Chapter 9:Prosocial Behavior: Doing What's Best for Others

Negative State Relief Hypothesis

the idea that people help others in order to relieve their own distress

Prosocial Behavior

Doing something that is good for other people or for society as a whole

Norms

Standards established by society to tell its members what types of behavior are typical or expected

Cooperation

When each person does his or her part, and together they work toward a common goal

Rule of Law

When members of a society respect and follow its rules

Prisoner's Dilemma

a game that forces people to choose between commperation and competition

Volunteering

a planned, long-term,nonimpulsive decision to help others

Zero-Sum Game

a situation in which one person's gain is another's loss

Non-Zero-Sum Game

an interaction in whcih both participants can win (or lose)

Forgiveness

ceasing to feel angry toward or seek retribution against someone who has wronged you

Audience Inhibition

failure to help in front of others for fear of feeling like a fool if one's offer of help is rejected

Survivor Guilt

feeling bad for having lived through a terrible experience in which many others died

Obedience

following orders from an authority figure

Underbenefited

getting less than you deserve

Overbenefited

getting more than you deserve

Conformity

going along with the crowd

Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison

interpersonal concern about the consequences of outperforming others

Pluralistic Ignorance

looking to others for cues about how to behave, while they are looking to you; collective misinterpretation

Empathy

reacting to another person's emotional state by experienceing the same emotional state

Belief in a Just World

the assumption that life is essentially fair, that people generally get what they deserve and deserve what they get

Kin Selection

the evolutionary tendency to help people who have our genes

Empathy-Specific Punishment Hypothesis

the idea that empathy triggers the fear of social punishment that can be avoided by helping

Empathy-Specific Reward Hypothesis

the idea that empathy triggers the need for social reward that can be gained by helping

Equality

the idea that everyone gets the same amount, regardless of what he or she contributes

Bystander effect

the finding that people are less likely to offer help when they are in a group than when they are alone

Equity

the idea that each person receives benefits in proportion to what he or she contributes

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

the idea that empathy motivates people to reduce other people's distress, as by helping or comforting

Reciprocity

the obligation to return in kind what another has done for us

Diffusion of Responsibility

the reduction in feeling responsible that occurs when others are present

Altruistic Helping

when a helper seeks to increase another's welfare and expects nothing in return

Egoistic Helping

when a helper seeks to increase his or her own welfare by helping another