SOCIAL PSYCH CHPT. 11 REVIEW

• Kin selection is what? Why is does evolutionary psychology say we help kin members? What does anecdotal evidence from real emergencies suggest happens?

*Kin selection: the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection. Relatives seek to increase their chances of passing on genes by having kids or making sure relatives have kids as a way that they're future will be passed on through the blood line. Thus natural selection should favor altruistic acts directed toward genetic relatives. The anecdotal evidence for real emergencies is the ex of extreme emergencies when our lives and the lives of our family members are being threatened is when we will be most likely to ensure their survival. Where as in less life-threatening situations we will probably not help them.

• Altruism is the desire to help another person even if it involves what?

*the desire to help another person even if it involves the cost of the helper. No benefits. Ex. 911 helpers who lost their lives while helping.

• Good moods can increase helping for three reasons. What are they?

1. Good moods make us look on the brighter side of life, (giving people the benefit of the doubt). 2. Helping other people is excellent way f prolonging out good mood. Helping equals feeling accomplished (not helping when we know we should results in "downer" and deflates our good mood). 3. Good moods increase the amount of attention we pay to ourselves and this factor in turn makes us more likely to behave according to our values and ideals.

What are the three ways helping can be rewarding?

1. It can increase the likelihood that someone will help us in return. 2. Relieve the personal distress of a bystander. 3. Gain social approval or self-worth increases

• People in small towns areas are more helpful. One explanation is that people from rural settings are brought up to be more what? They are seen as possibly internalizing altruistic values. Alternatively, the immediate surroundings might b the key and not people internalized values.

An alternative hypothesis, posted by Milgram, is the urban-overload hypothesis, which is what? The theory that people living in cities are constantly bombarded with stimulation and that they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it. Which explanation has more evidence? Urban Overload Hypothesis because... This evidence finds that living in urban or rural areas matters more in influencing helping than where potential helpers were born, and that population density is a more potent determinant of helping than is population size.

Know some examples of things that can increase helping behaviors.

Ex. Finding money, doing well on a test, receiving a gift, thinking happy thoughts, listening to pleasant music).

An altruistic personality consists of what?

the qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations.

Prosocial behavior is any act performed with the goal of what?

any act performed with the goal of benefitting another person. Some people act in prosocial ways out of self -interest or to gain something in return.

What is one method that increases the likelihood of someone overcoming the bystander effect?

being aware of the barriers to helping in an emergency can increase peoples chances of overcoming those barriers.

• Batson argues that pure altruism is most likely to come into play when we experience empathy for the person in need. What is empathy? Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis states what?

empathy: the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions (ex. Sad/ happy) the way that person experiences them. Batsons empathy -altruism hypothesis states that there is pure altruism in that peoples only goal is to help the other person even if by doing so they might receive a positive cost that was not the goal. Pure altruism is felt when we feel empathy.

Population density

how close people are to eachother

Population size

how many are within a random area.

Does this effect take years, or can it happen over the course of a few activities together

if can happen within a few activites as long as they get a chance to create a relationship and get to know each other more and longer the more structured and stable they're relationship will be and the more likely they are to succeed over the others.

• An important note is that people do not always want to be helped. When do people not want to be helped?

if it makes them feel inadequate and dependent.

What are somethings that can get in the way?

if people are in a hurry then it makes it hard for them to interpret that there is an event occurring.

Darwin recognized that altruistic behavior posed a problem for his theory - what is this problem?

if peoples overriding goal Is to ensure their own survival then why would they ever help others at a cost of themselves. It would seem that human evolution altruistic behavior would disappear because people who acted that way would by putting themselves at risk produce fewer offspring than would people who acted selfish.. whereas genes promoting selfishness should be more likely to survive and continue on.

The next determinant of helping is whether the bystander interprets the event as what?

if the person interprets the event as an emergency.

Is there evidence of consistency in altruism?

little evidence for consistency in altruism because its combo of variables that decide the outcome.

