Chapter 14: Altruism- EXAMPLES

Reciprocal Altruism

Reciprocal Altruism refers to the human social idea and expectation that if a person performs an altruistic act, other people will perform altruistic acts in return. For instance, a person might believe that "If I do good deeds for someone in need, then someone will be there to help me when I need help." You might say that it's similar to what many people believe is karma.

Altruism

Altruism refers to unselfish behaviors or actions done for the sake of someone else. For example, if you volunteer at a nursing home, or give money to someone in need, etc., you are helping someone else without receiving benefit. However, there is debate about altruism - some people who say altruism doesn't "really" exist because you do get something out of unselfish acts - you feel good about yourself.

Diffusion of Responsibility

Diffusion of Responsibility explains why we are less likely to take action or help someone in need when we are in a group compared to when we are alone. The more people around to observe an emergency, the less obligation each person feels to act because they think someone else will do it first. This principle of social psychology has been supported by numerous lab studies. In a classic experiment by Darley and Latané (1968), participants saw someone having a (fake) seizure. When participants believed they were the only witness to the incident, 81% went to get help; when participants thought there were four other witnesses, only 31% went for help.

Pluralistic Ignorance

Pluralistic Ignorance is when members of a group mistakenly believe that everyone in the group feels a certain way or holds a certain belief. For example, Sarah doesn't like the taste of alcohol, but she (falsely) believes that all her friends and classmates love it. This false belief could make her more likely to drink, or at least more likely to hide her true feelings about drinking.

The Bystander Effect

The Bystander Effect is a social phenomenon in which a person (or persons) are less likely to offer help to another person (or persons) when there are more people around who can also provide assistance. Many people believe that, when there is an emergency and lots of people are present, the people in need are more likely to get assistance. However, this is not the case. Rather, the more people there are who can help, the less likely each person is to offer help. Thus, when in a group, people are less likely to offer help than when they are alone.

Prisoner's Dilemma Game

The Prisoner's Dilemma Game is a bargaining game where the biggest reward is gained when both players cooperate. This is how the game goes: Two criminals, Prisoner A and Prisoner B, have been arrested under suspicion of committing a major crime, but the police do not have enough evidence to convict them. They interrogate the two prisoners separately, and offer each of them a bargain. Essentially, each prisoner has to decide whether to confess to having committed the crime with the other person, or to deny it. If Prisoner A confesses and Prisoner B denies, Prisoner A will be set free, while Prisoner B will be convicted for 10 years, and vice versa. If both confess, they will both serve a six-year sentence. If both deny, they will both serve a six-month sentence. The best scenario for both prisoners is for each of them to deny involvement, earning them the shortest sentence of six months. But not knowing what the other prisoner intends to do might deter them from denying the crime. For example, Prisoner A could think this way: ""If Prisoner B confesses and I deny, he will be set free while I stay in prison for ten years. If he confesses and I confess, then we both serve six years. If Prisoner B denies and I deny, then we both serve six months. But if he denies anyway, then I'd be better off confessing because then, I'd go free. Either way, it's in my best interest to confess."" The problem is Prisoner B could also be following the same line of thinking. Thus, they will both tend to choose to confess, earning them both a six-year sentence. The Prisoner's Dilemma Game illustrates how some people might choose an option where both parties lose instead of cooperating and maximizing the rewards for both parties.

Kin Selection

This theory states that people are more likely to help blood relatives in difficult situations because this increases the odds that their genes will be transmitted to subsequent generations. The closer the relation between the people, the greater the likelihood that help will be given.