Cooperation, Helping, and Prosocial Behaviors

Cooperation

the coordination of multiple individuals toward a goal that benefits the entire group

Prisoner’s Dilemma

• cooperation provides best mutual reward but requires most trust

• defecting gives you a chance for maximum individual gain or a lesser reward, making it the most “rational” choice for the individual but least rewarding for the group as a whole

Common Dilemma

a research/hypothetical paradigm that is used to study cooperation behaviors

Social value orientation

a person’s preference when dividing resources between themselves and others

Cooperative

seeks to maximize joint gains and share equally with others

Individualistic

seeks to maximize personal gains, regardless of how it affects others

Competitive

seeks to maximize relative advantage over others

Empathy

the ability to feel and understand another’s emotional experience

Altruism

helping others even at personal cost/risk without expectation of reward

Vulnerability

when a person places themselves in a position in which they might be exploited or harmed; done out of trust that others will not exploit the vulnerability

Egoism

all behaviors are motivated by self-interest

Diffusion of responsibility

when there are several bystanders, personal responsibility is diminished

Bystander intervention

when someone intervenes to help another person, especially a stranger, and at personal risk to the individual helping

Pluralistic ignorance

when individuals look to others in a group to determine if an ambiguous situation is an emergency

Prosocial behavior

engaging in actions that benefit other people

Negative state relief model

helping others makes us feel better; relieves negative feelings