altruism and prosocial behaviour

• altruism


  any act of voluntary self-sacrifice intended to benefit another person with no expectation of reward
• prosocial behaviour


  any act performed by an individual with the goal of benefitting another person
• evolutionary perspectives

  • evolutionary perspective argues that behaviours or traits emerged through natural selection
  • contemporary evolutionary theory rejects the notion of straightforward individual selection
  • behaviours are thought to be displayed to the extent that they are adaptive and contribute to inclusive fitness
  • the gene is the unit of selection, not the individual
  • natural selection should favour altruistic acts directed towards kin
• Burnstein et al. 1994

  • if an evolutionary approach can explain helping, then we ought to help kin more than non-kin
  • degree if relatedness, health, and situation all matter
  • overall, participants more likely to help someone who is closer in relation
  • under life or death conditions, participants more likely to help someone who is in good health
  • under everyday conditions, participants more likely to help someone who is sick
• other factors to explain helping

  • genetic relatedness alone?
  • or is relatedness a proxy for other factors like emotional connection?
  • is weighing up genetic advancement something we engage in when deciding to help others?
• Korchmaros and Kenny 2001

  • replicated burnstein et al’s experiment but asked ppts to imagine real rather than hypothetical family members
  • measured how emotionally close or connected ppts felt with different relatives
  • emotional closeness predicted willingness to help more strongly than genetic closeness
  • genetic relatedness plays a role but is strengthened by developing emotional bonds with family members
• cultural differences 

  • if an evolutionary perspective is correct people should make similar decisions about who to help across cultures
  • decisions about helping in-born - then the socio-cultural differences between individuals should not impact decisions
• evolutionary limitations

  • as with aggression evolutionary explanations for helping behaviour are popular in research and pop culture
  • there are limits
  • demonstrating causal relationships is difficult if not impossible
  • we might help close kin more but for reasons other than genetics
  • although we are more likely to help close kin, this is not the only helping - e.g. complete strangers
• social exchange theory

  • builds on behaviourist notions related to human learning e.g. skinner - behaviour is motivated by the desire to maximise rewards and minimise costs
  • rewards can be
  • tangible e.g. money
  • intangible
  • removal of aversive states (e.g. distress)
• negative state relied hypothesis

  when we expect to engage in alternative mood enhancing activities, we help less (schaller & cialdini 1988)
• empathy-altruism model

  • suggested that whether people help depends on how they respond emotionally to the victims plight
  • empathy is the critical factor
  • empathy is the ability to sense another’s experiences, identifying with and experiencing another persons emotions, thoughts and attitudes
• the experience of empathy leads people down different paths

  • if you do not feel empathy for a victim then help is only given if it is in your interest to do so
  • if you do feel empathy for a victim then help is given regardless of self interest even when the costs outweigh the rewards
• situational factors 

  • the behaviour of others is important when we consider whether to offer our own help
  • kitty murder suggested people were reluctant to help because they assumed others would do so
  • this spurred interest in a phenomenon termed the bystander effect
• Who conducted the study on empathic joy in 1991?

  Batson et al
• How many participants were in the study by Toi & Batson (1982)?

  84 female undergraduate participants
• What was the task participants had to complete in the study?

  Listen to a radio show about a fellow student
• What was manipulated in Batson et al's study?

  An opportunity to experience empathic joy
• What was the story about in the radio show?

  A fellow student who broke both legs
• What was the independent variable in the study?

  Whether participants would hear back from the person helped
• What were the two conditions regarding the cost of not helping in the study?

  • Low cost: student working from home
  • High cost: student in your class
• What does hearing from the victim lead to in the study?

  Empathic joy
• What were the two conditions regarding empathy in the study?

  • Low empathy: maintain emotional distance
  • High empathy: put yourself in the person's shoes
• What motivates people who feel empathy to engage in prosocial acts?

  Altruistic concern for others' welfare
• If empathy is more important, what should happen in the high empathy condition?

  People should help regardless of feedback
• What is a potential egoistic source for helping behavior mentioned in the study?

  Empathic joy
• Is empathic joy considered its own reward system?

  Yes, it may be its own reward system
• What does Batson et al's work consistently show about empathy?

  Empathy overrides cost-benefit analyses
• What type of altruism do Batson et al argue for?

  Pure empathy motivated altruism
• Who conducted the study on the empathy-altruism model in 1982?

  Toi & Batson
• bystander effect

  → latane & darley 1970

  • Students sit in a room to complete a series of questionnaires
  • Smoke begins to fill the room…

  75% of participants approached the experimenter when they were alone

  38% of participants approached the experimenter if they were with strangers

  10% of participants approached the experimenter if they were with strangers who ignored the smoke

  • other researchers later argued that even just thinking about other people can elicit the bystander effect

  → garcia et al 2002 had people imagine themselves in various scenarios either by themselves or in a group
• What is altruistic helping independent from, according to Batson et al?

  Any rewards, including emotional ones
• What was the title of the radio show used in the study?

  News on the Personal Side
• What type of injury did the fellow student sustain in the story?

  Both legs broken in a car crash
• rethinking bystander apathy

  → levine et al 2010 repeated garcias experiments but varied the identity of the crowd

  • participants were female undergraduates
  • thinking about other women provokes thinking about gender identity group membership and the stereotypes about communality that come with it

  → faster response to lexical decision task in the presence of women compared to strangers
• attribution theory weiner 1995

  • argues that when people are approached for aid they ask themselves why does this person need my help?
  • the most important outcome of this are judgements of
  • responsibility - is the person responsible for their situation?
  • control - do they have control over their predicament?
• victim responsibility - schmidt & weiner 1988

  • Presented participants with a scenario – classmate asks to borrow your notes because:
  • They had problems with their eyes and couldn’t see during the lecture
  • OR they had gone to the beach instead of class
  • Results showed that perceptions of personal control and responsibility were:
  • Positively correlated with anger…
  • …& negatively correlated with empathy and intentions to help
• who deserves our help?

  • identity of the victim is a strong cue to how deserving someone is of help

  → levine et al 2005

  • Recruited Manchester United fans
  • Identity task – think and write about what it means to you to be a Man Utd fan