Ironically, when other bystanders are present, people are more likely to assume what? This is called what?

people are more likely to assume that an emergency is something innocus. The result of this state is Pluralist ignorance. It is when people think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way when in fact they are not.

Helping can also be costly; thus it DECREASES when costs are high. Social exchange theory presumes that people help only in what situation? Does social exchange theory believe there is pure altruism?

people help only when the benefits outweigh the costs. Everyone benefits somehow in some way from a situation and everyone should still applaud and acknowledge the good in it not emphasizing the benefits. There is an exchange of benefits so it is not PURe altruism.

Are people who move around a lot or live in once place more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors?

people who live in one place are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior because they have a greater attachment to the community, are more interdependence with the neighbors and the concern of their reputation in the community

Cultural factors come into play in determining how strongly people draw the line between groups. People in collectivist cultures may be more likely to what?

simpatia -range of social and emotional traits including being friendly, polite, good natured, pleasant, and helpful towards others. People who are in collectivist cultures are more likely to be all the things listed above are more likely to help people that are in the IN-group than out-group.

Evolutionary psychology is what

the attempt to explain social behaviors in terms of genetic factors that have evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection

The norm of reciprocity is the expectation that what will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future? What is the evolutionary explanation for this?

the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future. If someone helps us it makes us feel gratitude which motivates us to return the favor in the future. This is also saying that evolutionary explanation means that people who are selfish are less likely to survive than people who contribute to a community.

What is the bystander effect?

the finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency the less likely any one of them is to help.

In order for people to help, they must notice that what is happening?

they must acknowledge that the event is happening.

After all the previous conditions are met, a person must know what? What happens if they don't?

they must decide what kind of help is appropriate. And if they do not know what kind of help Is appropriate they will be unable to help.

When people feel in a bad mood, they are more likely to help. For example, when were churchgoers more likely to donate money

they tend to donate money BEFORE confession then afterwards as a sign of guilt for their confessions. Good before the bad.

People who are in a good mood are more likely to help

true

Eagly and Crowley (1986) did a meta-analysis and found that men are more likely to help in chivalrous & heroic ways, and women are more likely to help in nurturing & caring ways involving long-term relationships.

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Feeling SAD may also lead to helping because people may help in order to alleviate their own distress.

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Generally we are more helpful towards family and close friends than bystanders, and we are more likely to help a partner in a communal relationship (when peoples primary concern is the welfare of the other person) than a partner in an exchange relationship (we are governed by concerns about equality and exchange in a relationship). There is one exception to this that results in us being more likely to help strangers than friends - what is it? We are more likely to help strangers than friends only in the event of we are less likely to help a friend in these important areas in which our friends will exceed us which would decrease our self esteem and will give aid to strangers in areas that we don't care as much about.

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It might seem as though people from collectivist cultures, would be more likely to help a person in need. However, people everywhere are less likely to help a member of an OUT-group, a group with which the person does not identify, than a member of an IN-group, the group with which the person identifies and feels he or she is a member.

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One reason that personality alone cannot determine helping is that helping depends on a person's CURRENT MOOD

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Social exchange theory argues that much of what we do stems from the desire to Maximize our rewards and Minimize our costs. Like evolutionary psychology, it is a theory based on SOCIAL OR ECONOMIC REWARDS; unlike it, it assumes that there is no genetic basis.

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The empathy-altruism hypothesis has been much debated, with some researchers arguing that empathy increases the Cost of not helping and thus increases the likelihood of helping because it lowers people's distress at seeing someone they care about suffer.

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The next step that must occur if helping is to take place is for someone to do what? When people assume responsibility. When there are many witnesses, there is a diffusion of responsibility. What is this phenomenon? Each bystanders sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increase.

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Two basic questions that people have asked are whether helping is an basic impulse w/ genetic roots or taught and whether people ever help without receiving benefits.

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• Much research examines helping between strangers, but most helping occurs between people who know each other well_.

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Does playing prosocial video games increase prosocial behavior?

yes by playing those games they were directly effected by the game even if it was unknowingly