14.8 Altruism

Read the scenario below and answer the question that follows. Margo has saved enough money to buy herself that pair of shoes she's been wanting. On her lunch break, she notices a waitress looking for a patron that has walked out without paying for their meal. Margo knows this will probably be taken out of the waitresses paycheck and decides to pay for the bill out of her shoe money. Margo has displayed an example of __________. A. economic altruism B. social altruism C. altruism in nature D. historical altruism

A. economic altruism

Read the scenario below and answer the question that follows. 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

Mario gave his friend Eric money for lunch last week. Eric feels that he owes Mario a favor. This is an example of __________ of social expectations. A. reciprocity norm B. social-responsibility norm C. social exchange theory D. economic altruism

A. reciprocity norm

Let's Check In People are more likely to display altruistic behaviors toward all of the following except __________. A. members of social groups B. complete strangers C. kin groups D. those who seem similar

B. complete strangers

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

The tendency of individuals in a large group to be less likely to administer aid during an emergency is known as __________. A. reciprocity norm B. diffusion of responsibility C. bystander effect D. social exchange theory

C. bystander effect

In order for altruism to be possible, there must be __________ to conceive of another's emotional state, and __________, which allows you to see a situation from another viewpoint. A. perspective . . . empathy B. understanding . . . empathy C. empathy . . . perspective D. trust . . . perspective

C. empathy . . . perspective

All of the following may be possible reasons for altruistic behavior except __________. A. evolutionary benefits B. social expectations C. payment expectations D. physiological influences

C. payment expectations

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. Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F

F

Emotional elevation generally decreases acts of altruism. Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F

F

lecture section one

Lecture Section 1 00:00:01 BIANCA KRESS: Welcome to Your Virtual Classroom. When was the last time that you helped another person without expecting anything in return? Or when was the last time somebody helped you, and you had no way of rewarding them? Well, what we're going to be talking about today has to do with altruistic behavior, reaching out and helping other people without any expectation of something in return. 00:00:24 So the big question that psychologists like to ask is, what occurs when we help others without reward? I'm Mrs. Kress, and this is Section One on Altruism. We have three objectives to cover throughout the entire lesson, but we're just going to focus on number one for today. Define altruism and describe examples of altruistic behavior. 00:00:43 So let's begin with that definition. Altruism has to do with the behavior performed on behalf of the well-being of others. Now, altruistic behavior may involve some sacrifice or risk, and it can be motivated by personal gain or concern for another person. So look at this picture here. The guy with the backpack was probably just walking down the 00:01:05 street, and he noticed this other guy. His car was broken down. He probably doesn't even know this guy, but he stepped in to help. What motivates him to do that? That's the big question. Now let's look at the components of altruism. First, let's discuss empathy. 00:01:22 Empathy is our ability to perceive another person's feelings. Now, when you notice somebody is they need, you have empathy. But that does not necessarily result in action. Now, if you couple empathy with the alternate perspective-- so these two have to go together. 00:01:42 The alternate perspective has to do with putting yourself in somebody else's shoes, seeing things from their point of view. When you couple these two elements together, then you have altruism. And that results in action. Now let's talk about different types of altruism. There's something called "social altruism." This has to 00:02:03 do with, maybe, a mother going hungry so that she can feed her children, a firefighter running into a burning building, a bystander calling police during a mugging, a person donating blood, a person volunteering time to charity. What motivates these people to go out and help others? Is there something it for them? Not all the time. 00:02:26 So why do they do it? Another type of altruism we want to look at is historical altruism. For example, we have Holocaust resistors during World War II. And those were people who defended and protected Jewish citizens from arrest and deportation. They put themselves at great risk to help others, but why? Then you have civil rights protesters, and they also put 00:02:50 themselves in harm's way to stand up for what they believed in and to help others. And then you have 9/11 rescuers who went into Ground Zero and very dangerous circumstances to try to help their fellow man. So we also have historical altruism. Again, there's no immediate benefit to the person helping. So why do they do it? 00:03:15 And then, of course, there's economic altruism, charitable giving, leaving a tip. In both of these examples, there is a cost. There is a sacrifice that somebody makes. It's money out of your pocket to help another person. We also want to look at altruism in nature, because we see this a lot. Look at insect colonies, like ants or bees. 00:03:36 Everybody is working for the greater good of the colony. So they help one another, even though there's no immediate benefit to themselves. And then we have animals that alert with warning cries, like monkeys. So if there's danger coming, a monkey who senses that danger will alert everybody else. That alert will put that monkey at risk, but it will 00:03:58 help the other monkeys. Why do they do it? And then feeding the helpless, like you see here in the picture. Baby birds can't yet leave the nest. So what does their mother do? Mom goes out, eats a worm, and this is a bit gross, but she regurgitates it back up into her baby's mouth. 00:04:15 Feeding the helpless. So you see altruism in nature as well. Let's look at some closing thoughts on altruism. We talked about the definition and components. Remember, you have empathy and alternative perspective. They work together to create altruistic behavior to actually equal an action. And then remember, there are different examples. 00:04:35 So we can categorize altruistic behavior as being social, historical, economical, or when we see altruism in nature. Now remember, the idea behind altruism is that people will act, or animals will act, without expecting any immediate benefit. In the next section, we are going to discuss some theories of altruism. 00:04:56 Why does it happen? Where's this motivation coming from? What are the mechanisms behind altruistic behavior? And can we actually call the action altruistic? What if there is some selfish motivation behind helping another person? So when we come back, we're going to discuss that. I'll see you in just a bit.

