Altruism - Theories and Definitions

Define altruism.

Any act of voluntary self-sacrifice intended to benefit another person with no expectation of reward.

Define prosocial behavior.

Any act performed by an individual with the goal of benefiting another person.

What does the evolutionary perspective argue about helping?

Behaviors emerged through natural selection and are adaptive to inclusive fitness; genes, not individuals, are the unit of selection.

What is inclusive fitness?

The idea that natural selection favors altruistic acts directed toward kin to ensure gene survival.

What is Social Exchange Theory?

Helping behavior is motivated by maximizing rewards and minimizing costs, including tangible rewards, social approval, and relief from distress.

What is the Negative State Relief Hypothesis?

People help to reduce their own distress, but help less when alternative mood-enhancing activities are available.

What is the Empathy-Altruism Model?

Batson’s theory that empathy determines helping: high empathy leads to altruistic helping regardless of cost; low empathy leads to helping only if self-interest benefits.

What is empathic joy?

The egoistic motivation to help others to experience a “warm glow” from their success.

What is the Bystander Effect?

The tendency for individuals to be less likely to help in emergencies when others are present due to diffusion of responsibility.

What does Attribution Theory (Weiner, 1995) suggest about helping?

People judge responsibility and control; high responsibility/control reduces empathy and increases anger, influencing helping behavior.

How does group identity influence helping?

People are more likely to help those who share their social identity or group membership.