Prosocial Behavior (Why do people help?) Flashcards
Prosocial behavior
any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person.
altruism
desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper.
Evolutionary psychology
is the attempt to explain social behavior in terms of genetic factors that evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection
Kin selection
is the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection
norm of reciprocity
is the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future
gratitude
the positive feelings that are caused by the perception that one has been helped by others – evolved in order to regulate reciprocity.
Evolutionary Psych: instinct and Genes
- kin selection
- reciprocity norm
- learning social norms
- group selection
Evolutionary Psych: instinct and Genes
- kin selection
- reciprocity norm
- learning social norms
- group selection
Social exchange theory
argues that much of what we do stems from the desire to maximize our outcomes and minimize our costs.
Social exchange theory
argues that much of what we do stems from the desire to maximize our outcomes and minimize our costs.
empathy
putting ourselves in the shoes of another person and experiencing events and emotions the way that person experiences them.
Batson
strongest proponent that people often help purely out of the goodness of their hearts.
empathy-altruism hypothesis
when we feel empathy for another person, we will attempt to help the person for purely altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain.
empathy-altruism hypothesis
when we feel empathy for another person, we will attempt to help the person for purely altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain.
attachement styles.
refer to people’s expectations about the nature of relationships with others, based not he relationships they had with their primary caregiver when they were infants.
secure attachment style
characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned and the view that one is worthy and well liked.
altruistic personality
the qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations.
in-group
the group with which an individual identifies.
out-group
a group with which an individual do not identify.
simpatia
refers to a range of social and emotional traits, including being friendly, polite, good-natured, pleasant, and helpful toward others.
Good moods can increase helping for three reasons
(1) good moods make us interpret events in a sympathetic way;
(2) helping another prolongs the good mood, whereas not helping deflates it;
(3) good moods increase self-attention, and this in turn leads us to be more likely to behave according to our values and beliefs (which tend to favor altruism).
urban-overload hypothesis
the idea that people living in cities are likely to keep to themselves in order to avoid being overloaded by all the stimulation they receive
bystander effect
is the finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help.
diffusion of responsibility
the phenomenon whereby each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases
