CHAPTER 8: ALTRUISM

PSYCH44: Social Psychology

BS – Psychology 2A | Proceso Pondang

ALTRUISM - When the external causes are obvious, we

credit the causes, not the person.
- Selfishness in reverse
- An altruistic person is concerned and helpful EGOISM
even when no benefits are offered or
expected in return. - The idea that self-interest motivates all
behavior.
SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY - A motive (supposedly underlying all
behavior) to increase your own welfare.
- Human interactions are transactions that aim - The opposite of altruism, which aims to
to maximize one’s rewards and minimize increase someone else’s welfare.
one’s costs.
- Does not content the conscious monitor of INTERNAL REWARDS
our costs and rewards, only that such
considerations predict our behavior. - The benefits of helping include internal self-
- It easily degenerates into explaining-by- rewards.
naming. - The inner rewards of prosocial behavior can
offset other negative moods as well.
EX: If someone volunteers for the Big Brothers - University men whose physiological
Big Sisters tutor program, it is tempting to responses and self-reports revealed the
“explain” that compassionate action by the most arousal in response to another’s
satisfaction it brings. distress also gave the most help to the
person.
REWARDS
GUILT
- May motivate help (external and internal)
- Helping boosts self-worth. - A painful emotion that people avoid and seek
to relieve.
EXTERNAL REWARD - People do whatever they can to expunge the
guilt and restore their self-image.
- Tangible and visible reward given to a - People are motivated to confess, apologize,
person. help, avoid repeated harm as it boosts
EX: when someone offers someone else a ride sensitivity and sustains close relationships—
hoping to receive appreciation or friendship guilt leads to much good.

INTERNAL REWARD FEEL BAD-DO GOOD SCENARIO

- Intangible aware of recognition, a sense of - This effect occurs with people whose
achievement, or a conscious satisfaction. attention is on others, people for whom
prosocial behavior is, therefore, rewarding.
EX: people far from home will leave tips for
waiters and do kindnesses for strangers whom
they will never see again.

SOCIAL-EXCHANGE THEORY IS NEVER TRULY

ALTRUSTIC?

- We credit people for their good deeds only

when we can’t explain them (according to
Skinner).
- We attribute their behavior to their inner
dispositions only when we lack external
explanations.
 FEEL GOOD-DO GOOD - In Western countries, they usually apply this
norm selectively to those who need it not to
- A positive mood is conducive to positive be due to their own negligence.
thoughts and positive self-esteem, which - In collectivistic countries, people support this
predispose us to positive behavior. norm more strongly.

GENDER AND RECEIVING HELP

Women
• Offered help equally to males and females
• Seek more help; twice as likely to seek
medical and psychiatric help.
Men
• Offered more help when strangers in need
were females.
• Mating motives increase men’s spending on
SOCIAL NORMS conspicuous luxuries and displays of
heroism.
- We help others because something tells us • More frequent to help attractive than
we ought to. unattractive women.
THE RECIPROCITY NORM EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
- An expectation that people will help, not hurt, - Contends the essence of life is gene survival.
those who have helped them. - It is a biological reaffirmation of a deep, self-
- To those who help us, we should return help, serving “original sin” – Donald Campbell
not harm. - Genes will not survive if individuals’ self-
- The “incest taboo” because we “invest” in sacrifice in the interests of stranger’s welfare.
others and expect dividends. - Evolutionary success comes from
EX: Politicians know that the one who gives a cooperation.
favor can later expect a favor. KIN SELECTION
- Reciprocity within social networks helps
define the “social capital”—the supportive - If you carry my genes, I’ll favor you
connections, information flow, trust, and - Selected altruism toward one’s close
cooperative actions—that keeps a relatives of mutually shared genes.
community healthy. - Favoritism toward those who share our
genes.
EX: Neighbors keeping an eye on each other’s - Parents who put their children’s welfare
homes is social capital in action. ahead of their own are more likely to pass on
their genes
- When people cannot reciprocate, they may - Devotion to one’s child increase gene
feel threatened and demeaned by accepting survival.
aid. - We feel more empathy to people in our in-
EX: Proud, high-self-esteem people are often group and even out-group members.
reluctant to seek help. “Genes help themselves by being nice to
THE SOCIAL-RESPONSIBILITY NORM themselves, even I they are enclosed in different
bodies” – David Barash
- An expectation that people will help those
dependent upon them.
- Responses are closely tied to attributions.
 RECIPROCITY - When we feel empathy, we focus not so
much on our own distress as on the sufferer.
- Giver expects to be the receiver later on. - Distress and empathy motivate responses to
- Works best in small and isolated groups—in a crisis.
which one will often see the people for whom - If something else will make us feel better, we
one does favors. aren’t likely to help.

DIRECT RECIPROCITY ALTRUISTIC ROUTES

- You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.

INDIRECT RECIPROCITY

- I’ll scratch your back, you scratch

someone’s, and someone will scratch mine.

GROUP SELECTION

- Back-scratching groups survive.

- Groups of mutually supportive altruists
outlast groups of non-altruists.
- Human exhibit in-group loyalty by sometimes
sacrificing to support “us” against “them”
EX: Bees and ants will labor sacrificially for their
colony’s survival.
NUMBER OF BYSTANDERS

- Person is at least likely to be helped by lone

bystander as when observed by several
bystanders.
- When bystanders increase, any given
bystander is less likely to notice the incident,
less likely to interpret the incident as a
problem or incident, and less likely to
assume responsibility for taking action.

