SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Sociobiology, Murder Of Kitty Genovese

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 1Z03
• Professor: Paul Galvin

Document Summary

Stabbed, shouted, brought attention in the neighbourhood, lights came on, and then assailant fled. Nobody came out to help her and the assailant came back and stabbed her to death. She screamed for help and 37 people heard her nobody did anything about it. Any behavior intended to harm another person that the target person wants to avoid. Target has to not want it and there has to be intent by aggressor. The intentional helping that is intended to provide aid to someone else without expectation of any reward. Not wanting anything in return because that would be social exchange. A good feeling is okay in this case. Freud says that we all have in innate/instinctual urge to destroy. Animal studies can be generalized to humans. If there are instincts for aggression and altruism, it should apply to all of us. We know this is not true because there are cross-cultural variations in aggression/altruism.