ib psych ii: altruism (refined)
what is empathetic concern?
emotions like discomfort, anxiety that lead to altruistic behavior
As part of the empathy-altruism model, Batson et al. discovered that observing another person's situation may either produce __________________ ____________, which are positive emotions like sympathy or compassion, or _____________ _____________ which are negative emotions.
empathetic concern, personal distress
social evaluation (apprehension)
individual bystanders are aware that people are present and may be afraid of being evaluated negatively if they react
trivers (_______)
1971, reciprocal altruism developed during evolution
Simmons et al. (______)
1977, investigated whether close relatives would donate their kidney, kin selection theory
Staub ________
1978, altruistic acts may reward the individual (e.g. feeling good/virtuous)
Batson et al. ________
1981, helper's MOTIVES determine whether a behavior is altruistic or not.
oliner + oliner (______) shows how...
1988, disposition and personal norms influence helping (Holocaust)
dawkins (_______)
1989, kin altruism = egoism
Piliavin + Charng _______
1990, psychologists can't agree on single definition of altruism
batson (_______) / 3 factors that facilitate perspective taking; Elaine and the electrical shock experiment
1991, (1) observer had similar experience, (2) observer is attached to victim, (3) observer imagines what it's like to be in victim's position
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR (Hogg + Vaughn _______)
1998, acts intended to benefit others that are probably valued by society
strengths of empathy altruism theory
(1) supported by experimental studies, (2) easy to test in lab, (3) predicts altruism-inducing conditions (more empathy = more help)
limitations of kin selection theory
(1) can't explain WHY people help non relatives, (2) human kinship =/ blood ties (ex- social bonding), (3) it's hard to test evolutionary theories
COST-REWARD MODEL OF HELPING (1) costs of helping: (2) benefits of helping: (3) benefits of not helping: (4) costs of not helping:
(1) could endanger you, may be a stressful situation (2) praise, gratitude (3) being able to continue doing whatever you were doing (4) self-blame and blame from others
5 sociocultural factors in prosocial behavior
(1) cultural norms and socioeconomic status influence PB, (2) children learn norms via observation/reinforcement, (3) individualism/collectivism influence degree of PB encouraged in kiddos, (4) collectivist cultures value helping family so kiddos have higher PB, (5) individualist cultures value personal success/competitiveness (enhances kiddos' social success)
strengths of kin selection theory
(1) empirical, (2) math computer simulations support it being a possible selection process, (3) explains that people behave more altruistically towards kin
limitations of empathy altruism theory
(1) hard to generalize experiment's findings to real life, (2) people may help for other reasons besides empathy, like escaping negative emotions, (3) no linear relationship, you can feel empathy and still not help, (4) hard to operationalize concepts like empathy
5 steps of cognitive decision model
(1) notice, (2) interpret, (3) assess responsibility, (4) decide ability to help, (5) help
latané + darley (_______):
1968, bystander intervention and diffusion of responsibility
piliavin et al. (_______): cognitive ____________ + emotional _____________
1969, cost benefit analysis, negative emotional arousal
hamilton (______)
1963, self sacrifice for relatives contributes to gene survival
latané + darley (1968) procedure
72 college students, confederate staged seizure
informational social influence
ambiguous people will look to others to see what they will do in an emergency situation
helping behavior
behavior that intentionally benefits another person
oliner + oliner (1988) / 67% of rescuers...
had been asked to help, shared personality traits, more pity/empathy
what are the 3 kin selection studies?
hamilton 1963, dawkins 1989, trivers 1971
miller et al. (1990) compared...
hindu indians vs. north americans, cross cultural social responsibility study
piliavin et al. (1969) results
ill > drunk helped, 60% were multiple people helping, NO support for diffusion of responsibility
empathy altruism theory: altruism __________ another person's welfare
increases
oliner + oliner (1988) procedure
interviewed 231 jew rescuers in nazi europe and 126 not jew rescuers
miller et al. (1990) results (US specific)
liking influences moral responsibility
whiting + whiting (1975) results (US)
modern society= more egoistic, get rewarded for chores (factor 5, individualism)
miller et al. (1990) results (Hindu)
moral duty to help in all situations
piliavin et al. (1969) strengths
more ecological validity than lab experiments
piliavin et al. (1969) limitations
no link between number of bystanders and speed of helping, assumes people only help egoistically, people may act on impulse and not cost benefit analysis
latané + darley (1968) results
number of bystanders DID affect reaction, 85% reported seizure if alone, 31% reported with 4 other bystanders
altruism
one helps another with no reward at a cost to oneself
miller et al. (1990) procedure
parent obligation to child, stranger to stranger, friend to friend; from life threatening, moderate, minor threat
latané + darley (1968) limitations
participant bias, ecological validity concern, ethical considerations (deceit, anxiety situation)
whiting + whiting (1975) compared...
prosocial behavior in 6 cultures based on child-rearing practices
oliner + oliner (1988) results
rescuers more likely to be guided by personal norms from parental behavior (high ethical values, belief in equity/equality), rescuers' families believed in universal similarity of all people
miller et al. (1990) results (North Americans)
social responsibility is a personal choice, esp if danger isn't life threatening or parent to child obligation
whiting + whiting (1975) / __________________ organization can promote/___________ opportunities for kids to acquire _______
socioeconomic, inhibit, PB
whiting + whiting (1975) results (Kenya)
tradition society= more PB, kids live in extended family, expected to do more chores (factor 4, collectivism)
piliavin et. al (1969) procedure
victim (drunk, ill, black, white) staged collapse on train, model helper waits 70 seconds to intervene
