Chapter Ten: Helping Others

reciprocal altruism

helping someone else can be in your best interests because it increases the likelihood that you will be helped in return

empathy

understanding or vicariously experiencing another individuals perspective and feeling sympathy and compassion for that individual

perspective taking

using the power of imagination to try to see the world through someone elses eyes

empathic concern

involves other-oriented feelings

courageous resistance

thoughtful helping in the face of potentially enormous costs

stimulus overload

people may become so used to seeing people lying or sidewalks or hearing screams that they begin to tune them out

world change orientation

motivator when people desire to make the world a better place

self-transcendence

a value that emphasizes care for the welfare of other others, whether close or distant, and disengagement from selfish concerns

exchange relationship

people give help with the expectation of receiving comparable benefits in return

communal relationship

people feel responsibility for each others needs and are more likely to help, and are less likely to be concerned with keeping track of rewards and costs, than people in an exchange relationship are

empathy gap

people consistently show greater empathy for the needs and suffering of ingroup members than outgroup members

identity fusion

a strong sense of "oneness" and shared identity with a group and its individual members

norm of reciprocity

if someone has helped us, we should help them in return

norm of equity

when people are in a situation in which they feel over-benefited, they should help those who are under-benefited

a person is over-benefited when

they received more benefits than they earned

a person is under-benefited when

they receive fewer benefits than they earned

norm of social responsibility

people should help those who need assistance

implicit social support

support that comes from just thinking about close others but that doesnt involve actually seeking or receiving their help in coping with stressful events

True or False: People are more likely to help someone in an emergency if the potential rewards seem high and the potential costs seem low.

True

True or False: In an emergency, a person who needs help has a much better chance of getting it if three other people are present than if only one other person is present.

False

True or False: People are much more likely to help someone when they're in a good mood.

True

True or False: People are much less likely to help someone when they're in a bad mood.

False

True or False: Attractive people have a better chance than unattractive people of getting help when they need it.

True

True or False: Women seek help more often than men do.

True

prosocial behaviors

Actions intended to benefit others.

kin selection

Preferential helping of genetic relatives, which results in the greater likelihood that genes held in common will survive.

indirect reciprocity

A kind of reciprocal altruism in which an individual who helps someone becomes more likely to receive help from someone else

negative state relief model

The proposition that people help others in order to counteract their own feelings of sadness.

altruistic

Motivated by the desire to improve another’s welfare.

egoistic

Motivated by the desire to improve one’s own welfare.

empathy-altruism hypothesis

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

bystander effect

The effect whereby the presence of others inhibits helping.

pluralistic ignorance

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.

audience inhibition

Reluctance to help for fear of making a bad impression on observers.

diffusion of responsibility

The belief that others will or should take the responsibility for providing assistance to a person in need.

reluctant altruism

Altruistic kinds of behavior that result from pressure from peers or other sources of direct social influence.

social norm

A general rule of conduct reflecting standards of social approval and disapproval.