DeWall, Baumeister, gailliot + Maner DEPLETION makes the heart glow less helpful Flashcards
What is the main point of the paper?
to help others, people may need to overcome a natural impulse towards selfishness + self-interest = motivational conflict
- to overcome this = requires advances psychological processes = SELF- REGULATION
What is self-regulation?
capacity to override some responses so as to enable others
- overcome socially undesirable impulses so as to behave in ways consistent w/ social + personal ideals
What evidence is there to suggest helping should occur primarily when people are able to override their initial self-interest impulses?
- Many innate dispositions would be selfish
2. Helping decreases as the cost of helping increases
What is the inclusive fitness theory Hamilton, 1964?
Helping kin may be genetically self-serving even if the cost to the individual is high
Dunford, 1977
- squirrels threatened by predators
KIN = signal them = moving = putting them at risk
NOT kit = freeze
What is the selfish gene, Dawkins 1976?
Bias for supporting/ helping family members even while it may oppose helping strangers
- may involve less motivational conflict vs helping strangers
What is ego depletion?
The state of reduced self-regulatory resources
- due to limited capacity for self-regulation
- resulting in poorer performance in subsequent self-regulatory activities
- performance in autonomic processes like memory seem to do fine in
What evidence is there for a link between self-regulation and blood glucose?
- Found to be potentially the most metabolically expensive activities as it requires overrides
- Laughlin, 2004
- Brain uses more glucose vs no conflict between mental processes - Fairclough + Houston, 2004
- self-regulation depletes glucose faster than it is replenished - Gailliot et al, 2007
- self-regulation causes behavioural impairments in subsequent self-regulation
What were the aims of E1, E2, E3 + E4?
E1: test if willingness to help would be reduced by acts of self-regulation
E2: sugary drink help to replenish self-regulation energy?
E3: Helping kin relatively more immune to effects of depletion vs stranger
What was the procedure of E1?
- no-depletion vs depletion condition
- cross out e’s for both rounds vs cross out e’s + new rules
- forming habit which needs to be broken - Brief Mood introspection scale
- measures current mood valance + arousal - 6 hypothetical helping scenarios
- giving money to homeless
- donating money to fun
- offering a ride
- giving directions
- allowing someone to use phone
- giving food to homeless
What were the findings of E1?
- Male ppt were more willing to help vs females
- Depletion would decrease willingness to help
- Depleted + non-depleted ppt did not differ in mood valance or arousal
- Neither mood valance nor arousal was significantly related to helping
= effect of depletion on helping not attributed to mood valance or arousal
What was the procedure of E2?
- Glucose vs placebo group
- Liking for drink scale
- Depletion vs no depletion group
- 6 min vid focus only on women, not words vs just watch - rigged listening to interview asking for help
- Giving opportunity to volunteer to help
What were the results of E2?
- Placebo + depletion = volunteered for fewer hrs vs non-depletion group
- Glucose = no difference between depletion + non-depletion group for volunteering hrs
- Depletion + glucose = volunteered for more hrs vs placebo
= glucose increased helping only for those who had exerted self-control + resources had been depleted - Liking of drink did not relate to number of hrs volunteered
What was the procedure of E3?
- depleting task groups vs non: crossing out e + breaking habit
- Brief mood introspection scale
- mental image of family or stranger
- How willing are they to help if they needed help?
- labour intensive forms of helping vs basic
What were the findings of E3?
- Ppt more willingness to help family members vs strangers
- main effect of depletion condition not significant - Stranger + depleted = less willing to help vs non-depleted
- Depleted + non = no difference in willingness to help family members
What are the limitations of this study?
- Didn’t identify exactly which motives might have led people to help
- desire to enhance welfare, own self-esteem, social acceptance, mood? - Alternative = less ability to manage self-presentation strategies
- only compared helping intensions towards strangers + family members
- intermediary position?? - No systematic manipulation of cost of helping
- Lack of observation of actual helping behaviour
- self-report = inflated to be socially desirable? - Measured willingness to help
- Lack of physiological measure
- could be an alternative source of fuel
