Slide share altruism helping me helping you seminar draft (1)

ALTRUISMHelping me? Helping you? Helping them?

Catherine Duggan

David Steyaert

AGENDA Learning outcomes

Definitions of altruism

Altruism revision theories and case studies

Discussion on 3rd year altruism project

Advantages and disadvantages of altruistic behaviour

Egoism versus empathy theories

Slideshow of well-known altruistic individuals

Ego – empathy debate

LEARNING OUTCOMESThe learner will be able to:

o define altruism to an academic standard

o identify several main theories and case studies of altruism

o explain the advantages and disadvantages of altruistic behaviour

o identify the main points of the egoism and empathy theories of altruism

Altruism

HELPING ME? HELPING YOU? HELPING THEM?

Altruism

A special form of helping behaviour, sometimes costly, that shows concern for fellow human beings and is performed without expectation of personal gain.

(Hogg & Vaughan, 2008, p. 528)

Biological definition

Altruism is when a behaviourreduces the fitness of the actor, but increases the fitness of the recipient.

(West, Gardner & Griffin, 2007, p.482)


An enduring tendency to think about the welfare of other people, to feel concern and empathy for them, and to act in a way that benefits them.

(Penner & Finkelstein, 1998)


Revision

oWhat are the main theories and theorists related to altruism?

oTake a minute to remember what you can, then discuss in groups.


Revision

Latané and Darley (1968) Cognitive model of bystander behaviour

Piliavin (1969) Arousal/cost reward model of bystander behaviour

Trivers (1971)Reciprocal Altruism

Cialdini et al. (1987)Negative-state relief model

Batson (1991) Empathy-altruism hypothesis


Cialdini et al. (1987)Negative-state relief modelEgo: About me?

Batson (1991) Empathy-altruism hypothesisEmpathy: About them?




Trivers (1971)

Reciprocal altruism

Viewpoint developed by evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers

People perform acts to benefit others at their own expense, with the expectation that they will receive help at a later stage


Latané and Darley (1968)

Bystander Effect

Kitty Genovese

Epileptic fit experiment


Piliavin (1969) - Subway Study

Confederate playing either a blind or drunk man falls down on a subway

‘Blind’ man given spontaneous help in 62 of 65 trials

Found no evidence for ‘diffusion of responsibility’ theory

People were more likely to help when part of a large crowd



Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?

Martin Luther King Jr

Self report altruism scale

Points value of answers to questions:

1 = Never2 = Once3 = More than Once4 = Often5 = Very Often

Average Score: 52.5


Third year Altruism project

oFeelings before and after the project?

oHopes and Fears?

oAdvantages/Gains/Benefits v Disadvantages?

oStill involved with the project?

oIf not, why not?

oLessons learnt about self and others?

oWas it a worthwhile experience?


Advantages of altruistic behaviour

Positively predicts

o long-term well-being

o Personal growth

o Mastery

o Satisfaction with life

o Life purpose

(Bowman et al., 2010)


Disadvantages of altruistic behaviour

Associated with reduced personal accomplishment

Time consuming and can distract from career/educationaldevelopment


WHAT IS ALTRUISM?

Egoism Helping behaviour is

rewarded by gratitude from others

Even seemingly selfless altruism is engaged in for social reward

Cialdini school of thought

Empathy People help out of a genuine

concern for others.

‘Carol Study’.

Batson school of thought

versus

What is altruism?

Mother Teresa

Egoism? Empathy?

Debate

What is altruism?

LEARNING OUTCOMESThe learner will be able to:

o define altruism to an academic standard

o identify several main theories and case studies of altruism

o explain the advantages and disadvantages of altruistic behaviour

o identify the main points of the egoism and empathy theories of altruism

FURTHER READING AND INFORMATIONBatson, C.D. (2010). Batson, C.D. (2010). Empathy induced altruism: Friend

or foe of the common good. Retreived from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NikU_4ooBQ8

Batson, C.D. (1997). Self-other merging and the empathy-altruism hypothesis: Reply to Neuberg et al. (1997). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(3), 517-522.

Cialdini, R.B., Brown, S.L., Lewis, B.P., Luce, C., & Neuberg, S.L. (1997). Reinterpreting the empathy-altruism relationship; When one into one equals oneness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(3), 481-494.

Flanagan, C., & Bundick, M. (2011). Civic engagement and psychosocial well-being in college students. Liberal Education, 97(2), 20-26.

May, J. (2011). Egoism, empathy, and self-other merging. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 49, Spindle Supplement, 25-39.

Neuberg, S.L., Cialdini, R.B., Brown, S.L., Luce, C., Sagarin, B.J., & Lewis, B.P. (1997). Does empathy lead to anything more than superficial helping? Comment on Batson et al. (1997). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(3), 510-516.

REFERENCES

Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Toward a social-psychological answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bowman, N., Brandenberger, J., Lapsley, D., Hill, P., & Quaranto J. (2010). Serving in college, flourishing in adulthood: Does community engagement during the college years predict adult well-being? Applied psychology: health and well-being, 2(1), 14–34.

Cialdini, R. B., Schaller, M., Houlihan, D., Arps, K., Fultz, J., & Beaman, A. L. (1987). Empathy-based helping: is it selflessly or selfishly motivated?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(4), 749–758.

Great-Quotes.com. (2011). Martin Luther King Quote. Retrieved from http://www.great-quotes.com/quote/73750

Hogg, M.A. & Vaughan, G.M. (2008). Social psychology (5th ed.). Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education.

West, S., Gardner, A., & Griffin, A. (2007). Altruism. Current Biology, 16(13), 482-483.

http://www.great-quotes.com/quote/73750

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Slide share altruism helping me helping you seminar draft (1)