prosocial behaviour Flashcards
what is prosocial behaviour?
behaviour positively valued by society
what is helping behaviour?
intentional behaviour which benefits others
what is altruism?
acting to benefit another person without expecting personal gain
why do people help others?
evolutionary perspective
learning to be helpful
social norms
empathy altruism hypothesis
what is the evolutionary perspective?
evolutionary success- survival of genes in subsequent generations
prosocial tendencies exist as we are genetically predisposed to act socially, and this leads to evolutionary success
what is the first evolutionary perspective?
kin selection
what is the second evolutionary perspective?
recipricol altruism
what is kin selection?
evolutionary benefit to those who help relatives
more inclined to help relatives than unrelated individuals
what did Burnstein et al (1994) find out about kin selection?
looked at our tendencies to help in situations
healthy vs sick, everyday vs life or death
more likely to help healthy people in life or death situations, more likely to help sick people in everyday situations
who proposed recipricol altruism?
Penner at al, 2005
what is recipricol altruism?
helping others increases the likelihood that they will help us
benefits may add to evolutionary success as it increases our status in the community
how do we learn to be helpful?
observational learning
modelling
reinforcement- acts that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated
what are social norms?
the norms for helping: reciprocity principle, social responsibility
what is reciprocity principle?
we should help those who help us
what is social responsibility?
we should help people who are dependent and in need, without thinking of future exchanges
