PSYC 215 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Empathic Concern, Pluralistic Ignorance, Eval

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 215
• Professor: Mark Baldwin

Document Summary

Altruism is unselfish behavior that benefits others without regard to consequences for oneself. Batson proposes that in any altruistic action, several motives are at play: two of them are essentially selfish and the third is more purely oriented toward unselfishly benefiting another person. 1st motive is social reward: being esteemed and valued by others, in the form of a praise, an ward or acknowledgement in the mass media or social media. Findings show that being esteemed by others activates circuits in brain asso with rewards and personal safety. In lab studies, group members will give greater social status to other group members who act altruistically (there"s smth called competitive altruism). 2nd motive is personal distress: people are motivated to help others in need in order to reduce their own distress. When we watch sm else experience pain, the pain regions of the brain are activated.