Experiencing empathy can motivate altruistic behavior. Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F

T

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.

lecture section four

Section 4 00:00:01 BIANCA KRESS: Welcome back. Did you have the opportunity to help somebody in need since the last time I saw you? If so, what motivated you to help? Was there something in it for you? Take a look at this picture. Let's call this couple Jack and Jill. Now, Jack is helping Jill across the creek. 00:00:17 But why is he helping her? Is it a completely selfless, or altruistic, act? Or is there some selfish motivation behind helping Jill across that creek? We're going to be trying to answer this question today. Is altruism actually disguised self-interest? I'm Mrs. Kress, and this is Section Two on Altruism. Today, we'll be focusing on the second objective. 00:00:41 We will discuss various perspectives concerning the reasons for altruistic behavior. So let's begin by putting the controversy out there. Some psychologists believe that altruism is not true altruism because there is selfish motivation behind our actions. Others do believe that altruism is truly a selfless act. 00:01:09 So we're going to look at the four perspectives on altruism. And these talk about different motivations behind the behavior. So we're going to discuss evolutionary benefits, benefits of social exchange, social expectations, and physiological influences. So again, all of these are perspectives or theories on why we go out and help others. 00:01:34 So let's begin by talking about the first perspective, evolutionary benefits. Altruism may have evolutionary benefits, such as kin selection. This is the theory that predicts that altruistic behavior will be oriented toward gene survival. Let's look at an example of this. Kin selection attempts to explain why one readily helps 00:01:56 blood relatives. It is also attempting to help out those of the same species so that the chances of survival can increase. So of course, if you have a mother, and she is watching a group of children on a playground, and there is danger, which child is she going to help first? Obviously her own. Now, the idea behind this is that it's kin selection. 00:02:21 This is about making sure that your genes will survive. That's one theory. Let's look at the second perspective. And this has to do with the benefits of social exchange. This has to do with a person weighing the benefits and the costs before they take action. So what are the benefits for me helping somebody? And what will it cost me? 00:02:45 Which is greater will answer the question about whether or not they step in to help. Let's look at some more details about social exchange. This theory states that individuals will help each other when social behavior maximizes the benefits and minimizes the cost. So let's say you're standing with a group of friends, and you see somebody in need. So you rush to their aid. 00:03:09 Suddenly, people are patting you on the back, because the group of witnesses are praising your act. Now, if you stand there, and you don't take action, you might get a negative response from the people around you. So this has to do with the social exchange theory and the idea that we are stopping and thinking things through before we take action. Let's look at the third perspective. 00:03:33 This is social expectations. There is the idea that social norms affect the tendency to perform altruistic behaviors. For example, do we believe that we have a social responsibility toward those in need? And are we reciprocating help received from others? So let's look at some more details about social expectation. 00:03:54 There's the social responsibility norm. This is the expectation that people will help individuals who need help. It's just expected of you, so you do it. It's what's right in society. And then there's the reciprocity norm, which is the social expectation that people will help those who have helped them. 00:04:12 So are you more likely to help a certain person because they, in turn, have helped you in the past? So again, these are all theories about the motivation behind altruistic behavior. Let's look at the final perspective, physiological influences. Empathy can cause a physiological response. Remember, we talked about the idea that we have empathy, or 00:04:34 the ability to perceive other people's feelings. When you couple that with alternative perspective, then you take action. Empathy alone has a physiological response. Our hands will tremble, our heart rate will increase, and our palms will get sweaty. Those are just a few. So the idea behind physiological influences is 00:04:56 that the helping behavior will actually receive this discomfort that empathy causes. So by helping, you're calming your body back down. So it's possible, according to some psychologists, that altruistic behavior is built into our system in our body. So let's look at some closing thoughts. Remember, there is that big controversy over altruism. Is it truly selfless, or are there some selfish 00:05:24 motivations? These are perspectives on those motivations. We have evolutionary benefits, benefits of social exchange, social expectations, and physiological influences. So in our next lecture, we're going to actually look at factors that will reduce a person's interest in helping others and also some factors that will promote altruistic behavior. 00:05:49 I'll see you back here in just a bit. Section 7 00:00:03 BIANCA KRESS: Welcome back. I want to tell you about a murder that happened in 1964. There were 9,000 murders this year. So why am I talking about this one? Because it sparked the interest of many psychologists. There was a woman named Catherine walking down the street in New York. 00:00:20 She was attacked and killed. 38 people stood by and watched this happen. Nobody stepped in to help, and it took 20 minutes for somebody to call the police. So that brings up this question. What is happening when people fail to demonstrate altruistic behavior? I'm Mrs. Kress, and this is Section Three on Altruism. 00:00:39 We're going to be focusing on that third objective today. We will identify factors that reduce or promote altruism. So let's begin by talking about the factors that reduce altruism. We're going to be talking about two, the bystander effect, which also includes the idea of the diffusion of responsibility, and the sense of urgency. So make sure you set your notes up accordingly, because 00:01:01 we're talking about factors that reduce, and these are the two ideas. And then we'll move on and talk about factors that promote altruism. So let's begin with the bystander effect. This is the tendency of bystanders in large groups to be less likely to administer aid during an emergency. Interestingly enough, the bystander effect increases 00:01:22 with group size. So think about this. There were 38 people that were there watching Catherine's attack and her murder. Because the group is so large, psychologists believe that that is one reason why people did not step in and help. So let's talk about the diffusion of responsibility, which falls into the bystander effect. 