lecture 7 - altruism,empathy and cooperation

Question 1

what is altruism

Answer 1

-refers to unselfish behaviour that benefits others without regard to consequences for oneself

reports of people risking their lives for strangers in need like Autrey and Rusesabagina are not rare
-humans are prone to feelings of compassion that lead to altruistic behaviour, often at the cost of ourselves

Question 2

what can inhibit altruistic action

Answer 2

-many forces can inhibit altruistic action, including basic tendencies towards self preservation and fear of embarrassment

Question 3

-motives that are in play during altruistic actions
(baston and shaw 1991)

Answer 3

-social rewards
-personal distress
-empathetic concern

Question 4

motive of social rewards
-what are social rewards
-what can activate rewards
-selfish motive or unselfish

Answer 4

-Social rewards, such as praise and positive regard from others, are a powerful but egoistic motive for altruism campbell 1975)

• recent neuroscientific studies find that being esteemed by others activates circuits in the brain associated with rewards and personal safety (inagaki and eisenberger,2013)

-Social rewards can be so potent that they can trigger arms races of altruism , referred to as competitive altruism

-this is a selfish motive

Question 5

motive of altruism : personal distress
-what is it
-newborn cries evidence
-selfish or unselfish motive

Answer 5

-personal distress, which is the feeling of discomfort caused by observing someone else in pain or distress, can also motivate altruistic behaviour as a way to alleviate one’s own discomfort (cialdini and kenrick 1976)

-the new borns cried the most in response of the cries of another new born (martin and clark 1982)

-this is a selfish motive

Question 6

motive of empathic concern
-what is it
-autrey example
-selfish or unselfish

Answer 6

-Empathic concern is a selfless or other-oriented altruism, the feeling of identifying with someone in need and the intention to enhance the other person’s welfare, even at one’s own expense.

Batson and Shaw (1991) argues that empathic concern is a quick and intuitive process that produces a selfless or other-oriented altruism.

Empathic concern is the feeling that led Autrey to help the young student on the subway tracks, and caused Rusesabagina to risk his life to help the Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide.

-selfless motive

Question 7

how can researchers document that altruistic action can be motivated by empathic concern alone, independent of the desire for social rewards or to reduce personal distress ?

Answer 7

participants encounter another person (confederate) in distress (receiving shocks after mistakes in a task) for whom they feel empathic concern.

-egoistic motives are manipulated to make helping behaviour more likely (1983) (they were allowed to leave)

Question 8

how can researchers document that altruistic action can be motivated by empathic concern alone, independent of the desire for social rewards or to reduce personal distress ?

experiment- altruism motivated by?
describe the experiment

Answer 8

participants encounter another person (confederate) in distress (receiving shocks after mistakes in a task) for whom they feel empathic concern.

-egoistic motives are manipulated to make helping behaviour more likely (1983) (they were allowed to leave)
-the participants had ability to escape the situation and reduce their personal distress without helping

-after the first two shocks, the confederate , made up to look a little pale, asked for a glass of water, mentioned feelings of discomfort and recounted (told) a traumatic shock experience from childhood

Question 9

experiment- altruism motivated by?
-how were participants divided into egoistic distress and empathic concern

Answer 9

-based on their self reports, ppts were divided into those who were feeling egoistic distress and those who were feeling empathic concern

Question 10

experiment- altruism motivated by?
-how else did they test what the altruism was motivated by
-results

Answer 10

-the experimenter then turned to the participant to ask whether they would be willing to take some of the confederate’s shocks
-participants who felt empathic concern volunteered to take more shocks on behalf of the confederate, even when they could simply leave the experiment

Question 11

experiment- altruism motivated by?
-limitations

Answer 11

-empathic concern was not manipulate thus potential selection bias
-experimenter knew how the participant acted, so a social rewards account of this study cannot be ruled out

Question 12

altruism : anonymity exp
-describe it
-how was empathy manipulated

Answer 12

-female ppts were asked to interact with a communicator (a student confederate named Janet Arnold) through 2 written notes
-the empathy of the participant was manipulated by
-asking them to imagine the feelings of the communicator
-or to be objective (2 conditions)
-janet arnold expressed a need for friendship in the second note and asked the ppt to hang out with her fultz et al 1986)

Question 13

anonymity exp
-low social evaluation
-high social evaluation

Answer 13

Low Social evaluation: Janet’s notes were delivered in sealed envelopes, and the experimenter did not read them.

