Chapter 9 1 27 11 1 11 AM 12 05 2012 Objective Do people ever perform behaviors that are not designed to benefit themselves Motivation avoid being seen as selfish or avoid the feeling of guilt Understanding Altruism The Self Other Concerns Altruism Any behavior that is designed to increase another person s welfare and particularly those actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them Evolution Can enhance our reproductive success If the event involved a lot of effort time and danger people are more likely to help those closely related to them than distantly related Their kins We help those who are more similar to us Relatives friends anyone from our ingroup Use similarity as an indicator that people share genes with us Reciprocal Altruism If we help other people now then they will reciprocate and help us in the future Reason why people may help total strangers Social Exchange We use each other to gain rewards and to help protect ourselves from harm Ex Students take notes for each other in class neighbors help each other Principles of Social Learning People will be more likely to help when they are rewarded for doing so do it Darley Latane When we have more time to help the cost is less and we are more likely to Modeling Other s Behaviors Imitate the altruistic deeds of others 73 of TV shows demonstrate altruism mostly children s shows Gives us ideas about how to be helpful to others and provides information about appropriate helping behaviors Status Altruism can either enhance or hinder our reputations we can be more desirable in the eyes of others if we are less selfish Those who help are more healthy and live longer fuller lives Social Norms Reciprocity Norm We should follow the principles of reciprocal altruism Social Responsibility Norm We should help others who need assistance without the expectation of future payback Role of Affect Moods Emotions which puts us in a good mood Positive moods increase helping those who mimic us seem similar to us Positive moods indicate that the environment is safe we like people more when we are happy and helping others maintains our positive mood because we feel good about ourselves Guilt Increases helping If helping can decrease a negative feeling that we have then we are more likely to help We feel guilty when we think that we have damaged our relationship with others and helping repairs such transgressions Distress Empathy Personal Distress The negative emotions we may experience when we witness another person suffering causes us to possibly leave the scene instead of stopping Empathy The person understands and feels the other person s distress and when he or she experiences events the way the other person does Allows us to quickly and automatically understand the emotions of others and to regulate our behavior towards them in a cooperative manner Also allows us to feel sympathy compassion and tenderness The Influence of Social Context Latane Darley s Stages of Helping or in groups of people Notice the Event Noticing is less likely when people are busy distracted People who live in smaller dense rural towns are more likely to help than those in crowded cities b c they notice more The presence of others can divert your attention away from the environment Interpret the Event as an Emergency In case of an emergency helping is likely But many factors such as the presence of others can lead us to fail to interpret the event as an emergency We are likely to treat ambiguous cases as non emergencies b c we never saw the full event unfold without the presence of others we are usually unaware of how to interpret them Pluralistic Ignorance People think that others in their environment possess information that they do not have and then they base their judgments on what they think others are thinking Feel Personal Responsibility for Helping People feel less responsible when there are many people in the social situation Diffusion of Responsibility We assume that others will take action and therefore we do not take action ourselves Thus people are more likely to help when they are the only ones in the social situation The gender of a person requesting help makes no difference but addressing to a single person does Implementing Action Knowing how to help once you decide to do so If we do not know how to help in an emergency situation we make just walk away Other Determinants of Helping Altruistic Pro social Personality Some people are generally more helpful in all social contexts than others Involves both the cognitive and emotional responses that we experience around others always follow the laws of social responsibility have a strong other concern Gender Differences Differences depend not necessarily on the opportunity to help but on what type of help is required Men help in situations that involve physical strength Women help more in situations that involve long term nurturing and caring particularly within close relationships and other community behaviors Public Interest Religion Those who are more religious are more altruistic Attributions Helping Our cognitions about the person in need or how much we think they need help matter equally as much as our emotions about the person Who is deserving of our help Did they bring the problems onto themselves or is the problem out of their control Conservative vs Liberal views affect how we perceive who needs help Liberals think more externally blaming problems on unjust social practices and societal structures that create inequality thus they help them more b c it is out of their control Conservatives hold Just World Beliefs People get what they deserve in life make more internal perceptions Reactions to Receiving Help Helping others can make them feel negatively lowering their self esteem the person is dependent on others doesn t have enough resources to support themselves etc Dependency Oriented People are unable to care for themselves Autonomy Oriented Provides ideas to another person about how to help oneself partial temporary Cultural Issues Individualistic cultures are less likely to believe that people have an obligation to provide assistance to others Collectivist cultures have a higher other concern ultimately feeling that help is always necessary Increase Helping Not all helping is based on other concern people help in part because it makes them feel good about themselves CHAPTER SUMMARY Altruism refers to any behavior that is designed to increase another person
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