00:01:42 This is a social concept describing how in large groups of people, each person is less likely to feel responsible for observed events. Why? Maybe the people are thinking, well, somebody else in this group is going to step in and help. Or somebody else is going to make the phone call to police? After all, there's 38 people. 00:02:03 So that's one possible reason why altruistic behaviors could decrease due to bystander effect and the diffusion of responsibility. I want to show you this graphic organizer just to help you understand the thought process that some psychologists believe we go through before we determine that something's an emergency. Remember, from Section One, we have the idea of empathy. 00:02:29 That's the ability to perceive one's feelings. And when you couple that with the alternative perspective, then somebody takes action. So that kind of falls into this category. So did you observe the incident? If the answer is no, then you're not going to take any action. If it's yes, then your mind is going to ask yourself if it's 00:02:49 an emergency. If you don't perceive it as an emergency, you won't take action. Now, your perception might differ from somebody else. They might see things differently than you do. If you say yes, it is an emergency, then you need to make the decision if you're going to accept responsibility. 00:03:07 If you're not willing to do that, then no action is taken. If you are willing to accept responsibility, then help is provided. And now we have altruistic behavior. So the answers to these questions could vary from person to person because of perspective. Let's talk about the next idea, sense of urgency, that some psychologists believe is a factor in reducing 00:03:30 alternative behavior. Urgency seems to reduce the incidence of helping behavior. The reason for this is not yet clear. When I talk about urgency, it has to do you and with me. If I'm in a hurry, if I am hustling along, I am not going to perceive something as an emergency. Why? Again, the reason is unclear. 00:03:52 Maybe it's because I don't want to take the time. Maybe it's because my mind is occupied with a different sense of urgency than a sense of emergency. So this is another idea. Now that we've talked about the points that possibly reduce altruistic behavior, let's go on a positive note and talk about factors that actually increase altruism. Feelings of happiness, feeling guilty, focusing on others, 00:04:18 feeling similar to others, believing help is deserved, and witnessing altruism. We're going to add details to each of these points. So you might want to hit Pause and set up your notes accordingly. Let's begin by talking about the idea of feeling happy and how that increases altruistic behavior. Those who are more happy are more likely to 00:04:38 offer help to others. The cause of happiness appears to be irrelevant. Just the fact that you're a happy person generally tends to make you more willing to help others. Feelings of guilt. Guilt that causes a significant amount of emotional discomfort can motivate one to help. So when you see somebody hurting, and you feel a little 00:04:59 bit guilty about the situation they're in, it might make you feel better to help. And then there is focusing on others. Noticing and understanding the behavior of others is a key factor in the willingness to help. What do we identify that? That has to do with empathy and alternative perspective. Remember, alternative perspective is about putting 00:05:21 yourself in somebody else's shoes and seeing things from their perspective. And then feeling similar to others. There is some research out there that identifies that we are more likely to behave altruistically toward kin groups-- towards people that are related by blood-- individuals who seem similar to us, and members that belong 00:05:43 to our same social groups. Believing help is deserved is also a factor that may increase altruistic behavior. In order for this to happen, you must perceive a person as being in need. So again, that perception is in there that can vary from one person to another. And you must make a judgment about the person being helped. 00:06:05 So believing one deserves to be helped will increase altruistic behavior. But this is highly subjective, and it can vary from person to person. Witnessing altruistic behavior. That seems to be very helpful in increasing future helpful behavior. So take a look at this picture. 00:06:23 You see a man and a woman helping this elderly man. Maybe they're helping him cross the street. We don't know. But look over to the side. There you have a woman who is witnessing the behavior, and it brings a smile to her face. So this has to do it elevation. This is a positive emotion that seems to occur when 00:06:43 observing someone performing a helpful behavior. That, in turn, may encourage this women to go out and perform altruistic behavior as well. So let's look at some closing thoughts. In this section, we talked about things that decrease altruism, the bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility, and a sense of urgency. But we also talked about things that will increase 00:07:06 altruism, feelings of happiness, guilt, or similarity, focusing on others, believing a person is deserving of help, and witnessing altruistic behavior. So let's do a quick lesson summary. Remember, we've been talking about altruistic behaviors. All psychologists agree that we do seem to act, and we have altruistic behavior. 00:07:30 What they disagree about, and where the different perspectives come in, is why. What motivates it? Is it truly selfless, or do we have some other type of motivation going on, such as biological factors, social factors, effective factors, and cognitive factors? So what do you think? Next time you see somebody you need, maybe you don't even 00:07:51 notice and think about what you've done to help them until the moment has passed. But start thinking about it when you're witnessing people in need or watching other people help one another. Do you think there's some selfish motivation there, or is it truly selfless?

