Altruism

Some ant colonies consist of a queen, who performs all reproductive duties for the colony, and worker ants, who perform all the labor that the colony needs to gather food, expand and defend territory, and survive. The worker ants are also able to—but do not—contribute reproductively to the colony. In a colony like this, the worker ants will give their lives to defend the queen. What is the most likely explanation for the altruistic behavior of the worker ants? A. kin selection B. social exchange C. social responsibility D. reciprocity norm

*** IS NOT *** C

What is the observed effect of altruistic tendencies among female vampire bats? A. Vampire bats who share food tend to live longer than other bats. B. Vampire bats who share food tend to have fewer offspring than other bats. C. Vampire bats who share food tend to die younger than other bats. D. Vampire bats who share food tend to have more luck hunting fresh food.

A. Vampire bats who share food tend to live longer than other bats.

Kenneth has just received his annual job performance review. Due to his hard work, Kenneth's salary was raised. Later in the day, Kenneth sees someone he doesn't know changing his car tire on the side of the road and pulls over to help. Which of the following factors is most likely responsible for Kenneth's altruistic behavior? A. personal happiness B. feeling of guilt C. witnessing altruism D. feelings of similarity

A. personal happiness

Provide a rationale for why no one came to the aid of Kitty Genovese before she was murdered.

Almost 40 people witnessed the murder of Kitty Genovese, but it took almost 20 minutes for someone to call to police. Most psychologists feel that the bystander effect came into play. Because there were many witnesses, each felt that someone else would act. Additionally, due to the number of witnesses, a diffusion of responsibility occurred. Thus, each witness felt less responsible for acting to save Genovese. Some of the witnesses also claimed that they did not understand what was occurring, believing the murder to be a lover's quarrel. Thus, they did not perceive it as an emergency and therefore did not respond with helping behavior.

Explain why leaving a generous tip at a restaurant one never plans on returning to is considered an altruistic act.

Altruism occurs when an individual gives to another out of concern or thought of one's well-being. If an individual has no expectation of returning to a restaurant then leaving a generous tip is considered altruistic because there is no expectation of a reward from the server. If the customer does not return, the server is unable to exchange the gift or tip with good service. Therefore, the customer who tips is giving out of care or concern for the well-being of the server rather than giving with the intention of receiving an external reward.

What effect does a sense of urgency often have on the incidence of altruistic behavior?

An elevated sense of urgency will increase altruistic behavior.

Which of the following statements regarding emotion and altruism is true? A. Financial gain causes less altruistic behavior than other causes of happiness. B. The cause of happiness does not make a difference in whether or not someone demonstrates altruism. C. Happiness caused by financial gain increases altruism more than other causes. D. There is no correlation between levels of happiness and willingness to perform helping behavior.

B. The cause of happiness does not make a difference in whether or not someone demonstrates altruism.

An adult vervent monkey sees a jaguar approaching. He cries out loudly, warning all the other vervent monkeys in the area of danger. Why is this behavior considered altruistic? A. The monkey will gain social praise for its behavior. B. The monkey is putting itself at risk for other individuals. C. The monkey understands that the jaguar is not a threat. D. The monkey does not believe others can help spread a warning.

B. The monkey is putting itself at risk for other individuals.

Some ant colonies consist of a queen, who performs all reproductive duties for the colony, and worker ants, who perform all the labor that the colony needs to gather food, expand and defend territory, and survive. The worker ants are also able to—but do not—contribute reproductively to the colony. In a colony like this, the worker ants will give their lives to defend the queen. Why is the worker ant considered altruistic? A. The worker ant cannot directly assist in reproduction. B. The worker ant is willing to forgo reproduction itself. C. The worker ant can't reproduce as effectively as the queen. D. The worker ant can adopt offspring from the queen.

B. The worker ant is willing to forgo reproduction itself.

Some researchers believe there is no such thing as true altruistic behavior because they believe that helping behavior__________. A. is unrelated to biological concerns B. is motivated by self-interest C. influences cognitive functioning D. is too uncommon to be observed

B. is motivated by self-interest

The emotion of elevation generally occurs when __________ helpful behaviors. A. performing B. witnessing C. discussing D. considering

B. witnessing

Juniper, a college student, is walking to her next class, which begins in five minutes. She knows that the professor is very irritated by lateness and may ask her to leave the classroom if she is late. While she is rushing to the class, she notices a man lying on the sidewalk. The man is clutching his throat and turning blue. When she notices this, Juniper's palms begin to sweat and she feels agitated. Juniper notices that there are many other students in the area who have noticed the man. Which of the following factors is likely to encourage Juniper to perform an altruistic act? A. Juniper is in a hurry to get to her next class. B. Juniper sees there are many other witnesses. C. Juniper interprets the man's distress as an emergency. D. Juniper is not sure whether the man deserves help or not.

C. Juniper interprets the man's distress as an emergency.

Juniper, a college student, is walking to her next class, which begins in five minutes. She knows that the professor is very irritated by lateness and may ask her to leave the classroom if she is late. While she is rushing to the class, she notices a man lying on the sidewalk. The man is clutching his throat and turning blue. When she notices this, Juniper's palms begin to sweat and she feels agitated. Juniper notices that there are many other students in the area who have noticed the man. Which of the following factors is likely to discourage Juniper from performing an altruistic act? A. Juniper interprets the incident as an emergency. B. Juniper notices the man's distress. C. Juniper sees that there are many other witnesses. D. Juniper is beginning to feel agitated.

C. Juniper sees that there are many other witnesses.

Which of the following is an example of kin selection? A. A wolf attacks its cousin over territorial rights. B. A snake eats the eggs of another snake. C. A badger attacks a bear who was foraging for food. D. A bobcat fights a wolf to protect younger bobcats.

D. A bobcat fights a wolf to protect younger bobcats.

According to kin selection, one will demonstrate altruism only to immediate family members.

F

Altruism is an uncontroversial term in that only one cause for altruistic behavior is accepted by psychologists.

F

Emotional elevation generally decreases acts of altruism.

F

Emotional elevation only occurs in animal kin groups.

F

Explain how the kin selection theory of altruism functions.

In kin selection, an organism is willing to expose itself to danger in order to help others with the same genes survive. Since the genetic material of the individual is most closely shared with relatives, performing helping acts toward those individuals helps ensure that these genes will survive. This is an evolutionary benefit because altruism in individuals helps their genes survive whether the individual does or not. A group composed of more selfish individuals would be at a disadvantage as a group because each individual's fate would be solely in one's own hands.

A behavior is still considered altruistic if it grants some benefit to the person performing the behavior, especially if the behavior puts the individual at some risk.

T

According to social exchange theory, altruistic behaviors benefit the individual who performs them.

T

Experiencing empathy can motivate altruistic behavior.

T

Performing helping behaviors can reduce physiological effects of agitation or discomfort.

T

What is the physiological reason we are motivated to help others?

to relieve the emotional agitation caused by empathy