Understanding Altruism, Aggression, and Prejudice

Prosocial behavior

Any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person.

Altruism

The desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper.

Kin Selection

The idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection.

Norm of Reciprocity

The expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood they will help us in the future.

Evolutionary Psychology

Helping is an instinctive reaction to promote the welfare of those genetically similar to us.

Social exchange theory

Argues that true altruism does not exist; people help when the benefits outweigh the costs.

Empathy-altruism hypothesis

When we feel empathy for another person, we will attempt to help that person for purely altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain.

Carol study

People in the high-empathy condition reported feeling more sympathy, while those in the low-sympathy condition reported feeling less empathy.

Cultural differences in prosocial behavior

People are more likely to help those of in-group and help those of out-group when there is something in it for them.

Impact of moods on prosocial behavior

Feeling guilty, sad, and good leads people to help others.

Urban overload hypothesis

People are less likely to help in urban environments due to high stimulation; they would help as much as anyone else in a calmer environment.

Bystander effect

The greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any of them is to help.

Pluralistic Ignorance

The case in which people think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way, when in fact they are not.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The phenomenon wherein each bystander's sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases.

Latane & Darley’s 5-step model

Noticing, Interpreting, Taking responsibility, Knowing how to help, Deciding to implement help.

Evolutionary theory

Physical aggression is genetically programmed into men because it enables them to defend their groups and perpetuate their genes.

Reasons for male aggression

Men are theorized to aggress to establish dominance over other men and receive the highest possible status, and due to sexual jealousy to ensure their partner is not having sex with other men.

Testosterone and aggression

Testosterone only predicts aggression when there is a chance to gain something from that aggression.

Women's aggression

When women behave aggressively, it is to protect their own offspring.

Culture's influence on aggression

Humans are born with the capacity for aggressive behavior, but how, whether, when, and where we express it is learned and depends on circumstances and culture.

Culture of honor

A man's reputation for toughness is put on the line, requiring him to act aggressively to restore his status.

Homicide rates

Homicide rates for white males in the South and Southwest are significantly higher than those in the North.

Economic dependence and aggression

People who depend economically on agriculture tend to develop cooperative strategies for survival; people who depend on herds are extremely vulnerable because their livelihoods could be lost in an instant by the theft of their animals.

Gender and aggression

All genders act aggressively as frequently as one another, but with different levels of extremity.

Relational aggression

Women are more likely than men to commit relational aggression - harming another person through the manipulation of relationships.

Social Cognitive Learning Theory

People learn social behavior in large part through observation and imitation of others and by cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs.

Bandura's study

When adults performed aggressive acts on the Bobo doll, children would do the same, but if they were gentle with the doll, so were the children.

Alcohol and aggression

Alcohol lowers our inhibitions against acting in ways frowned upon by society, as does testosterone.

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

Frustration increases the probability of an aggressive response.

Relative deprivation

The perception that you (or your group) have less than you deserve, less than what you have been led to expect, or less than what people similar to you have.

Provocation and aggression

Provocation and aggression are so strongly linked they tend to overpower gender differences in aggression.

Weapons effect

Weapons as aggressive cues can increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior.

Berkowitz & Le Page study

Students who had been angered in the presence of a gun administered stronger electric shocks than those in the presence of a badminton racket.

Weapons effect

An increase in aggression can occur due to the mere presence of a gun or weapon.

Deontological thinkers

People who believe in absolute moral truths.

Utilitarian thinkers

People who believe that the most moral decision is the one that does the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Dehumanization

The process whereby we deny another human being their full identity.

Compassion collapse

The decreasing amount of compassion felt for victims of mass casualties versus the amount they feel for a single victim.

Norms

If they can do it, so can I.

Observational learning

Oh that's how you do it.

Misattributions

These feelings that I am having must be anger instead of a reaction to my stressful day.

Habituation

Another brutal beating, what's on the other channel?

Self-fulfilling prophecy

I had better get them, before they get me.

Punishment and aggression

If punishment is aggressive, it models behavior to children and may engender greater aggressiveness.

Effective punishment

For punishment to work, it needs to be prompt and certain.

Catharsis

Catharsis predicts that venting one's anger or watching others behave aggressively would serve to 'get it out of your system' and make people less likely to behave aggressively themselves.

Righteous aggression

Each act of 'righteous aggression' a person commits increases the likelihood it will be repeated again.

Prejudice

Hostile or negative attitude towards people in a distinguishable group, based solely or partly on membership in that group.

Cognitive component of prejudice

Involving the beliefs or thoughts that make up an attitude.

Stereotype

A generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members.

Benevolent sexism

Women are idealized as being better than men for stereotypically female qualities like being caring and good cooks.

Hostile sexism

The belief that women are inferior to men and the endorsement of negative stereotypes of women.

5 reactions to explain why exposure to violence might increase aggression

Norms, Observational learning, Misattributions, Habituation, Self-fulfilling prophecy.

3 components of prejudice

Cognitive, Affective/emotional, Behavioral.

Affective/emotional component of prejudice

Representing both the type of emotion linked with the attitude and the intensity of the emotion.

Behavioral component of prejudice

Relating to one’s actions