Chapter 8 Flashcards
(20 cards)
altruism
any behavior that is designed to increase another person’s welfare that does not provide a reward to the person who performs it
positive moods
increase altruism because if we are in a good mood that means our environment is safe (evolutionary) and we can trust others
guilt
a negative feeling that arises when we think we have caused harm
social exchange theory
social behavior depends on costs and benefits, (people will only help each other if the benefits outweigh the costs)
empathy
putting oneself in the shoes of another person and experiencing events and emotions as they do
empathy altruism hypotheses
if we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help them out of purely altruistic reasons regardless of costs and benefits
kin selsection
helping relatives contributes to reproductive success so we are more likely to assist those we are close or related to
reciprocal altruism
if we help other people now, they will return the favor in the future
social responsibility
we should help others who need it even without the expectation of a future reward or payback
social learning
children learn early that altruism is good and are praised for being helpful
bystander effect
the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them will help such as in the case of kitty genovese
bystander intervention
noticing an event: crowded areas make it more difficult
interpreting an event: ambiguous situations make it more unclear whether an intervention is required
pluralistic ignorance
when people think that others in the environment have information that they don’t leading to conformity and the bystander effect
diffusion of responsibility
as witnesses increase, their sense of responsibility for the situation decreases
empathic concern
concern for others, their wellbeing, and their best interest
just world beliefs
tend to be internal attributions for misfortune
grattitude
positive feelings after we’ve been helped, evolved to regulate reciprocity norms
ingroup vs outgroup
we are more likely to feel empathy towards members of our ingroup rather than our outgroup
gender differences and helping
women are more likely to engage in altruistic behavior due to their greater concern for others, but are less likely to be recognized for their efforts leading to misleading statistics
religion and altruism
the correlation depends on why the person is religious, individuals who are religious for their own benefit are less likely to help than those who are religious for the benefit of others
