Social Psych- Altruism

altruism

unselfish concern for the welfare of others

egoism

helping others as a means to benefitting oneself

evolutionary psych

goal: maximize one's gene survival

kin selection

helping one's blood relatives promotes survival of shared genes

reciprocity norm

The idea that if others help us, then we should provide something in return.

social exchange

goal: maximize one's rewards and minimize costs

rewards

- being viewed positively

- relieve distress

- boost mood

costs

- material costs

- time

- embarrassment

empathy

experiencing another's feelings by imagining what life is like for them

empathy-altruism hypothesis

when we feel empathy for a person, we will help them for purely altruistic reasons

aversive arousal reduction hypothesis (egotistic)

feeling empathy for someone who is suffering is unpleasant, and empathetically-aroused individuals help in order to eliminate their own unpleasant feelings

Batson (1981)

empathetic people help for altruistic reasons, even when they can reduce distress in easier ways

good mood and altruism

feel good, do good

guilt and altruism

alleviate bad feeling by helping

values and altruism

being reminded of values = more likely to help

evaluation and altruism

being watched/evaluated = more likely the help

time pressure and altruism

having more time = more likely to help

the bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

ambiguity and helping

less ambiguous situation = more likely to help

responsibility and helping

increased responsibility = more likely to help

- eye contact/brief convo

volunteerism

the practice of offering your time and services to others without payment

diffusion of responsibility

to assume the others will intervene, and thus each person feels less responsibility to help out

setting and helping

rural = more likely to help than cities

stimulus overload

The amount of stimulation in modern urban environments is so great that no one can register all of it

diversity hypothesis

People are more likely to help those who are similar to themselves