Culture, Behavior, and Altruism Flashcards

Flashcards based on lecture notes about culture, behavior, biology/genetics, and altruism.

How does culture interact with biology/genetics to influence behavior?

Culture interacts with biology/genetics, leading to diversity in behavior, as genetics are conditionally expressed depending on the environment (epigenetics).

Define epigenetics.

Environmental influences on gene expression without changes to the DNA sequence.

What are norms?

Standards for accepted, expected, and proper behavior.

How do norms vary across cultures (example)?

Northern Europeans may seem "efficient, cold, and overconcerned with time" to Latin Americans because Northern Europeans walk faster and are punctual.

In what type of cultures is norm following especially important?

Collectivist cultures

Why may collectivist cultures have developed strong norms?

Historically more likely to experience threats such as war or famine.

What has a greater influence on personality traits, genes or family environment?

Genes have more influence; growing up in the same family makes very little difference in personality traits.

What percentage of individual variation in personality is explained by genetic influence?

Roughly 40%

What accounts for the majority of personality?

Peer influence

what accounts for 0-1% of personality difference?

shared environmental/home influence

What is essential universality in cross-culture?

How similar we are is much greater than how much we differ.

Name some common norms for friendship across 75 nations.

Honesty, fairness, kindness, good judgment, curiosity

Name the 5 universal dimensions of social beliefs

1) cynicism 2) social complexity 3) reward for application (aka hard work) 4) spirituality 5) fate control

What is the impact of cynicism on life satisfaction?

Cynics have lower life satisfaction and tend to be more right-wing.

How does culture contribute to the construction of gender roles?

Cultural norms dictate how people should behave based on gender identity, but these norms can change dramatically over time, indicating they are socially constructed.

What is social role theory?

Division of labor (assigning different tasks to men vs women) → creation of gender role → ppl tend to behave in ways that align w/ assigned social role → role becomes overgeneralized into stereotypes

Are gender stereotypes biologically predetermined?

No, gender stereotypes are learned/reinforced by social structure.

Define communion.

Affectionate/emotional, women’s “relative advantage”.

Define agency.

Ambitious/courageous/decisiveness, men’s “relative advantage”.

State the gender similarity hypothesis.

There are more differences within a gender than there are between genders.

What are some sex differences in psychology?

Women score higher in agreeableness & neuroticism (depending on the culture), men are more likely to engage in aggressive behavior, and women are better at decoding nonverbal behavior.

Define erotic plasticity.

Extent to which a person’s sexual attitude can be modified by external factors.

Describe the key idea behind the social exchange theory of altruism.

Human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize reward while minimizing cost.

Why can making people feel good through helping be considered demeaning?

It makes helping seem strategic instead of altruistic.

Describe external rewards for helping.

Makes us most eager to help ppl whose approval we desire.

Describe internal rewards for helping.

Making you feel good about yourself/gives feeling of self-satisfaction aka boosting self-worth

What are the benefits of the "do good/feel good" effect?

Helping others triggers positive feelings (self-satisfaction, happiness, boost to self-worth).

How does the "feel bad/do good" effect work?

Distress + guilt

After doing something bad, what are people eager to do?

Reduce private guilt, restore shaken self-image, and reclaim a positive public image.

What is the impact of grief or anger on helping behavior?

Grief and anger are the two negative emotions that do not result in feel-bad/do-good.

How does a positive mood affect helping behavior?

Positive mood → positive thoughts → positive self-esteem → positive behavior (helping others).

What is the social responsibility norm?

People should help those in need without regard to future exchanges.

Define social capital.

Goodwill you've built up with others. Can be gained by doing favors, being a good friend, sharing interests, being a participant in community activities, etc.

How can receiving unsolicited help affect someone?

Can reduce one's self-esteem (undermines their sense of competence).

How does perceiving the person in need as not having control affect helping behavior?

Feelings of sympathy for that person.

According to evolutionary theory, why does altruism exist?

Contributed to survival/propagation of genes, giving survival advantage.

What is kin selection?

If you carry my genes I’ll favor you. Genes “help themselves” by promoting behavior that benefits individs who share those genes.

According to evolutionary psychology, what order does helping tend to follow in life-or-death situations?

Children before the old, family members before friends, and neighbors before strangers.

Define egoistic distress reduction.

Witnessing someone in distress creates an unpleasant emotional state within observer → observer is motivated to reduce their own neg feelings → help person in need

How does empathy affect altruism?

Feeling empathy for another person can evoke genuinely altruistic motivation to reduce other’s distress

What is the bystander effect?

An individual is less likely to provide help if there are other bystanders.

How can the bystander effect be overcome?

Verbalize/express the situation as an emergency and prevent diffusion of responsibility by assigning a particular bystander to help and clearly stating what help is needed.

Name ways to socialize altruism aka ways to promote altruism

Teach moral inclusion, personal appeal, prosocial role models, encouragment

What does teaching moral inclusion involve?

Expanding the moral community to include more individuals or groups as worthy of ethical consideration.

What is CNM?

Consensual nonmonogamy

According to Interdependence theory, what does relationship stability and satisfaction depend on?

Mutual dependence (how much each partner relies on the other for emotional/practical/social needs).