Altruism (Prosociality)

Question 1

Prosociality

Answer 1

Behaviors and preferences aimed at benefiting others (helping, sharing, cooperating)

Hallmark of human nature, extending across culture, highest levels amongst other species

Question 2

Traditional Reflective Model

Answer 2

• Assumes prosociality requires control to suppress selfish instincts (System 2 behavior).
• Reflective behaviors are slower, deliberate, and disrupted by distractions

Question 3

Intuitive Prosociality Model

Answer 3

• Suggests prosocial behavior is instinctive, fast, and resilient to distraction (System 1 behavior).
• Proposes that prosociality operates as a natural impulse, akin to reward-seeking behaviors.

Question 4

Evidence for Intuitive Prosociality

Answer 4

Automaticity
- Prosocial decisions are made faster than selfish ones
- Conditions impairing cognitive control (time pressure, distraction) increase prosociality
- Encouraging intuitive thinking promotes prosocial behavior

Neuroscientific evidence
- Reflective control involves the lateral PFC (higher-order cognitive functions)
- Prosocial decisions associated with mesolimbic dopamine system activity (ventral striatum), responsible for reward processing
- Prosociality is often driven by reward seeking, not suppression of selfishness

Question 5

Developmental Psychology

Answer 5

Prosocial tendencies appear early in childhood, before the development of cognitive control

Infants as young as 18 months display spontaneous altruism

Rewarding kids for prosocial behaviors can reduce subsequent helping (overjustification)

Question 6

Contextual Moderators

Answer 6

• Intuition does not always favor prosociality, certain situations prompt selfish impulses that require control to act generously
• Interpersonal history, social norms, and perceived punishment -> either intuitive or reflective prosociality

Challenges to Universality
- People may act pro-socially for reputation or personal gain

Question 7

Implications (IP)

Answer 7

Evolutionary
- IP may have evolved from older reward-seeking mechanisms (cooperation & long-term social benefits)

Practical Application
- Interventions should aim at leveraging natural impulses rather than requiring effortful reflection

Question 8

Prosocial Spending

Answer 8

• Money spent to benefit others
• Associated with increased happiness (across cultures, age, and income levels)

Question 9

Happiness and Money

Answer 9

• While higher income correlates with greater happiness, this relationship is weaker than commonly assumed.
• How money is spent plays a crucial role in enhancing happiness.

Question 10

Prosocial Spending & Happiness

Answer 10

• Experiments show that individuals tasked with spending money on others report greater happiness than those who spend on themselves.
• The amount spent ($5 or $20) does not influence happiness as much as the act of giving.
• Even young children under age 2 show greater happiness when giving away treats to others than when receiving them

Question 11

Conditions for Happiness from Giving

Answer 11

Prosocial spending enhances happiness when it satisfies basic human needs
- Relatedness: giving strengthens social connections
- Competence: seeing the impact of one’s generosity boosts happiness
- Autonomy: the emotional benefits are stronger when its voluntary rather than mandated

Question 12

Physiological & Psychological Benefits (Prosocial spending)

Answer 12

• Prosocial spending activates reward-related brain regions (e.g., ventral striatum).
• It can reduce stress-related biomarkers, such as cortisol, and improve physical health outcomes in older adults.
• Experiments show giving enhances physical strength (e.g., donors performed better on strength tests).

Positive Feedback Loop
- Happiness from giving increases the likelihood of engaging in future prosocial acts, creating a reinforcing cycle

Question 13

Altruism

Answer 13

One definition: any form of helping behavior counts as altruism

Another definition: only counts as altruism when it isn’t motivated by an underlying selfish goal

Question 14

Empathy-altruism hypothesis

Answer 14

Empathy -> truly altruistic motive -> prosocial behavior

Some evidence that empathy leads to increased helping even when it would be easy not to help

Question 15

Strategic Altruism (pt1)

Answer 15

Helping benefits helpers
- People may help more when they perceive greater personal benefits of doing so

Liking
- Helpful people are liked by others, and obtain social rewards that comes from being liked

People strategically engage in altruistic behavior under conditions in which they believe that other people are aware of their actions

Question 16

Strategic Altruism (pt.2)

Answer 16

Mating
- Helpful people are more desirable mates
- People strategically engage in altruistic behavior when they are motivated to impress potential mates

Research
- When mating motives are temporarily aroused, people:
(1) express greater willingness to do helpful things
(2) are more inclined to spend money in altruistic way

Mood management
- Helping behavior -> happiness
- People in a negative mood state sometimes strategically engage in altruistic behavior in order to eliminate that negative mood state
- Not if mood is perceived to be unchangeable and not if there are other, easier ways to improve mood