lecture section seven

Section 7 00:00:03 BIANCA KRESS: Welcome back. I want to tell you about a murder that happened in 1964. There were 9,000 murders this year. So why am I talking about this one? Because it sparked the interest of many psychologists. There was a woman named Catherine walking down the street in New York. 00:00:20 She was attacked and killed. 38 people stood by and watched this happen. Nobody stepped in to help, and it took 20 minutes for somebody to call the police. So that brings up this question. What is happening when people fail to demonstrate altruistic behavior? I'm Mrs. Kress, and this is Section Three on Altruism. 00:00:39 We're going to be focusing on that third objective today. We will identify factors that reduce or promote altruism. So let's begin by talking about the factors that reduce altruism. We're going to be talking about two, the bystander effect, which also includes the idea of the diffusion of responsibility, and the sense of urgency. So make sure you set your notes up accordingly, because 00:01:01 we're talking about factors that reduce, and these are the two ideas. And then we'll move on and talk about factors that promote altruism. So let's begin with the bystander effect. This is the tendency of bystanders in large groups to be less likely to administer aid during an emergency. Interestingly enough, the bystander effect increases 00:01:22 with group size. So think about this. There were 38 people that were there watching Catherine's attack and her murder. Because the group is so large, psychologists believe that that is one reason why people did not step in and help. So let's talk about the diffusion of responsibility, which falls into the bystander effect. 00:01:42 This is a social concept describing how in large groups of people, each person is less likely to feel responsible for observed events. Why? Maybe the people are thinking, well, somebody else in this group is going to step in and help. Or somebody else is going to make the phone call to police? After all, there's 38 people. 00:02:03 So that's one possible reason why altruistic behaviors could decrease due to bystander effect and the diffusion of responsibility. I want to show you this graphic organizer just to help you understand the thought process that some psychologists believe we go through before we determine that something's an emergency. Remember, from Section One, we have the idea of empathy. 00:02:29 That's the ability to perceive one's feelings. And when you couple that with the alternative perspective, then somebody takes action. So that kind of falls into this category. So did you observe the incident? If the answer is no, then you're not going to take any action. If it's yes, then your mind is going to ask yourself if it's 00:02:49 an emergency. If you don't perceive it as an emergency, you won't take action. Now, your perception might differ from somebody else. They might see things differently than you do. If you say yes, it is an emergency, then you need to make the decision if you're going to accept responsibility. 00:03:07 If you're not willing to do that, then no action is taken. If you are willing to accept responsibility, then help is provided. And now we have altruistic behavior. So the answers to these questions could vary from person to person because of perspective. Let's talk about the next idea, sense of urgency, that some psychologists believe is a factor in reducing 00:03:30 alternative behavior. Urgency seems to reduce the incidence of helping behavior. The reason for this is not yet clear. When I talk about urgency, it has to do you and with me. If I'm in a hurry, if I am hustling along, I am not going to perceive something as an emergency. Why? Again, the reason is unclear. 