PSYC 241 Chapter Notes -Freaked, Moodle, Ingroups And Outgroups
31 Jan 2014
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Prosocial behaviours: behaviours intended to benefit others. Kin selection: tendency to help genetic relatives. Reciprocal altruism: helping someone else because they are likely to return the favour. In an experiment a female monkey was recorded while making noises of distress (essentially asking for help). Other monkeys were more likely to respond if the monkey in question had just groomed them. Empathy: understanding or vicariously experiencing another person"s perspective and feeling sympathy and compassion for the individual. The key components of empathy are: perspective taking the cognitive component, empathic concern the emotional component. The opposite of empathy is personal distress, which involves self- oriented reactions to a person in need. How people react in an emergency setting depends on their bystander calculus . This is a quick appraisal of costs versus reward. Prosocial behaviour can be intrinsically rewarding. Negative state relief model: people who are feeling bad may be inclined to help others to improve their own mood.
