SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Normative Social Influence, Prosocial Behavior, Steven Pinker
13 May 2013
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Aggression: is any behavior intended to harm another person that the target person wants to avoid. Altruism: is helping that is intended to provide aid to someone else without expectation of any reward (good feeling may result is the reward). In animals, those who were the most helpful were the ones less likely to survive = less offspring= evolutionary psychology. *cross cultural studies suggest that human aggression lacks 2 characteristics that are typical of instinctive behavior to animals- universality and periodicity. Aggressive/altruistic behavior is selectively targeted to increase the chances that our own genes will be passed on to subsequent generations. Situational/environmental explanations: social learning theory, situational factors, social. Bystander effect: the greater the # of bystanders in an emergency, the less likely any one bystander will help. Explanations for the bystander effect: 1) noticeability 2) interpretation 3) diffusion of. Norms associated with social roles shape meaning of the situation.
