Chapter 8: Altruism - Helping Others - Stuff from Kathy not in text Flashcards
1
Q
What is altruism?
A
- helping people with no self reasoning/reward
- a motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s self interest
- no benefits offered or expected
- *social psychology identifies situations in which this occurs
- often we actually do benefit
- most motivational theorists believe that helping others benefits the giver as well as the receiver
2
Q
Pearce and Amato (1980) proposed a classification scheme categorizing helping others along three important dimensions. What are they?
A
- rated n terms of the degree to which it is planned and formal (e.g. volunteering) vs spontaneous and informal (helping someone pick up shit they dropped)
- can vary according to the severity of the problem (ex giving change to someone for a bus vs giving aid to someone injured )
- can vary in terms of whether it involves the indirect giving of assistance (donating to charity ex) or doing something directly to help a person in need (helping a child learn to ride a bike ex)
3
Q
Alternative Helping classification scheme by McGuire (1994), on the basis of university students’ responses, describes four kinds of assistance. What are they?
A
- casual helping - doing a small favour for an acquaintance e.g. lending a pen (helping with homework was the most frequently found one)
- substantial personal helping: helping a friend move into a new apartment
- emotional helping - providing emotional or personal support such as listening to personal problems
- emergency helping - giving assistance to a stranger who is a victim in an automobile accident (does not have to be as extreme)
4
Q
Social exchange theory?
A
- human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s rewards and minimize one’s costs
5
Q
Social exchange theory:
- rewards?
A
- can be internal or external
- increasing self worth, reclaiming a positive public image
- reducing distress, guilt (those that do good tend to do well in life)
**with young people those that do a helping behaviour for a reward are at decreased risk of committing a criminal act, getting pregnant and a dressed drop out of school rate. They feel good about themselves
6
Q
Social exchange theory:
-egosim?
A
- the idea that self interest motives all behaviour
7
Q
Social exchange theory:
- feel bad, do good?
A
- when one’s attention is on others, altruism is rewarding
8
Q
Social exchange theory
- Feel good, do good?
A
- happy people are helpful people
9
Q
Social exchange theory:
- Feel good, do good
L> Bernard Rimland ??
A
- selfish people are those whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness but when judged by others these selfish people are less likely to be seen as happy vs those that are devoted to helping others
10
Q
Social exchange theory
- Feel good, do good
L> Allan Feingold?
A
- selfessness and happiness may be related because they are socially desirable therefore we may see people we like as possessing both traits and those we dislike as having neither. Found via self rating scales of happiness and selflessness they found a positive correlation for males and not females
11
Q
What is empathy?
A
- the vicarious experience of another’s feeling; putting oneself in another’s shoes
12
Q
Empathy vs egoistic explained via viewing another’s distress (diagram)
A
- viewing another’s distress -> distress(upset, anxious, disturbed) –> egoistic motivation to reduce own distress –> behaviour (possibly helping others) to achieve reduction of own distress
- viewing another’s distress –> empathy (sympathy and compassion for other )–> altruistic motivation to reduce OTHER’S distress–> Behaviour (helping) to achieve reduction of other’s distress
13
Q
Empathy - Mark Davis (1980) study explained!
**think of the four different subscales used in his questionnaire ! Also female vs male.
A
- reported the mean score for undergraduates:
- fantasy scale -> 18.75 for women and 15.73 for men (women are higher aka)
- perspective-taking scale: 17.96 for women vs 16.78 for men (women are higher aka)
- empathetic concern scale - 21.67 for women vs 19.04 for men (women are higher aka)
- personal distress scale - 12.18 for women vs 9.46 for men (women are higher aka)
- *significant differences were also obtained on all our subscales
14
Q
Empathy - Mark Davis (1980) study
- How does empathy develop?
A
- early in development the child cannot differentiate well between the self and others; seeing another in distress, the child typically experiences it as his or her own distress
- with time this empathic distress gives way to what is called sympathetic concern. The child exhibits feelings of compassion and sympathy for the person in trouble
- *important factor contributing to is development of role taking skilling the child.
15
Q
Recommendations for socializing altruism:
- Alfie Kohn’s (1988) recommendations for raising helpful children?
A
- focus on the positive. Telling a child what not told o is insufficient. One must teach the child how and why to help
- Explain the reason. Children should hear why altruism is desirable as well as why aggression is not.
ex: sharing toys, other kid gets to play and that makes them feel good - Set an example. Especially before three years of age, children are strongly influenced by adult models. In general, showing how to be helpful is more effective than telling.
- Let them help. Taking care of a younger sibling or a pet enables the child to experience what it means to be prosocial. Children should have the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned about being sensitive to others.
- Promote a prosocial self image. Children should be taught to think of themselves as caring people even though their prosocial endives were initially shaped by a parent.
- Be warm, empathetic parent. Children who form a secure attachment to their parents are likely to feel that the world is a safe place. They are also likely to feel good about themselves and well disposed toward other people. Being responsive to children’s needs, including their occasional preference for distance form the parent, is also important.
