Week 9 - Helping others

Question 1

The selfish gene explains (kinship theory)

Answer 1

The tendency to help relstives - not survival of the fittest.. strongest when biological stakes are high (life or death)

Question 2

Influence of wealth and health

Answer 2

More likely to help sick relatives than healthy

Question 3

Reciprocal altruism

Answer 3

Helping someone can be in your best Interest - increases l Iikelihood of being helped in return

Question 4

Altruism and helping in genetic survival

Answer 4

Those who are altruistic more likely to survive - group survival

Question 5

Indirect reciprocity

Answer 5

I help you and somebody else helps me

Question 6

When are we more likely to help others

Answer 6

When the reward seems high relative to costs

Question 7

Arousal cost reward model

Answer 7

In emergency situations people act in the mostcost-effective way to reduce the arousal of shock and alarm

Question 8

Negative state relief model

Answer 8

Proposes that people help to counter their own negative feelings i.e sadness or guilt

Question 9

Cialdini 1973 -praise on negative state

Answer 9

Those who received a praise were less likely to help - had negative state relieved by praise

Question 10

Sept 11 neg state relief evidence (Wayment 2004)

Answer 10

Individuals who engaged in collective helping reported higher levels of guilt following the attacks

Women who engaged in collective helping reported a larger decrease in survivor guilt 6 months later compared to those not engaged in collective helping

Question 11

Helping to fit moral principles

Answer 11

Motivated to help because it is in consistent with moral principles -e.g right thing to do

Also the appearance of being good but actually self-serving

Question 12

Altruism

Answer 12

Motivated by the desire to increase another’s wellfare

Question 13

Egoism

Answer 13

Motivated by thedesire to to increase one’s own welfare

Question 14

Batson, 1991 altruism hyp

Answer 14

There is true altruism, adoption of other person’s perspective is key (empathy)

Question 15

Batson 1983 data altruism

Answer 15

Empathic altruistic individuals respond no differently in easy and difficult situations

Question 16

Altruism vs egoism limits

Answer 16

Not all helping is altrustically motivated

Motives do not guarantee behavior

Question 17

Bystander effect

Answer 17

E.g Kitty Genovese

Presence of others inhibits helping -‘some one else will help’-difussion of responsibility

Question 18

How to get help in a crowd

Answer 18

• eye contact
• pointing
• direct requests

Question 19

Evidence of bystander effect online

Answer 19

Takes longer for help depending on amount of people in chat room

Question 20

Effect of time pressure on helping

Answer 20

Those who were pressured for time helped less than thkse who were told they were early (Darley & Batson, 1973)

Question 21

Cost of living on helping

Answer 21

Negatively correlated with helping

Question 22

Influence of economic wellbeing

Answer 22

The more well-off less likely to help

Question 23

Indivialistic culture and helping

Answer 23

More likely to exihibt helping charitable and volunteering behaviour than collectivist - planned more so

Question 24

The impact of scent on helping behavior

Answer 24

Percent helped lower when neutral smell compared to pleasant smell - 19% / 55 % -good mood-

Question 25

Impact of weather

Answer 25

More people help in sunny weather compared to cloudy-good mood-

Question 26

Why does feeling good lead to doing good

Answer 26

• desire to maintain one’s good mood…

Question 27

When negative moods make us more likely to help

Answer 27

If we take responsibility for cause of bad mood (guilt) and focus on other people…. not as strong as influence of good mood on helping

Question 28

Altruistic personality traits

Answer 28

• empathy
• internalised and advanced level of moral reasoning - conscientiousness
• Miller et al 1996 - combination of cold reasoning and hot empathy required

Question 29

What is beautiful is good stereotype

Answer 29

Stereotype that physically attractive individuals possess more positive personality traits compared to unattractive people who are stereotypically seen to have negative personality traits

Question 30

What is beautiful is self centered stereotype

Answer 30

Physically attractive people also believed to be more vain or egotistical

Question 31

Influence of similarity on

Answer 31

More likely to help those who are similar to you
Racial data - highly inconsistent…. possibly due to worry about public perception. Less likely to help other race if there is an excuse not toan

Question 32

Influence of closeness

Answer 32

More likely to help friends/family

Question 33

Gender influences

Answer 33

• women tend to help both men and women
• men help women more than other men
• men tend to ask for help less frequently, less socially acceptable (threat to self-esteem model)

Question 34

Threat to self-esteem model

Answer 34

Help is experienced as self-supportive when recipient feels appreciated and cared for.

Help is experiencedas selfthreatening …

Question 35

Explain the empathy-altruism hypothesis

Answer 35

The proposition that empathic concern for a person in need produces an altruistic motive for helping.

Question 36

The five steps in the helping process (and obstacles between steps)

Answer 36

-situational time pressure etc -
distractions

Step 1 - notice that something is happening

-ambiguity
-relationship
-pluralistic ignorance
Step 2 - Interpret event as emergency

-diffusion of responsibility (someone else called 911)
Step 3 - Take responsibility for providing help

Lack of competence
Step 4 - Decide how to help

Audience inhibition
costs > rewards
Step 5 - Provide help

Question 37

Pluralistic ignorance

Answer 37

The state in which people in a group mistakenly think that their own individual thoughts, feelings, or behaviors are different from those of the others in the group.