Ch 14: Altruism & Justice

Question 1

Altruism

Answer 1

action preformed to benefit another person without benefiting the self
-example of a helping behavior (action preformed to help another person) and a pro-social behavior (action positively valued by society)

Question 2

Bystander intervention

Answer 2

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

• as number of bystanders increases people are less likely to interpret as problem and less likely to assume responsibility
• lack of intervention explained by diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance

Question 3

Pluralistic ignorance

Answer 3

wrongly assuming based on others actions that they endorse a particular norm such as inferring others inaction is others believing intervention is not necessary

Question 4

Diffusion of responsibility

Answer 4

one explanation for why bystanders do not intervene, perception that someone else will

Question 5

Machiavellianism

Answer 5

individual difference variable associated with tendency to manipulate others for personal gains, less likely to help

Question 6

Belief in a just world

Answer 6

more likely to help

Question 7

Empathy

Answer 7

ability to take perspective of others

Question 8

Empathetic concern

Answer 8

emotional reaction to the suffering of others which results from taking their perspectives, thought to motivate helping behaviors

Question 9

Moral reasoning

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Extensivity

Answer 10

persons sense that they are obligated to help others both close and distant

Question 11

Empathy-altruism hypothesis

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Kin selection

Answer 12

acting differently towards members of the same species depending on their degree of genetic relatedness to the self

Question 13

Reciprocal altruism

Answer 13

animal incentive to help other animal because it heightens the prospects that they will be rewarded

Question 14

Social dilemmas

Answer 14

situations in which the interests of the individual are at odds with the interests of the group

Question 15

Cooperation

Answer 15

decisions that sacrifice the persons interests for the sake of the group

Question 16

Defection

Answer 16

decisions that pursue the persons interests at the expense of the group

Question 17

Prisoners dilemma

Answer 17

simulated social dilemma in which “prisoners” have to choose between confessing or not, risking a light vs. heavy sentence for them and a partner

Question 18

Public goods dilemma

Answer 18

individuals are better off if they don’t contribute but the group as a whole is worse off, “free-riding”

Question 19

Commons dilemma

Answer 19

individuals interested are served by using a resource but collective interests suffer because the resource is depleted

Question 20

Encouraging cooperation

Answer 20

• encourage pro-social orientation (oppose to pro-self social value orientation)
• encourage strong social identification with the wider group
• communication (establishing principles/norms before decision making)
• punishing defection and rewarding cooperation as the dilemma unfolds

Question 21

Social value orientation

Answer 21

extent to which someone is “pro-self” or “pro-social”

-determines extent to which people will cooperate

Question 22

Altruistic punishment

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Indirect reciprocity

Answer 23

incurring a personal cost to reward someone who has cooperated with other group members

Question 24

Direct reciprocity

Answer 24

incurring a personal cost to reward someone who has cooperated with them personally

Question 25

Justice

Answer 25

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

• entitlement: respect, autonomy, inheritance
• deservingness: treatment a person has earned because of their behavior

Question 26

Distributive justice

Answer 26

refers to outcomes people recieve

Question 27

Procedural justice

Answer 27

refers to procedures used to decide the outcomes

-can be used as a heuristic to determine the fairness of unknown distributive justice

Question 28

Equity principle

Answer 28

outcomes should be proportional to merit and contribution

Question 29

Equality principle

Answer 29

resources should be distributed equally

Question 30

Need principle

Answer 30

focus should be on what people need to survive and thrive

Question 31

Exchange theory

Answer 31

people pursue their own interests maximizing personal benefits and minimizing costs

Question 32

Equity theory

Answer 32

people compare and evaluate the net benefits they receive compared to others

Question 33

Immanent justice reasoning

Answer 33

attribution of good and bad outcomes to unrelated good and bad deeds

Question 34

Group value model

Answer 34

people care about the status and respect they receive within their social groups, the fairness of outcomes and processes are an indicator of their status

Question 35

System justification theory

Answer 35

peoples dependence on social systems for wealth and security motivates them to justify those social systems and see them as fair

Question 36

Depressed entitlement effect

Answer 36

tendency for women when given the chance to determine their own pay in an experiment, to determine it as less than men