Chapter 14 Flashcards
positive psychology
a movement within psychology that emphasizes how positive aspect of human nature and experience can be enhanced; informed by the philosophical position of humanism, which assumes that humane nature is ultimately good
altruism
an action that is performed to benefit a person without benefiting the self
helping behaviour
an action that is performed to help another person
prosocial behaviour
an action that is positively valued by society
those with the ______ (lowest/highest) income give more to charity
lowest
what are the three key themes of altruism?
- bystander intervention
- situational and dispositional determinants of helping behaviour
- helping behaviour in the context of social dilemmas
bystander intervention
the act of helping a person in danger or distress by people who are not its cause
what happened in the Kitty Genovese case?
38 residents heard her getting attacked (stabbed, raped, and killed), none of them did anything
- the apparent actions of the bystanders overshadowed the brutality of the murder and sparked many studies on bystander intervention
what did Darley and Latané find about the bystander intervention (fake seizure)
more bystanders = less bystander help, more time to act
what are the four gates of bystander intervention found by Latané and Darley
- notice the incident
- interpret it as an emergency
- assume responsibility
- try to help
diffusion of responsibility
one explanation why bystanders do not intervene is the perception that someone else will
pluralistic ignorance
the phenomenon whereby people wrongly assume, based on others’ actions, that they endorse a particular norm
four scenarios where people help more?
- when they have been drinking
- when they are with friends
- if they believe others around them will also intervene
- if they are ‘ingroup’
mechiavellianism (define, and probability to intervene?
individual differences variable associated with the tendency to manipulate others for personal gain (low probability of intervening)
belief in a just world (define and probability to intervene)
belief that the world is a just place in which people get what they deserve (high probability)
empathy (define and probability to intervene)
the ability to take the perspective of others (high probability)
empathetic concern
an emotional reaction to the suffering of others which results from their taking perspective, and which is thought by many researchers to motivate helping behaviour
moral reasoning (define and probability to intervene)
the extent to which people compare their own needs with overarching moral standards (high moral standards = high probability)
extensitivity (define and probability to intervene)
a person’s sense that they are obligated to help others, both close and distant (widened feeling of responsibility = higher probability)
religiosity (define and probability to intervene)
extent of a having a religious belief (high religiosity = high probability)
is there a gender difference in one’s probability to help?
YES!
- men help more when bravery or heroism is involved
- women help more in long term care and volunteering
does mood have an influence on helping?
yes, both good and bad moods can entice altruism,
do role models impact likelihood of helping?
yess! seeing someone help others makes us more likely to help
does culture influence altruism?
yes! possibly due to productivity (countries who earn more are less likely to help), religion, cultural norms
do similarities influence one’s ability to help?
yes! the more similar some is or appears to be, the more likely we are to help them (dress, nationality, attitudes, groups, etc.)
what did Regan et al. find when exploring the power of the situation?
we help others to make ourselves feel better
what is Cialdini’s perspective on altruism?
there is no ‘true’ or ‘pure’ altruism, it always has selfish motives
Batson’s empathy-alturism hypothesis
helping behaviour is sometimes motivated by empathetic concerns for the welfare of others; some actions are driven by empathy with a genuine desire to help
what are the two possible explanations from evolutionary psychologists as to why we commit altruistic acts?
kin selection ( helping kin promotes successful reproduction) and reciprocal altruism (mutual survival)
what are the two types of rewards for helping?
internal (feeling good about oneself) and external (some type of reward)
kin selection
acting differently towards members of the same species depending on their degree of genetic relatedness to the self; can deter animals from mating, but can encourage them to act altruistically
reciprocal alturism
acting altruistically towards members of the same specie that have already helped them; mutual change of survival