Altruism Chapter 11

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AltruismChapter 11
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Definitions

• Pro-social behavior
• any behavior intended to help others
• Altruism
• an act intended to benefit others without
  benefiting the actor

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When do people help and when dont they?

• B f(P,E)
• Personality factors are some people more
  helpful?
• no personality trait predicts helping behavior

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When do people help and when dont they?

• Situational factors
• Decision-Making Model of Helping Behavior (Darley
  Latane)
• Helping involves a number of stages
• The situation can inhibit helping by getting in
  the way of any one of these stages

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Stage 1 Notice the Event

• People are less likely to notice events when
  distracted
• Smoke filled room study

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Stage 2 Interpret the event as an emergency

• Ambiguity diminishes helping behavior
• Man and woman fighting study
• Stranger condition 65 helping
• Spouse condition 19 helping

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Stage 2 Interpret the event as an emergency

• Pluralistic ignorance people look to others to
  determine how to respond, but no one knows what
  is going on
• Smoke filled room study revisited

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Stage 3 Take responsibility for helping

• If we feel responsible, we are more likely to
  help
• Radio in park study
• Who helped? Those given responsibility!

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Stage 3 Take responsibility for helping

• Diffusion of responsibility the more people that
  are around, the less any one of them will feel
  responsible to help!
• Epilepsy study

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Stage 3 Take responsibility for helping

• Responsibility of the victim
• We are more likely to help those not to blame for
  their problems

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Stage 4 Weighing costs and benefits

• People help when the rewards of helping outweigh
  the costs of helping (social exchange theory)
• What are costs?
• Danger, time, effort, embarrassment

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Stage 4 Weighing costs and benefits

• What are rewards for helping?
• Norm of reciprocity If I help you, you may help
  me
• Social approval it can look bad to not help
• Self-satisfaction can feel good about self
• Reduced guilt and arousal

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Stage 4 Weighing costs and benefits

• Good Samaritan Study
• Seminary students asked to give speech
• Manipulated content of speech
• ½ given topic of Good Samaritan story
• ½ given topic of alternative careers to ministry
• Manipulated time
• ½ told had plenty of time
• ½ told they were late had to hurry

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Stage 4 Weighing costs and benefits
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Stage 5 Decide how to help

• People can not help if they do not know how to
  help

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• Conclusions? The failure to help can arise from a
  break down at any one of the five stages!

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Does True Altruism Exist? Three Perspectives

• Evolutionary Theory behaviors that contribute to
  our ability to reproduce are passed down
• What is puzzling about helping?
• Not adaptive
• Genes for self-sacrifice unlikely to be passed on

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Evolutionary Theory and Helping

• Kin selection people can pass on their genes by
  helping those they are genetically related to
• But. Donate a kidney study
• Norm of reciprocity a universal norm. People
  help others who are likely to help them in return

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Evolutionary Theory and Helping

• Conclusion? Evolutionary theory suggests that
  there is no true altruism

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Mood Effects on Helping

• Helping may be the result of temporary mood
  states
• People help more when they feel good
• Dime study
• If found free dime helping 84
• If didnt find dime helping 4
• People tip more on sunny days

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Mood Effects on Helping

• Why should good mood lead to helping?
• Good mood leads to more positive judgments of
  others
• Norm of reciprocity operates at a global level

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Mood Effects on Helping

• Does a bad mood decrease helping?
• Not necessarily
• People help more when they feel guilty.
• Camera study
• If broke camera, more likely to help
• White lie study
• If didnt lie volunteered 2 minutes
• If did lie volunteered 63 minutes!

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Mood Effects on Helping

• What about a bad mood makes you help?
• If bad mood creates an outward focus, more likely
  to help
• Imagination study
• Self-focus helping 25
• Other-focus helping 83

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Mood Effects on Helping

• Why can bad moods lead to helping?
• Norm of reciprocity at the global level
• Negative-state relief model people will help if
  helping allows them to relieve a negative state
• Falling stack of cards study
• Falling stack of cards revisited
• If have another way to relieve distress, wont
  help

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Mood Effects on Helping

• Conclusion? Mood leads to helping if helping
  increases mood. Again, no true altruism.

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Empathy-Altruism Model (Batson)

• Empathy the ability to adopt another persons
  perspective
• When people feel empathy, they will help
  regardless of rewards and costs
• When people do not feel empathy, they will help
  only if the rewards of helping outweigh the costs

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Empathy-Altruism Model

• Radio Show Study
• Manipulated empathy
• Manipulated cost of helping
• When empathy was high, costs did not matter

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Empathy-Altruism Model
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Empathy-Altruism Model

• Shock Study
• You are asked to receive shocks for someone else
• Manipulate empathy they are similar to you or
  not
• Manipulate cost if decline, can leave or must
  stay and watch
• When feel empathy, costs dont matter

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Empathy-Altruism Model

• Is this true altruism? Or negative-state relief
  model?
• If you can relieve distress some other way, dont
  help even if empathetic only costs matter

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Conclusions

• Perhaps there are degrees of prosocial behavior
  that are closer or further from true altruism