Altruism & Justice

Question 1

Positive psychology

Answer 1

A movement within psychology that emphasizes how positive aspects of human nature and experience can be enhanced. It is informed by the philosophical position of humanism, which assumes that human nature is ultimately good.

Question 2

Altruism

Answer 2

An action that is performed to benefit a person without benefitting the self.

Question 3

Helping behaviour

Answer 3

An action that is performed to help another person.

Question 4

Prosocial behaviour

Answer 4

An action that is positively valued by society.

Question 5

Bystander intervention

Answer 5

The act of helping a person in danger or distress by people who are not its cause.

Question 6

Latane’s bystander model

Answer 6

Pg. 613

Question 7

Diffusion of responsibility

Answer 7

One explanation why bystanders do not intervene is the perception that someone else will.

Question 8

Pluralistic ignorance

Answer 8

The phenomenon whereby people wrongly assume, based on others’ actions, that they endorse a particular norm.

Question 9

Machiavellianism

Answer 9

Individual differences variable associated with the tendency to manipulate others for personal gain.

Question 10

Belief in a just world

Answer 10

The belief that the world is a just place in which people get what they deserve.

Question 11

Empathy

Answer 11

The ability of people to take the perspective of others.

Question 12

Empathic concern

Answer 12

An emotional reaction to the suffering of others which results from taking their perspective, and which is thought by many researchers to motivate helping behaviour.

Question 13

Moral reasoning

Answer 13

The extent to which people compare their own needs with overarching moral standards.

Question 14

Extensivity

Answer 14

A person’s sense that they are obligated to help others, both close and distant.

Question 15

Empathy-altruism hypothesis

Answer 15

Hypothesis that when people feel empathy for others, they will be more likely to help that person at a personal cost to the self.

Question 16

Kin selection

Answer 16

Acting differently towards members of the same species depending on their degree of genetic relatedness to the self. Kin selection can deter animals from mating, for example, but can encourage them to act altruistically.

Question 17

Reciprocal altruism

Answer 17

Animals act altruistically towards members of the same species that have already helped them. This principal gives animals an incentive to help other animals, because it heightens the prospects that they will be rewarded.

Question 18

Social dilemmas

Answer 18

Situations in which the interests of the individual are at odds with the interests of the group.

Question 19

Cooperation

Answer 19

Decisions that sacrifice the person’s interests for the sake of the group.

Question 20

Defection

Answer 20

Decisions that pursue the person’s interests at the expense of the group.

Question 21

Prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 21

Simulated social dilemma used in social psychological research. “Prisoners” have to choose between confessing or not, risking a heavy or light sentence for them and a partner.

Question 22

Public goods dilemma

Answer 22

A dilemma in which individuals are better off if they do not contribute but the group as a whole is worse off.

Question 23

Commons dilemma

Answer 23

A dilemma in which individual interests are served by using a resource but collective interests suffer because the resource is depleted.

Question 24

Social value orientation

Answer 24

The extent to which an individual is “pro-self” or “prosocial”, which determines the extent to which people will be cooperative.

Question 25

Altruistic punishment

Answer 25

The involves incurring a personal cost in order to harm a person who has defected.

Question 26

Indirect reciprocity

Answer 26

This involves incurring a personal cost in order to reward a person who has cooperated with other group members.

Question 27

Direct reciprocity

Answer 27

The case where a person incurs personal cost to reward a person who has cooperated with them personally. Both altruistic punishment and indirect reciprocity encourage people to cooperate rather than defect.

Question 28

Justice

Answer 28

This is said to exist when people treat each other as they are entitled or deserve to be treated.

Question 29

Distributive justice

Answer 29

Concern with the justness of the outcomes that people receive.

Question 30

Procedural justice

Answer 30

Concern with the fairness of the processes used to distribute justice.

Question 31

Equity principle

Answer 31

The principle that the outcomes people receive should be proportional to their merit and contribution.

Question 32

Equality principle

Answer 32

The principle that resources should be distributed equally.

Question 33

Need principle

Answer 33

The principle that the focus should be on what people need to survive and thrive.

Question 34

Immanent justice reasoning

Answer 34

The superstitious attribution of good and bad outcomes to unrelated good and bad deeds.

Question 35

Group-value model

Answer 35

Model explaining that people care about the status and respect they receive within their social groups. The fairness of outcomes (distributive justice) and the processes (procedural justice) are an indicator of their status.

Question 36

System justification theory

Answer 36

Theory that people’s dependence on social systems for wealth and security motivates them to justify those social systems and see them as fair.

Question 37

Depressed entitlement effect

Answer 37

The tendency for women, when given the chance to determine their own pay in an experimental task, to pay themselves less than men.