PSYC 215 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Elliott Sober, Reciprocal Altruism, The Selfish Gene
14 Dec 2015
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Pro-social behavior: actions intended to benefit others. Evolutionary factors in helping: the selfish gene : Humans help each other because it enhances reproductive success. Kin selection: preferential helping of genetic relatives, so that genes held in common will survive. Kinship selection serves the function of genetic survival; preferential helping of genetic relatives should be strongest when the biological stakes are particularly high. Experiment: participants indicated how willing they would be to offer different types of help a cousin, acquaintance, close friend, or sibling. The help was either low risk, medium risk, or high risk. For the lowest-risk help, friends received the most help. For higher-risk helping, in contrast, participants were more willing to help a sibling than a friend: reciprocal altruism, the altruistic group. Helping someone else can be in your best interests because it increases the likelihood that you will be helped in return.
