BMED2401 Lecture 2: why people help

• School: University of Sydney
• Department: Biomedical Science (Physiology)
• Course: BMED2401
• Professor: all

Document Summary

Altruism refers to prosocial behaviors that are carried out without expectation of obtaining external reward (concrete reward or social reward) or internal reward (self-reward). Prosocial behavior , or "voluntary behavior intended to benefit another"is a social behavior that"benefit other people or society as a whole""such as helping, sharing, donating, co-operating, and volunteering". For example, when someone drops a stack of papers on a crowded sidewalk, most people are likely to continue passing him/her by. This example can be extended to even more urgent situations, such as a car crash or natural disaster. According to batson (1998) there are 11 rewards (e. g. , gratitude) that can be gained, and 9 punishments (e. g. , the painful aspect of a drowning person) that can be avoided by helping behavior. However, there are also costs of helping behavior, like physical danger. These costs depend on the helper"s abilities to help.