Psych 315 1nd Edition Lecture 9 Outline of Last Lecture I. More on RelationshipsOutline of Current Lecture II. General Approaches to Understanding HelpingIII. EmpathyIV. Bystander EffectV. Altruism PersonalityVI. Volunteerism Current Lecture General Approaches to Understanding Helping Social Rewards: person gets reward from other by helping others. They are motivated by others. Internal Rewards: After helping someone they, feel good about themselves.  Social Norms Evolutionary Psychology & Preferential Helping of Kin: people want their genes to survive in society, so they help their kin more than anyone else because their kin carries their genes.  Reciprocal Altruism Non-reciprocal Altruism (Saving Reginold Dinny) What motivates this kind of behavior? Rioters beat Reginold from his truck. A small group of older men talked the young men out of beating him up. They put their lives in jeopardy to help someone who they have never met.  Dan Batson has tried to prove that it is empathy for the plight of the victim, rather than an expected internal or external reward. People will help more if they feel empathy for others, rather than relieving their stress. Altruism occurs in every culture What helps us determine our kin:o We tend to be more helpful to people who are more similar to us; such as, our kin. o Mothers can distinguish their infants by their smell.  Is empathy-based altruism all good? Maybe not.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. It can put the helper in dangerous situations sometimes. Too much empathy can be overwhelming. Empathy can undermine fairness.  Empathy for one may cause us to ignore the good of the larger group. Not all needs are suited to an empathy induced altruism (e.g., global warming, overpopulation).  Kitty Genovese & others: A new city resident. Attacked by a man with a knife. Other people were watching this and did nothing.  Darley & Latane’s rules for bystander helping. Responsibility becomes diffuse.  Notice: when you are in a crowd, youre more likely to notice these bad things. Interpret as a emergency: If other people aren’t helping, people assume its not a emergency. Taking cues from others.  Assume responsibility: responsibility becomes diffused.  Know what to do and feel capable of doing it  The Roots of Altruism in Childhood Warm, Close relationships with Parents Identification with Parents Parents are themselves altruistic – Actions not words Childhood experiences with helping, siblings, grandfather, etc. Chores at home; helping the family, being responsible, getting away from a “me only” orientation  The Altruistic Personality The Big 5 People who are altruistic are agreeableness and conscientiousness Empathy (about 50% genetically determined) Altruism as a personality trait measured by a questionnaire has high test-retest reliability Altruism is stable. Altruistic “Heros”  Olinger & Olinger compared 231 Jewish WWII Rescuers to a matched sample of non-rescuers. People risked their lives helping the Jews.  Parents: people who were rescuers modeled after their parents who were altruistic.  Empathy and Responsibility: taking personal responsibility  Similarity: rescuers tended to see the Jews more similar to them because they were Christian.  Internal Locus of Control: Had control over their life. Other Studies of Highly Altruistic Persons Find: Altruistic Parents Religious Faith High Self-esteem Low Narcissism Low Attachment Avoidance and Anxiety High Empathy  Consequences of being altruistic (self perception theory).  You can become altruism by doing altruistic things.  Give $10 see how spent: Give $10 ask participants to spend on self or other People were happier if they spend the money on someone else.  Situational Factors that an Affect Helping More helpful to be who are similar to ourselves (evolutionary explanation) When we have recently been helped, we help more When in a good mood, we help more Gender Men help women more; women help men and women equally Women do more long-term care-giving than menMore Situational Factors that Affect Helping We help others with whom we share a group membership (team fans study) We help more physically attractive people  There is more helping in small towns. People are more similar to eachother in small town. Small towns are slower than cities Helping in Cities Dependent Variables (explain) Independent Variables (pace of life, population density, environmental stress)  Results: Density and Stress are negatively correlated with helping and giving. Volunteerism  Why do people volunteer?  Express personal values; quest to understand people or circumstances; part of membership in certain organizations; enhance career; reduce guilt about being more fortunate; gain self-esteem or self-worth; demonstrate concern for individuals or groups  Reduces depression Increase in self-esteem and self-confidence Increase in responsibility among young volunteers Among the elderly, helps fight off health problems Costs of Volunteeringo Emotional Stresso Stigmatization by being associated sometimes with stigmatized groups like alcoholics, AIDS patients,