PSYC*2310 Chapter 12: Altruism and Prosocial Behaviour Flashcards
What is altruism?
Helping others without expectation of person gain
What is prosocial behaviour?
Any behaviour that has the goal of helping another person
In the study involving choosing between different amounts of electrical shocks and money, what pattern of behaviour did participants show with regard to their pain vs the pain of others?
Participants valued others’ pain more than their own
According to the evolutionary perspective, why do people act to help others, even at great personal cost?
To help ensure the survival of their genes, which can then be passed on
What is kinship selection?
The idea that we’re more likely to help those we are genetically related to
According to the reciprocal prosocial behaviour perspective, why do people help others?
To increase the odds that they, in turn, will be helped by those others
What do the gender differences in helping behaviour reflect, if not the innate assignment of gender?
Societally given roles
Are those who possess prosocial traits more likely to be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to help others?
Intrinsically
What trait is described by the ability to understand other’s perspectives and respond emotionally to other’s experiences?
Empathy
What is moral reasoning?
The extent to which a person’s willingness to help depends on larger moral standards rather than the person’s needs and the expected consequences of helping
T or F: Those who hold strong and conservative religious beliefs are very likely to help anyone in need of.
False, they are likely to help only those who they believe are deserving
According to the decision-making process model, what are the five steps that must be taken to engage in a helping behaviour?
- Notice something happening
- Interpret the event as an emergency
- Take responsibility for providing help
- Decide how to help
- Provide help
Why is the first step in the decision-making process model often difficult to do?
Because people are often highly self-focused
Are people more or less likely to help in situations where public awareness and accountability are high?
More likely
In the context of helping, what is puristic ignorance?
The assumption each person makes that because others aren’t reacting, there is no emergency
What is diffusion of responsibility?
The assumption people make that others in the situation will assume responsibility so they don’t have to
What is the bystander effect?
Describes people’s tendency to be less likely to help in an emergency when others are present than if they were witnessing the emergency alone
In the context of helping, what is audience inhibition?
The fact that people may be reluctant to help because they fear making a bad impression in front of others
When surrounded by several friends, does diffusion of responsibility increase or decrease?
Decrease
What are three strategies for getting help?
- Identify one person in the crowd and call them out directly
- Clearly label the situation as an emergency
- Give instructions on how exactly the person should help
What does the arousal/ cost-reward model propose about helping behaviour?
Helping behaviour is caused in part by the physiological arousal experienced when witnessing someone in need of help and in part by the calculation of the cost and rewards of providing such help
According to the cost-reward model, why are people motivated to help?
To reduce the arousal experienced when they see others suffering
Does teaching someone about the personal costs of prosocial behaviour lead to an increase or decrease in helping?
Decrease
Were monetary incentives found to be more effective in increasing prosocial behaviour when the incentive was public or private?
Private
In the context of altruism, what is overjustification?
When receiving a reward leads to attributing altruistic behaviour to external factors rather than internal factors
What is the good mood effect?
The finding that when people are in a good mood they’re more likely to help
What are three reasons good moods lead to helping?
- People help to maintain their own good mood
- Being in a good mood may make the benefits of helping more salient than the costs
- A person in a good mood has increased self-awareness, so they want to match their behaviour to their internal values
T or F: Bad moods increase the likelihood of prosocial behaviour.
True
What is one reason why being in a bad mood may increase helping?
People help others to make themselves feel better, whether it’s to make up for a wrongdoing or simply to counteract an overall bad mood
What is the exception to the tendency for bad moods to increase helping?
When a person has been socially excluded or ostracized
T or F: Being exposed to highly altruistic models may reduce helping.
True
What is the urban overload hypothesis?
The hypothesis that people who live in urban areas are constantly exposed to stimulation, which leads them to have a decreased awareness of their environment
What are four factors that explain why, when in a large city, people are less likely to help?
- The urban overload hypothesis
- People in large cities tend to be less similar
- People in large cities tend to be more anonymous to those around them
- The larger population creates more of a diffusion of responsibility
What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
The idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will help them, even if we incur a cost for doing so
According to which hypothesis of prosocial behaviour, are some helpful actions genuinely motivated by a desire to do good for others?
The empathy-altruism hypothesis
What does Daniel Batson’s model of helping behaviour propose?
That people can either help for egoistic or altruistic motives, depending on whether they adopt the other person’s perspective and feel empathy
According to Batson, if the observer helps someone to relieve their own distress, is their motive for helping egoistic or altruistic?
Egoistic
According to Daniel Batson’s model of helping, does true altruistic behaviour exist?
Yes
Between empathetic concern and perspective-taking, which was associated with lower grey matter volume in the left anterior cingulate, and which was associated with greater grey matter volume in the left anterior cingulate?
- Empathy: lower grey matter volume in left anterior cingulate
- Perspective-taking: greater grey matter volume in left anterior cingulate
What are mirror neurons?
Neurons that fire when the doing something, and when observing another doing that same thing
Does feeling similar to someone increase or decrease empathy and subsequent helping?
Increase
What is the negative-state relief hypothesis?
The idea that people are motivated to help others in order to relieve their own negative feelings
T or F: Empirical support for the negative-state relief hypothesis is limited.
True
How do the empathy-altruism and negative-state relief hypotheses differ in terms of how they describe the self-benefits of helping?
- Empathy-altruism: The self-benefits of helping are an unintended consequence
- Negative-state relief: The self-benefits of helping are a person’s primary motivation
What are three egoistic explanations for helping?
- Reduction of adverse arousal
- Fear of punishment for not helping
- Desire for reward
What does Batson argue about only helping to reduce personal adverse arousal?
That people who feel empathy for the person in distress will help even if they can avoid personal discomfort simply by leaving
Which gender is more likely to ask for and receive help?
Women
Are younger or older children more likely to ask for help?
Younger
Do extroverted or introverted individuals have a more positive attitude towards seeking help?
Extroverted
What is the norm of reciprocity?
The idea that we should help those in need of assistance because they will help us in the future
What is the norm of social responsibility?
The idea that we have an obligation to help those in need of assistance, regardless of an expectation for future help
Do altruistic people tend to have a belief in a just world?
Yes
Are people more or less likely to help when they perceive the person’s need for help as being caused by something out of that person’s control?
More likely
What is an exchange relationship?
A relationship in which people desire and expect strict reciprocity
What is the self-evaluation maintenance model?
The theory that our self-concept can be threatened if someone performs better than us on a task that’s relevant to our sense of esteem
According to the self-evaluation maintenance model, when the relevance of a domain is high to a person, are they more or less likely to help a friend in that domain?
Less likely
According to the self-evaluation maintenance model, when the relevance of a domain is low to a person, are they more likely to help a friend or a stranger in that domain?
More likely to help a friend
What is supportive help?
Help given by someone who isn’t similar to us and is given in a way that doesn’t make us feel inferior or dependent
What are the two most helpful ways to give social support to a person?
- When it’s invisible (accomplished outside the person’s awareness)
- When it can be reciprocated
T or F: In all cultures, helping behaviour is more likely to be given to one’s in-group than to an out-group
True
What was the most consistent predictor of helping across countries?
The country’s economic productivity
Do people in countries where earning are higher tend to help more or than in countries where earning are lower?
Helped less
Is the finding that people in larger cities are less helpful consistent cross-culturally?
Yes
Are people from collectivistic or individualist cultures less likely to seek help?
Collectivistic cultures
How do people from individualistic and collectivistic view the norm of reciprocity differently?
- Individualistic: Reciprocity is seen as a matter of personal choice
- Collectivistic: Reciprocity is seen as a moral imperative