00:03:52 Maybe it's because I don't want to take the time. Maybe it's because my mind is occupied with a different sense of urgency than a sense of emergency. So this is another idea. Now that we've talked about the points that possibly reduce altruistic behavior, let's go on a positive note and talk about factors that actually increase altruism. Feelings of happiness, feeling guilty, focusing on others, 00:04:18 feeling similar to others, believing help is deserved, and witnessing altruism. We're going to add details to each of these points. So you might want to hit Pause and set up your notes accordingly. Let's begin by talking about the idea of feeling happy and how that increases altruistic behavior. Those who are more happy are more likely to 00:04:38 offer help to others. The cause of happiness appears to be irrelevant. Just the fact that you're a happy person generally tends to make you more willing to help others. Feelings of guilt. Guilt that causes a significant amount of emotional discomfort can motivate one to help. So when you see somebody hurting, and you feel a little 00:04:59 bit guilty about the situation they're in, it might make you feel better to help. And then there is focusing on others. Noticing and understanding the behavior of others is a key factor in the willingness to help. What do we identify that? That has to do with empathy and alternative perspective. Remember, alternative perspective is about putting 00:05:21 yourself in somebody else's shoes and seeing things from their perspective. And then feeling similar to others. There is some research out there that identifies that we are more likely to behave altruistically toward kin groups-- towards people that are related by blood-- individuals who seem similar to us, and members that belong 00:05:43 to our same social groups. Believing help is deserved is also a factor that may increase altruistic behavior. In order for this to happen, you must perceive a person as being in need. So again, that perception is in there that can vary from one person to another. And you must make a judgment about the person being helped. 00:06:05 So believing one deserves to be helped will increase altruistic behavior. But this is highly subjective, and it can vary from person to person. Witnessing altruistic behavior. That seems to be very helpful in increasing future helpful behavior. So take a look at this picture. 00:06:23 You see a man and a woman helping this elderly man. Maybe they're helping him cross the street. We don't know. But look over to the side. There you have a woman who is witnessing the behavior, and it brings a smile to her face. So this has to do it elevation. This is a positive emotion that seems to occur when 00:06:43 observing someone performing a helpful behavior. That, in turn, may encourage this women to go out and perform altruistic behavior as well. So let's look at some closing thoughts. In this section, we talked about things that decrease altruism, the bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility, and a sense of urgency. But we also talked about things that will increase 00:07:06 altruism, feelings of happiness, guilt, or similarity, focusing on others, believing a person is deserving of help, and witnessing altruistic behavior. So let's do a quick lesson summary. Remember, we've been talking about altruistic behaviors. All psychologists agree that we do seem to act, and we have altruistic behavior. 00:07:30 What they disagree about, and where the different perspectives come in, is why. What motivates it? Is it truly selfless, or do we have some other type of motivation going on, such as biological factors, social factors, effective factors, and cognitive factors? So what do you think? Next time you see somebody you need, maybe you don't even 00:07:51 notice and think about what you've done to help them until the moment has passed. But start thinking about it when you're witnessing people in need or watching other people help one another. Do you think there's some selfish motivation there, or is it truly selfless?

According to social exchange theory, altruistic behaviors benefit the individual who performs them. Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F

T

Happiness and guilt are emotions that tend to increase the incidence of altruistic behavior. Please select the best answer from the choices provided T F

T