Aggression and Prosocial Behavior

Flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture notes on aggression and prosocial behavior.

Risk of Violence

The likelihood of encountering violence in various regions, such as San Diego, the United States, and globally, and comparing current rates to historical rates.

Model of Aggression

A framework including cues, internal states, cognitive control, and learned behaviors used to understand aggression in humans and other species.

Weapons Effect

A phenomenon where the presence of weapons increases the likelihood of aggressive thoughts and behaviors.

Dictator Game

An economic experiment where one participant (the "dictator") unilaterally decides how to divide a sum of resources with another participant (the "recipient"), who has no power to influence or reject the offer. This setup is designed to reveal insights into selfless giving, fairness, and the psychological mechanisms of altruism. Research often indicates that the dictator's need to internally justify their allocation decisions (i.e., convincing themselves it's "worth it" or fair) tends to decrease as the total resources available to them for allocation increase, or when they choose to give a larger share.

Motivations for Prosocial Behavior

Four main motivations: egoism (self-interest), altruism (selfless concern), collectivism (group welfare), and principlism (moral principles).

Framing Effects

This refers to how the way information is presented affects a person's choices and the results, even if the underlying facts remain the same. For example, in economic games like the Dictator Game, how an offer is stated can change what people decide to do.

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

The theory that empathy for others leads to altruistic behavior, which is behavior motivated by a desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper and provides no personal benefit.

Baston
’s Experiments

Research that meticulously investigates how manipulating a person's level of empathy (for example, by instructing them to actively take another's perspective) and presenting them with varying opportunities to escape (such as being able to leave the situation or knowing someone else will help) influence their ultimate willingness to provide help to others in need. These experiments often aim to differentiate between egoistic (self-serving) and altruistic (other-serving) motivations for helping.

Shallow Pond Argument

An ethical argument by Peter Singer positing that if one can easily save a drowning child, one is morally obligated to do so, illustrating broader prosocial duties.

Effective Charity

A measure of how well a charity achieves its goals compared to others, often focusing on cost-effectiveness and impact.

Parable of the Good Samaritan

A biblical allegory illustrating the importance of helping others regardless of social boundaries, often discussed in social psychology contexts.

Kitty Genovese

A murder case that sparked interest in social psychology, highlighting issues of bystander intervention and public misconceptions about emergency responses.

Hurdle Model of Bystander Intervention

A psychological framework identifying obstacles that must be overcome to help someone in need.

Pluralistic Ignorance

A social phenomenon where individuals wrongly assume that others have a different interpretation of a situation, leading to inaction.

Good Samaritan Study

A study by Darley and Batson which revealed factors that influenced whether ministers would assist an unconscious person.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for individuals in a group to be less likely to offer help in an emergency when others are present.

Gender Differences in Helping

Systematic variations in the ways men and women engage in helping behavior, traditionally finding men more likely to offer direct, heroic aid and women more likely to offer long-term, nurturing, and empathetic support, with these differences often contingent on situational factors and social roles.