Chapter 12 Flashcards
Motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s self-interests; unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others
Altruism
Motive to increase one’s own welfare; idea that self-interest motivates all behavior
Egoism
Theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s
rewards and minimize one’s costs.
Social-exchange Theory
Things that motivate helping may be internal or external.
Rewards
2 Types of Rewards
External Rewards (of helping)
Internal Rewards (of helping)
We give to get; we are most eager to help someone attractive to us, someone whose approval we desire
External Rewards (of helping)
Benefits of helping include self rewards; reducing distress by helping someone in distress.
Internal Rewards (of helping)
Lead to good action to reduce private guilt, restore a shaken self-image, and reclaim a positive public image.
Reducing Guilt
Occurs when people whose attention is on others, people for whom altruism is
therefore rewarding.
Feel Bad / Do Good Effect
Generous people are happier than those whose spending is self-focused; positive mood of relief can dramatically boost helping.
Do Good / Feel-Good Effect
Social expectations; tells us what we ought
to do thus it prescribes proper behavior.
Social Norms
An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them
The Reciprocity Norm
2 Social Norms that Motivate Altruism
The Reciprocity Norm
The Social Responsibility Norm
The mutual support and cooperation enabled by a social network.
Social Capital
If we attribute the need to an uncontrollable predicament, we help; if we attribute the need to the person’s choices, fairness does not require us to help; we say it’s the person’s own fault
The Social Responsibility Norm
Psychology contends that life’s essence is gene survival.
Evolutionary Theory
The idea that evolution has selected altruism toward one’s close relatives to enhance the survival of mutually shared genes; if you carry my genes, I’ll favor you.
Kin selection
An organism helps another because it
expects help in return
Reciprocity
We scratch each other’s backs.
Direct reciprocity
I’ll scratch your back, you scratch someone’s, and someone will scratch mine.
Indirect reciprocity
When groups are in competition, groups of mutually supportive altruists outlast groups of non altruists; back-scratching groups survive.
Group selection
Vicarious experience of another’s feelings; putting oneself in another’s shoes.
Empathy
Circumstances that prompt people to help, or not to help. (4)
Number of bystanders
Helping When Someone Else Does
Time Pressures
Similarity
Presence of others reduce helping behavior.
Number of bystanders
People are less likely to notice an emergency if other people are around.
NOTICING
Misinterpretations of ambiguous events are fed by illusions of transparency
INTERPRETING
Groups often lead to diffusion of responsibility.
ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY
Tendency to overestimate others’ ability to “read” our internal states.
Illusions of transparency
Person is less likely to help someone when other bystanders are present.
Bystander effect
People help if they have just observed someone else helping
Helping When Someone Else Does
Refer to individuals or characters in a person’s environment who demonstrate behaviors that benefit others or society.
Priscila models
Having at least a little spare time; those in a hurry are less likely to help.
Time Pressures
We tend to help those whom we perceive as being similar to us.
Similarity
People who are primed in spiritual priming are likely to have better dispositions
Materialistic vs. spiritual priming
“Religion” primes more into in-group helping
while “God” primes more into out-group helping
God vs. religion
Personalized non-verbal appeals can be more
effective, i.e. bystanders tend to offer aid more if they have identified themselves
by name, age, etc.
PERSONALIZED APPEAL
Omitting certain people from one’s circle of moral concern
Moral exclusion
Regarding others as within one’s circle of moral concern
Moral inclusion
If we see or read someone giving assistance, we tend to be more helpful too.
Real-life modeling
Prosocial TV models actually had even greater effects than antisocial models
Media modeling
Result of bribing people to do what they already like doing; they may then see their actions as externally controlled rather than
intrinsically appealing
Overjustification effect
