Lecture 9 - Prosocial Behaviour Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is prosocial behaviour?
Acts positively valued by society
“Behaviour that has positive social consequences and contributed to the well-being of another person” (Hogg & Vaughn, 2014) – psychological and physical well-being
What is helping behaviour?
Intentional and benefits another
What is altruism?
Act to benefit other rather than self, performed without expectation of personal gain, can be costly
How does the evolutionary perspective explain why people help?
In terms of consequences (benefit to recipient and cost to performer, regardless of intention)
How do contemporary neo-Darwinism models of evolution describe evolutionary success?
Survival of one’s genes in subsequent generations
How does the evolutionary perspective explain the existence of prosocial tendencies in humans (Penner et al., 2005)?
(1) Genetically based predispositions to act prosocially
(2) The evolutionary success of people who displayed such predispositions
What is kin selection?
Evolutionary benefit in terms of inclusive fitness to those who help relatives (successive transmission of genes from all sources to the next generation)
Humans more inclined to help relatives than unrelated individuals (Barrett et al., 2002)
How did Burnstein et al. (1994) provide evidence for kin selection?
Asked undergraduate participants to rate who they would help in different situations
Tendency to help people who varied in kinship in two conditions: healthy vs. sick, everyday vs. life-or-death situations
More willing to help closer kin than more distant kin
More likely to help people who were healthy rather than sick in life-or-death situations; more likely to help people who were sick than healthy in everyday situations
Healthy individuals more likely to reproduce (maximise inclusive fitness/gene survival)
What is reciprocal altruism?
Helping others increases the likelihood that they will help us
What is indirect reciprocity?
Situations where direct reciprocity impossible
Indirect reciprocity = if individual has helped someone, more likely to be helped in future
What is reciprocity?
Reciprocity - benefits that may add to evolutionary success - increases status and reputation in community (reputation means likely to be rewarded by others in the future)
Penner et al. (2005)
How may we learn to be helpful?
Observational learning/modelling
Using reinforcement - acts that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated
What are social norms for helping?
Standard for helping, what is appropriate in a specific context
What is the reciprocity principle?
We should help those who help us
What is social responsibility?
We should help people who are dependent and in need, without regard to future exchanges
Who came up with the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
Batson et al. (1987, 1991, 1997)
What are the four stages in the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
Perception that someone needs help
Perspective taking: imagining how that person feels
Empathic concern
Altruistic motive - ultimate goal of increasing other’s welfare
Describe the process of the empathy-altruism hypothesis
Imagining how you would feel -> personal distress -> egoistic motivation to reduce personal distress
Motivation for why people help
What kind of state is altruism?
Motivational state - to increase another person’s welfare
What is egoism?
Increase own welfare is ultimate goal e.g. to decrease guilt/distress for not helping or to feel good about ourselves
When is helping altruistic?
If feeling good about yourself is not intended
What is empathic concern?
Sympathy, compassion etc. (feel for the other person)
What is alutruistic?
More likely to help even if it is easy for us to escape that context
Describe the Kitty Genovese murder
The Kitty Genovese murder
Late one night Kitty Genovese on her way home; attacked & killed
In the half-hour of attack, not one of her neighbours helped
1 anonymous phone call to police 30 minutes later
38 people admitted to hearing the screaming (some doubt and critiques)
