PSYCH 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Wang Yue, Empathic Concern, Egotism
Document Summary
On the surface, the debate between altruistic and egoistic accounts of helping may seem to be irrelevant quibbling about semantics or philosophy. You are just thankful that the person helped, no matter what the motivation. The debate may also become less relevant when considering more long-term helping behaviour, such as volunteerism. People tend to volunteer not because of one specific motive, but due to multiple motives. Some of these are associated with empathy, such as perspective taking and empathic concern, whereas other motives are more egoistic, such as wanting to enhance one"s re sume , relieve negative emotions, or conform to prosocial norms. Allen omoto found that both other-focused motivation and self-focused motivation can impact volunteerism. Why were the more egoistic goals associated with longer service: snyder and omoto observed that purely altruistic motives may not keep individuals motivated long enough to withstand the personal costs associated with some kinds of prolonged helping.