Interacting with Others
HELPING OTHERS : ALTRUISM
altruism : any behavior that is designed to increase another person’s welfare, particularly those actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them
the tendency to help others in need may be a functional evolutionary adaptation
Burnstein, Crandall, and Kitayama found that students indicated they would be more likely to help a person who was closely related to them than they would be to help a person who was more distantly related
reciprocal altruism : the principle that, if we help other people now, those others will return the favor should we need their help in the future
by helping others, we increase the chances of survival and reproductive success for ourselves and for those we help
those who engage in reciprocal altruism should be able to reproduce more often than those who do not
Smith and Colleagues found that 73% of TV shows had some altruism, and that about three altruistic behaviors were shown every hour
Anderson and Bushman found that playing video games led to a decrease in helping
we are more likely to help when we receive rewards for doing so and less likely to help when helping is costly
when we act altruistically we gain a reputation as a person with high statues who is able and willing to help others, and this status makes us more desirable in the eyes of others
social responsibility norm : we should try to help others who need assistance, even without any expectation of future paybacks
diffusion of responsibility : when we assume that other will take action and therefore we do not take action ourselves
Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered in front of several eyewitnesses who did not intervene or call for help. According to social psychologists, this failure to assist Kitty was due to a diffusion of responsibility
Latane and Darley made sure that smoke would filter into a room where participants were filling out a questionnaire. Results indicated that participants were most likely to report the smoke to the experimenter when they were in the room alone
HURTING OTHERS : HUMAN AGGRESSION
aggression : behavior that is intended to harm another individual.
it may occur in the heat of the moment
it may occur in a more cognitive, deliberate, and planned way
not all aggression if physical
Paquette and Underwood found that both boys and girls said that nonphysical aggression made them feel more “ sad and bad “ than physical aggression
aggression is strongly influenced by the amygdala
one of the primary functions of the amygdala is to help us learn to associate stimuli with the rewards and the punishment that they may provide, the amygdala is activated in our responses to threatening or fear-arousing stimuli
the prefrontal cortex serves as a control center on aggression, when it is more highly activated, we are more able to control our aggressive impulses
research has found that the cerebral cortex is less active in murderers and death row inmates, suggesting that violent crime may be caused at least in part by a failure or reduced ability to regulate aggression
testosterone is associated with increased aggression in both males and females
consuming alcohol increases the likelihood that people will respond aggressively to provocations
we are much more likely to aggress when we are experiencing negative emotions
displaced aggression : aggression that is directed at an object or person other than the person who caused the frustration
aggression is greater during heat waves
the most violent riots occur during the hottest days of the year
pain increases aggression
catharsis : the idea that observing or engaging in less harmful aggressive actions will reduce the tendency to aggress later in a more harmful way
engaging in aggressive behaviors of any type increases the likelihood of later aggression
children who witness violence are more likely to be aggressive
desensitization : the tendency over time to show weaker emotional responses to emotional stimuli
continually viewing violence also makes us more distrustful and more likely to behave aggressively
about 99% of rapes and 90% of robberies, assaults, and murders are committed by men
culture of honor : the social norm that condones and even encourages responding to insults with aggression
CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE
conformity : a change in beliefs or behavior that occurs as the result of the presence of the other people around us
we conform not only because we believe that other people have accurate information and we want to have knowledge but also because we want to be liked by others
Robert Cialdini and Colleagues found that college students were more likely to throw litter on the ground themselves when they had just seen another person throw paper on the ground
Cheng and Chartrand found that people unconsciously mimicked the behaviors of others
obedience : the tendency to conform to those in authority
people with lower self-esteem are more likely to conform than those with higher self esteem
minor influence : there are cases in which a smaller number of individuals is able to influence the opinions or behaviors of the larger group
minorities who are consistent and confident in their opinions may in some cases be able to be persuasive
Nemeth and Kwan found that participants working together in groups solved problems more creatively when only one person gave a different and unusual response than the other members did in comparison to when three people gave the same unusual response
psychological reactance : a strong emotional reaction that leads people to resist pressures to conform
reactance is aroused when our autonomy is threatened
in Sherif’s studies, participants were shown a point of light in a completely darkened room. The participants were asked to judge the light’s movement daily for four days. The results showed that the participants gradually converged to a group norm
In a variation of Asch’s classic experiment, a standard setting line was first presented to small groups of people, followed by the presentation of three comparison lines of different lengths. In one condition, two of three accomplices, posing as students, chose an incorrect answer before the subject could respond. The third accomplice sometimes choose a correct response and sometimes chose an incorrect response. Under these conditions, the actual subjects were more likely to choose the correct response. These results suggest it become easier to resist conformity pressure once unanimity of the group is broken
an important difference between Ach’s study in which participants judged the length of lines and Sherif’s study in which participants judged the movement of light was that there was an obviously correct answer in judging the length of lines, but that was not so in judging the movement of light