5 Reciprocity and Liking Flashcards
(40 cards)
Art
Cialdini on Altruism
-true altruism might be an illusion
-altruistic acts might instead
be caused by self-centered motivations
-most, if not all, prosocial actions are caused ultimately by egoistic motivations such as the desire to avoid guilt or to enhance one’s own mood
-when people help others, they are really helping themselves, and thus the act is not truly selfless
-on “oneness”: many
cases of apparent altruism involve people helping that part of themselves
that is merged into their representation of the person being helped
Art
Batson on Altruism
-empathy-altruism hypothesis = altruism is alive and well in human
prosocial behavior
-altruism exists insofar as prosocial actions are motivated by a genuinely selfless desire to benefit another person
-truly selfless acts could arise out of a feeling
of empathic concern for another person
-evidence for the empathy-altruism hypothesis = factors that increase empathy also tend to increase the likelihood of aiding a person in need of help
-even if an individual experiences self-rewards
such as enhanced mood or relief from guilt from behaving prosocially,
the action is altruistic if it is initially motivated by a desire to help the other person; that is, although self-rewards may be the consequence, they are not necessarily the cause of helping behavior
-empathic concern does not predict helping behavior under conditions of substantial cost
Art
Is caregiving a fundamental human motive?
CIALDINI
-a sense of merged identity or oneness reflects a psychological mechanism by which individuals recognize kin and those likely to reciprocate
-motivation for costly helping would conveniently
occur under conditions in which it is adaptive to sacrifice: under
circumstances of shared genes or when others are likely to return favors
-oneness also powerfully predicts helping among friends and even acquaintances or near-strangers
-oneness = motivational mechanism for costly helping?
-social bonds were designed by evolution to help
individuals inhibit self-centered impulses in ways that favor the motivation
to give help to others.
Art
Selective Investment Theory
Selective Investment Theory = significant costs of allocating resources to nonrelatives or non reciprocators means that social bonds, because they motivate sacrifice, must emerge selectively with recipients who are not likely
to exploit altruistic tendencies and with recipients who are in a position to enhance the fitness of the helper
Implication:
- because the vulnerability of the person in need implies a low probability of exploitation, genuine signs of need trigger remarkable instances of sacrifice even for strangers
- the functional significance of close, bonded relationships as motivational mechanisms that enable individuals to give away their resources to others
=> suggests that CAREGIVING = Fundamental human motivation
Art
Implications of social bonding and prosocial behavior for physical health
-robust association between social relationships and health, such that people in close relationships are healthier and live longer than do those who are
socially isolated
-the health benefits of being in close relationships might stem primarily from giving
social support, rather than from receiving it
-evidence suggests that individuals who provide help to others live longer and are healthier than those who do not
-many psychological and physical benefits to giving social support
Ch2
Rule of reciprocation
Rule of reciprocation:
- what somebody else has given us should be repaid
- “We are obliged to repay”
- an adaptive mechanism that serves to divide labor and the exchange of natural produce and services
- binds those individuals together to form a highly effective group
- longevity of reciprocation = difference concerning the kind of favor that was provided in the first place
Ch2
How does the rule of reciprocation work?
- how strong the rule for reciprocity is - it can even overrule a factor as strong as sympathy/liking
- benefactor-before-beggar strategy (favor is done before getting paid)
Ch2
Free samples
people are falling prey to the rule of reciprocity by buying things they don’t even like because they had been given a prior sample as a gift
Ch2
How does the rule of reciprocation invite a feeling of indebtedness?
- If it serves to establish interdependent relationships between subjects resulting in the fact that initiation of such a relationship is possible without having to fear a loss, then most certainly a first favor has to be met with an obligation, no matter whether this was asked for or not
- pressure to conform to this rule is strongly embedded in our culture
Ch2
How can the rule of reciprocation lead to unequal exchanges?
- we generally dislike the feeling of indebtedness
- we fear being disliked by our social group and sometimes comply with an unequal request in order to avoid being stigmatized
- we are unlikely to ask for a favor in the first place if we are not able to repay it
Ch2
What is the technique of rejection-then-retreat?
rejection-then-retreat = door-in-the-face strategy
- starting out with a larger request that the victim is most likely to reject, the likelihood is increased that a subsequent smaller request will be obeyed
- important aspect was its relative size compared to the initial request
Ch2
How do concessions and perceptual contrast work in practice?
-different things presented one after another will seem more different than they objectively are
Ch2
Advantages of rejection-then-retreat
- win/win
- smaller request is almost always met with compliance
Ch2
Positive side effects of the rejection-then-retreat?
- when we comply with acts of concessions we feel more responsible for the arrangement we have just established
- more satisfied with our work
Ch2
How can exploitation of the rule be prevented?
need to see those offers as what they truly are
Ch5
Tupperware party
- we are more likely to comply with a request if the requester is somebody we like and know
- the presence of the friend is not even necessary to elicit the desired behavior, mentioning the name is often sufficient
Ch5
Factors that cause likability
- Physical Attractiveness:
- beautiful people are often treated superior
- unaware of the impact that attractiveness has
- halo effect
- being good-looking increases the chance of receiving help when needed and to change other’s opinions - Similarity
sense of opinions, personality traits, background, and lifestyle - Compliments
whether the stated compliments were correct or not, they produced identical amounts of liking - Contact and Cooperation
- People like what is familiar to them
- increased mutual exposure will also increase prejudice between black and white students -> conditions is competition
- education professionals developed a concept of cooperative learning to reduce competition to a healthier level
Ch5
Cooperative Learning
Sharif:
- The need for cooperation led to a fast abandonment of previous rivalry and both groups worked harmoniously to achieve their common goals
- Jigsaw classroom = cooperation among students in order to work through all the material that is to be tested in the end
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Due to the contrast principle, Good Cop will be perceived as even more likable compared to Bad Cop
Ch5
How can exploitation be prevented?
Instead of focusing on the things that elicit our liking of the exploiters or the products they promote, we should merely concentrate on the fact that inadequate liking has been produced
Reciprocity
-We should try to repay what another person has provided us (fairness)
-Gift, favors, invitations, etc.
-Reciprocity= Give something without actually losing
-Adaptive: create dependencies that bind individuals together
-Powerful
-Applies even to uninvited first favor
(someone else can initiate a relationship of obligation without our asking for it
Initiator is in charge)
-The reciprocity rule can spur unequal exchanges
Reciprocity
Evolutionary explanations for helping:
- Kin selection theory (degree of helping depends on the number of shared genes)
- Reciprocal altruism theory
(Expecting reciprocity, meercats)
Generalized reciprocity
- Test rats that recently experienced help pulled more often than when they had not experienced help.
- The pulling frequency was on average 21% higher in the helper treatment than in the nonhelper condition
Reciprocity
Ultimate Game
- Assignment: Divide 10 euro between yourself and other
-Bidder: offers amount between 0 and 10 euro
-Receiver: Accepts or rejects offer
-Rules:
Accept offer: both keep money
Reject offer: both get nothing
RESEARCH You are the receiver you get an offer of 2 Euro. What do you do? -Classical economics: Accept! Something better than nothing. Rejecting costs money. -Reality: Offer rejected => Punish the other -Why? => Social Psychology: fairness
Reciprocity
How does it work?
Why is it so powerful?
- Violations sanctioned (Social norm!)
- Avoid social disapproval
- Obligation to receive
- Impolite to reject a gift
- Often surprised
- Power in hands of the giver: choice of gift and favor
- Emotions such as gratitude (upon receiving a benefit) and guilt (upon failure to repay) are powerful motivators of reciprocation