PSYC 2310 Lecture Notes - Murder Of Kitty Genovese, Fedora, Pluralistic Ignorance
Document Summary
We care about others because we care about ourselves. Ex. we help when we know its beneficial for ourselves. A look at history: there is a strong assumption in psychology of universal egoism. This is the majority view in economics, political science, and philosophy. 38 witnesses: silent witnesses: the kitty genovese murder (1964) Man opens his window and tells attacker to leave her alone. Attacker changes into fedora, waits ten minutes then goes back to find her. Attack took 30 minutes: alternative analysis: the probable of the 38 witness. Why don"t people help: darley & latane came up with an ingenious answer. They suggested that after noticing the problem, people have to take a sequential decisions before helping. If someone is drowning and you don"t know how to swim you are less likely to help. If you are in a rush your less likely to help. Psychological answers: three fundamental forms of egoistic prosocial behavior.