Chapter 10 - Prosocial Behaviour Flashcards
Prosocial behaviour
Any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person
Empathy
The ability to experience events and emotions (e.g., joy, sadness) the way another person experiences them
Kin selection
The idea that behaviour that helps a genetic relative is favoured by natural selection
Out-group
A group with which the individual does not identify
Pluralistic ignorance
The phenomenon whereby bystanders assume that nothing is wrong in an emergency because no one else looks concerned
Norm of reciprocity
The expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future
Altruism
The desire to help others, even if it involves a cost to the helper
Empathy-altruism hypothesis
The idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help him or her purely for altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain
Diffusion of responsibility
Each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses to an emergency or crisis increases
Altruistic personality
Aspects of a person’s makeup that cause him or her to help others in a wide variety of situations
Urban-overload hypothesis
The theory that because people living in cities are constantly being bombarded with stimulation, they keep to themselves to avoid being overloaded by it
In-group
The group with which an individual identifies, and of which he or she feels a member
Bystander effect
The finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely it is that any one of them will help
Negative-state relief hypothesis
The idea that people help in order to alleviate their own sadness and distress
