Altruism Practice

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

F

Which of the following statements regarding emotion and altruism is true?

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

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

to relieve the emotional agitation caused by empathy

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

An elevated sense of urgency will increase altruistic behavior.

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?

Juniper sees that there are many other witnesses.

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

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?

The worker ant is willing to forgo reproduction itself.