High Social evaluation: the experimenter and the participant read Janet’s notes.

Question 14

altruism
anonymity experiment
-how did they measure empathy/altruism
-results

Answer 14

-after the experiment was ‘finished’ (to the participants) the ppt were asked if they would like to participate in a ‘long term relationship study’ with janet

-the critical dependent measure was the number of hours the participant volunteered to spend with janet

results showed that when participants empathise with someone in need , they engage in more altruistic action, even when their sacrifice is anonymous

Question 15

can empathic concern and a distinct physiological pattern predict altruistic behaviour?
describe einsberg experiment

Answer 15

einsburg et al 1989- used a video of a women and her children who had recently been in an accident to elicit empathic concern

-ppts facial expressions and continuous measures of heart rate were recorded while they watched the video

-after watching the video , ppts were given the chance to help by taking homework to the recovering children during their recess

Question 16

can empathic concern and a distinct physiological pattern predict altruistic behaviour?
einsberg experiment results

Answer 16

-ppts who felt sympathy for the accident victims (or empathic concern) had eyebrows pulled in and upward and a concerned gaze, as well as heart rate deceleration, and were more likely to help

-in contrast participants who reported distress while watching the video had a pained wince in the face and heart rate acceleration, and were less likely to help

Question 17

what does einsburg’s study suggest about empathic concern and helping behaviour

Answer 17

-the study suggests that empathic concern produces more helping behaviour than distress and it does so in part through a different pattern of physiological responses

Question 18

batsons research
-feelings of empathic concern related to helping behaviour
-empathy and liklihood for volunteering

Answer 18

Batson’s research shows that feelings of empathic concern and sympathy increase the likelihood that people will act altruistically, helping those who suffer.

Research by Omoto and Snyder(1995) suggests that feelings of empathic concern also predict the likelihood that an individual will engage in volunteerism, defined as non-monetary assistance.
-Volunteering is also good for one’s health, increasing longevity and overall well-being (Brown et al.,2003)

Question 19

can altruism and compassion be passed from parent to children?

Answer 19

research by the oliners (1988) suggests that altruism and compassion can be passed from parents to children, through the sharing of stories, teachings , and discussions of altruism as an important ethical principle in the household

Question 20

altruism s part of our evolutionary heritage
-chimpanzee observations
-young children tendencies
-are we wired to share and care

Answer 20

Batson’s studies of empathic concern showed humans may act altruistically guided by a more selfless motivational state.

Observations of chimpanzees and bonobos suggest they show rudimentary forms of altruistic behaviour, such as providing care to those in need and sharing food with non-kin.

Research by Felix Warneken and Michael Tomasello (2006) provides impressive evidence of the altruistic tendencies of young children, with 40-60% of 18-month-olds helping adult strangers in need.

-These findings suggest that humans are wired to care and share, with selfless altruism potentially being part of our evolutionary heritage

Question 21

situational determinants of altruism
-kitty genovese case

Answer 21

-the case in 1964 in which 38 neighbours admitted to hearing her screams but none intervened
-raised questions about human nature and the indifference to the suffering of others

The incident prompted social psychologists to attempt to understand the processes that inhibit altruistic action and make people reluctant to intervene during emergencies.

Question 22

situational determinants of altruism
darley and batson 1973
-good samaritan experiment

Answer 22

Inspired by the Bible parable of the Good Samaritan, seminary students gave a talk on either a neutral topic or the Good Samaritan story

Ppts were told they had plenty of time to get to the designated room or that they are late

On their way to give the talk, the students encountered a man who was visibly and audibly in distress, and their likelihood of stopping to help him was measured

Question 23

situational determinants of altruism
darley and batson 1973
-good samaritan experiment results
-main factor influencing helping behaviour

Answer 23

-the topic of the talk had no significant effect on helping behaviour

-the main factor that influenced helping behaviour was time pressure, and with those who were not in a hurry being more likley to stop and help the man than those who were in a hurry

-the study highlights the powerful influence that situational factors can have on altruistic behaviour, even among individuals who are expected to exhibit altruism (seminary students)

Question 24

define
-bystander intervention
-diffusion of responsibility

Answer 24

bystander intervention: assistance given by a witness to someone in need
diffusion of responsibility : a reduction of the sense of urgency to help someone involved in an emergency or dangerous situation, based on the assumption that others who are present will help

Question 25

-when are people most likely to help in a situation where someone is harmed
-does victims physical appearance matter
-does ethnicity matter

Answer 25

People are most likely to help when the harm to the victim is clear and the need is unambiguous

Victim’s physical appearance and characteristics can influence the rate of helping

People are more likely to help similar others Victims from the same racial or ethnic group are more likely to receive help

Non human primates respond altruistically only to members of their own group

The greater the costs associated with helping, the less inclined people are to act altruistically.

