of Justice - Social Exchange & Equity Theories (Homans, 1961; Thibault & Kelly, 1959)

Answer 25

Social Exchange & Equity Theory - people try to maximize personal benefits + minimize personal costs in their social relationships

Question 26

Importance of Justice - Just World Theory (Lerner, 1980)

Answer 26

Just World Theory - people have a deep-seated need to perceive the world as a just place where people get what they deserve + deserve what they get.

• Children switch from living according to the pleasure principle to the reality principle.

Question 27

Real-life application of Just World Theory

Answer 27

• The bigger the problem, the less we help.
• Charities - if public is asked for help to solve huge problems, such as mass famine, they may think there is little they can do. BUT if they ask the public to help just one victim, they are much more likely to help.