NOTICING

INTERPRETING

- Once we notice an ambiguous event, we

GENUINE ALTRUISM must interpret it.

- Our willingness to help is influences by both

self-serving and selfless considerations.
- Someone’s suffering motivates us to relieve
our upset feelings by escaping the
distressing situation or by helping.
- Attachment results to feel empathy—the
vicarious experience of someone else’s
feeling.
- We feel empathy for those we identify with.
- To increase empathy, it helps to get a small
dose of what another feels.
 WHEN WILL WE HELP? TIME PRESSURES

- Another determinant of helping.

- A person not in a hurry may stop and offer
help to a person in distress. A person in a
hurry is likely to keep going.

SIMILARITY TO THE VICTIM

- Similarity is conductive to liking, liking is

conductive to helping.
- We are more empathetic and helpful toward
those similar to us.
- Similarity bias applies to both dress and
beliefs.
ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY WHO HELPS?
- Unlike the smoke-filled-room experiment,
PERSONALITY TRAITS
however, each of these everyday situations
involves someone in desperate need. To see - No single personality trait that predicted
if the same bystander effect occurs in such altruistic behavior with anything close to the
situations. predictive power of the situation, guilt, and
- Bystander Effect: The finding that a person mood factors.
is less likely to provide help when there are - Attitude and trait measures seldom predict a
other bystanders. specific act.
- Most people who live in large cities are - People high in self-monitoring are helpful if
seldom alone in public places, which helps they think helpfulness will be socially
account for why city people often are less rewarded.
helpful than country people.
- Compassion fatigue and sensory GENDER
overload from encountering so many people
in need further restrain helping in large cities - Women tend to be more nurturing, caring,
across the world. and supportive with the help they give.
- Men tend to help by taking action and a
HELPING WHEN SOMEONE ELSE DOES willingness to take physical risk.
- Prosocial models do promote prosocial HOW CAN WE INCREASE HELPING?
behavior.
- Elevation: a distinctive feeling in the chest of 1. REDUCE AMBIGUITY, INCREASE
warmth and expansion that may provoke RESPONSIBILITY
chills, tears, and throat-clenching that inspire
people to become more self-giving. - Both face-to-face comments substantially
o it is triggered after human kindness boosted reporting of crime.
and charity (Jonathan Haidt, 2003).
PERSONAL APPEAL
EX: children earn moral judgments from both
what they hear preached and what they see - Personalized nonverbal appeals can also be
being practiced. effective.
- A personal approach makes people feel less
EX: British adults were more willing to donate anonymous, more responsible.
blood if they were approached after observing a - Bystanders who had identified themselves to
confederate consent to donating. one another—by name, age, and so forth—
were more likely to offer aid to a sick person
than were anonymous bystanders.
 - Helpfulness also increases when one
expects to meet the victim and other
witnesses again.
- Personal treatment makes bystanders more
self-aware and more attuned to their own
altruistic ideals.
2. GUILT AND CONCERN FOR SELF-IMAGE
- People who feel guilty will act to reduce guilt
and restore their self-worth.
- Guilt-laden people are helpful people. LEARNING BY DOING

3. SOCIALIZING PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR - Just as immoral behavior fuels immoral

attitudes, so helping increases future
TEACHING MORAL INCLUSION helping.
- Children and adults learn by doing.
1. MORAL INCLUSION - When children act helpfully, they develop
helping-related values, beliefs, and skills.
- Regarding others as within your circle of - Helping also contributes to satisfying their
moral concern. needs for a positive self-concept.
- These people are morally inclusive. - Attitudes follow behavior.
- Helpful actions promote the self-perception
2. MORAL EXCLUSION
that one is caring and helpful, which in turn
- The perception of certain individuals or promotes further helping.
groups as outside the boundary within which
ATTRIBUTING HELPFUL BEHAVIOR TO
you apply moral values and rules of fairness.
- Omitting certain people from one’s circle of ALTRUISTIC MOTIVES
moral concern.
- By providing people with just enough
- Justifies all sorts of harm from discrimination
justification to prompt a good deed, we may
to genocide.
increase their pleasure in doing such deeds
MODELLING PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR on their own.

- If we see or read about someone helping, we LEARNING ABOUT PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

are more likely to offer assistance.
- Once people understand why the presence
- People reared by extremely punitive parents
of bystanders inhibits helping, they become
show much less of the empathy and
more likely to help in group situations.
principled caring that typify altruists.
- Prosocial TV models have actually had even
greater effects than antisocial models.
- We can see the important role of media in
other cases as well.
 THE KITTY GENOVESE CASE (REVISITED)

- Rape and murder case of Kitty Genovese

was the catalyst for an entire line of research
on helping.
- We know the things we can do as the victims
to encourage people to help us.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU NEED HELP?

Personal approach reduces people’s perceptions of

anonymity and increases personal responsibility. It
will also reduce ambiguity in the situation and reduce
any diffusion of responsibility.
1. Get the attention of a specific person
2. Point that person out and make eye contact
3. Make it clear, through your words, that you
need help.