Question 26

construal processes and altruism
-how can instances of distress be ambiguous in every day life

Answer 26

In everyday life, many instances of distress are surprisingly ambiguous.

A loud apparent dispute between a man and a woman. Looming act of violence or non-threatening lover’s spat?

A group of adolescent boys may be pummelling a smaller boy—or perhaps they’re just playfully wrestling

Question 27

People are more likely to provide assistance when …… that led to the victim’s distress (Piliavin et al.,1976).
-more vivid condition
-less vivid condition
exp results

Answer 27

when they are vividly aware

More vivid condition, ppts saw the confederate faint and slowly regain consciousness.

Less vivid condition, ppts saw only the aftermath of the incident—a confederate just regaining consciousness.

Ppts were much more likely to come to the individual’s aid (89 percent versus 13 percent) when they saw the entire drama unfold, so that they could understand the full nature of the problem

Question 28

what is pluralistic ignorance

Answer 28

The surrounding social context also influences whether bystanders will think help is needed.

A form of pluralistic ignorance occurs when people are unsure about what is happening and assume nothing is wrong because no one else is responding or appears concerned.

Question 29

experiment with pluralistic ignorance
-the three conditions
describe the experiment

Answer 29

Latané and Darley (1968) asked ppts to fill out a stack of questionnaires.

There were three conditions: alone, in a room with two passive confederates exhibiting the calm demeanour intended to produce pluralistic ignorance, or with two other genuine participants.

As participants in these three conditions completed their questionnaires smoke started to filter in from beneath a door, filling the room.

Question 30

experiment with pluralistic ignorance
-results

Answer 30

When ppts were alone and had no input from other participants as to what was happening,75 percent of them left the room and reported the smoke to the experimenter.

In the two other conditions, pluralistic ignorance took hold, and participants were less likely to assume that something was amiss.

With three real participants, only 38 percent of the participants left to report the smoke.

And remarkably, with two passive confederates showing no signs of concern, only 10 percent reported the smoke to the experimenter

Question 31

how does culture influence altruism

Answer 31

Culture influences altruistic behaviour in different ways such as geographical region, social class, and religiousness.

People in rural areas report higher levels of empathic concern and are more likely to help strangers compared to those in urban areas(Smith, 2009).The effect of population size on helping behaviour is more pronounced in towns with populations between 1,000 and50,000 (Steblay, 1987)

Question 32

is a persons current context (rural or urban) stronger as a predictor of helping behaviour as compared to their rural or urban background

Answer 32

The participant’s current context, rural or urban, is a stronger predictor of helping behaviour than their rural or urban background.

The rural-urban difference in helping rates can be attributed to stimulus overload, the diversity hypothesis, diffusion of responsibility, and reputational concerns (Milgram,1970).

Question 33

how does social class influence levels of altruism

Answer 33

Studies show that people with less income donate a higher proportion of their income to charity than those with more income (Greve, 2009).

Lower-class individuals are more empathetically attuned to others due to a relative scarcity of resources and build strong relationships to adapt to unpredictable environments (Kraus etal., 2011).

Question 34

lower class/ higher class and empathy

Answer 34

Lower-class individuals are more empathetic and more likely to act in a prosocial fashion than upper-class individuals.
Upper-class individuals respond in a prosocial fashion when made to feel compassion.

Question 35

how can religion impact altruism

Answer 35

Religion can shape many aspects of social life, from moral beliefs to marriage partners
Major religions emphasise compassion, altruism, and treating others with kindness

Question 36

exosure to religious concepts can make people more…

Answer 36

more prosocial and generous (Shariff & Norenzayan,2007)

Secular concepts related to kindness and ethical behaviour can also generate similar levels of generosity.

The sense of being watched, which is prominent in religions, increases altruism, and can even be triggered by a simple geometric arrangement of dots