Psychology of Altruism and Helping Behaviors

Altruism

• Altruism is a goal to increase another's well-being, regardless of the consequences for the helper (including benefits to oneself).
• Egoism is a goal to increase one's own welfare, regardless of the impact on others.

Other-Focused Helping

• Empathy concern is identifying with another person and understanding the person's experience, with the intention to help.
• Kin selection is helping those who share high proportions of genes.
• Reciprocity is helping those who have helped us in the past.
• Social exchange theory is calculating the costs and benefits of helping.
• Negative state relief is helping others to feel better, reducing negative affect in oneself.

Why Don't We Help?

• Bystander Intervention Model (Latane & Darley): Helping requires several steps: noticing an event, interpreting it as an emergency, taking responsibility for helping, deciding how to help, and providing help.
• Obstacles to helping: Audience inhibition (fear of appearing foolish), costs exceeding rewards, lack of competence, ambiguity (unclear if an emergency), diffusion of responsibility (feeling others will take action), relationship between attacker and victim, pluralistic ignorance (assuming others have a different interpretation of the situation), distraction, self-concerns.

Mindset

• Incremental (Growth) Mindset: Intelligence can change through effort and experience; it's malleable and can be improved. It promotes persistence in the face of challenges.
• Entity (Fixed) Mindset: Intelligence is determined by genetics; either you have it or you don't.

Health

• Genetic factors, socioeconomic status (SES), country of residence, quality of healthcare, and nutrition influence health outcomes.
• Race significantly affects health outcomes, creating gaps due to inequitable community conditions. Factors like socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, education, and environmental conditions lead to disparities in health indicators across different racial groups.

Stress and Stressors

• Physical Stress: Malnutrition, Sleep deprivation, Intense exercise, Injury/illness, Dehydration, and Climate.
• Psychological Stress: Anxiety, "Fight-or-Flight", Relationship difficulties, Loneliness, and Pressure to succeed.
• Psychological Responses: Emotional responses (irritability, restlessness, anxiety), behavioral responses (escape, aggression), and cognitive responses (rumination, intrusive thoughts, catastrophizing).

Stress Mediators

• Predictability: Predictable stressors are less harmful than unpredictable ones.
• Sense of Control: Having a sense of mastery over life outcomes improves overall health.
• Optimism: Positive outlook enhances health and well-being.
• Social Support: Support systems have a positive influence on health, similar to positive lifestyle choices.

De-stressing

• Construal of stressors: Perceiving stressors as challenges instead of threats reduces their impact.
• Construal of stress: Viewing stress as helpful can mitigate negative effects on health.

The U.S. Legal System

• Identifying perpetrators: Eyewitness testimony can be problematic due to memory issues, confidence not equating to accuracy, difficulties identifying people of different races, and the impact of priming/subconscious cues from investigating officers.
• Guilt and innocence: Jury selection procedures (voir dire), issues with biased jury selection, theories of punishment (retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation), potential for false confessions due to coercion during police interrogations, recovered memories.
• Trial process: Expert witnesses can offer testimony on various subjects such as psychological, medical, or forensic matters. The weight of this testimony depends on factors like speaker credibility and message structure.
• The US Supreme Court & Federal Government: Disparities in how discrimination is weighed in legal cases and whether framing a question narrowly or broadly might alter the result of a case and impact its legal interpretation or outcomes. The reliance on historical precedent can also influence interpretations of law (e.g., confirmation bias).

Explore the dynamics of altruism and the various factors that influence helping behaviors in this quiz. Delve into concepts like empathy, kin selection, and the barriers to intervention, as well as the intricacies of social exchange theory. Test your understanding of why people choose to help or not help others in need.