Cynical & Positive views of Altruism
- Prosocial Behavior - any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person
- Altruism - unselfish behavior that benefits others without a regard to consequences for oneself
Cynical View
- One help other because human beings are selfish
- Social rewards motive - people are motivated to help others to obtain social rewards
- People are motivated to help others in need to reduce their own distress
- Inclusive Fitness (evolutionary)
- Then tendency for people to look out for themselves, their offspring, and their close relatives, together with their offspring, ensuring that their genes survive
- Evidence: people receive more help from close kin than distant relatives or non-relatives
- Reciprocal Altruism
- The behavior whereby someone acts in a manner that temporarily reduces their own fitness while increasing another’s fitness, with the expectation that the other will act in similar manner at a later time
Positive View
Relateness of A and B /=> Benefit to B > Cost to A
- one help other not out of self-interest, but purely to assist others
Empathy
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The ability to understand and share the feelings of another
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Empathy contagion - feeling what the other person is feeling (if you are sad I am sad)
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Perspective Taking - understand what the other person is thinking (己所不欲 勿施于人)
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Pro social Behavior - desire to alleviate the other person’s suffering
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
who
- Overview
- When people feel empathy, they will help for altruistic reasons, regardless of gain to the self
- Detail
[Emotional Response]
| Distress | Empathy | |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Yes | |
| Hard | Yes | Yes |
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Empathy Predictors - anonymous donations
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Influences on Altruism
- Individual differences
- Situational influences (willing help study on podcast)
Situational Influences
- Bystander intervention
- Assistance given by a witness to someone in need
- helping is reduced when others are around
- Minimizing
- Make sure people can see other’s initial reactions
- Communicate when in the presence of friends
- Diffusion of responsibility
- a reduction in the sense of urgency to help someone in an emergency based on the assumption that others who are present will help