Prosocial Behavior : Behavior And Altruism

Throughout life, one is to see many people they don’t know Humans walk past each other and no interaction occurs. Depending on a particular situation one might be in, it can change the ability to react, help and care for a stranger in need. In the article “We are all bystanders”, by Jason Marsh and Dacher Keltner, it shows how in certain settings people don’t act to help another, even though one might want to. “Everyday Stuart would board the bus and a couple of boys would tease him. I would sit silent and watch. I wish I would’ve helped” (Marsh/Keltner 3). People develop a feeling that prevents them from caring for strangers. This is due to a thought of peer pressure or judgement that could be given to an individual for taking action.

Humans are prenatally motivated to help those around us due to its evolutionary benefits that our species has a better chance of survival if all cooperate. Humans can also be nurtured to exhibit altruistic behavior through good parenting. Although most of the population agrees that altruism benefits society, scientific research has shown that even those who believe they are altruistic are not when they are put in situations which calls for selfless behavior. One phenomena that refutes the claim that most of the population strives for selfless behavior is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is when a person feels less responsible for doing selfless acts when they are in an environment of a group of

Altruism is a concept in which the individual sacrifices regard for themselves in the interest of another. The ethics of altruism state that a person should act in a matter where their self-sacrifice yields the greater well being on the whole. To put that statement in the form of a fundamental principle of rightness, an action is right if and only if (and because) the action brings a net-gain of well being to anyone except the individual performing the action. The altruistic mentality of an individual according to this moral theory means that any action that they undertake should be in the interest of others rather than themselves. The ethics of this concept also state that relationships of greater value to the individual carrying out an action should come second in priority to those they have with strangers since the close relationship has a much more meaningful connection to a person’s life. In these situations, the only morally correct way of acting is in the way that defeats the well being of the agent of an action for the sake of others.

Bartel (1976) defines prosocial behaviour as ‘behaviour that intentionally helps or benefits another person’. Batson (1987) defines altruism as ‘helping another person for no reward, and even at some cost to oneself.’ This definition of altruism seemingly depicts the behaviour as selfless, however there is a wealth of research which suggests that this is not the case.

Another example of how altruism can be viewed in today’s society can be seen in the works of Mother Teresa and her plethora of altruistic acts throughout the globe. Although her focus was in India where she persued her novitiate (training), her organization has opened over 500 centers around the world helping the dying and the destitute (Moore 2002, pg. x). She took in the “untouchables” of society and gave them care and made sure that they were comfortable. Mother Teresa is often used as the benchmark when determining whether a selfless act is truly altruistic.

Altruism is defined as the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others. Why would someone think that certain actions are moral? There are two answers. First, altruism is naturally positive but on the contrary there are situations that decisions are made with morally bad tendencies and motivations, in circumstantial selfishness. Secondly, altruism is good because of its affirmative effects. The outcome of altruism does not only effect the person to whom the altruism is intended for, but it has its indirect ramification on society. There is truth to both of these answers. We all have experiences of acting out of an impartial concern for the health of a friend or loved one. These experiences that we have had seem to be an unambiguous instance of moral virtue. It seems likely that if our society had more acts of altruism, our world would be a better place to live than if there were no altruism at all.

Using children as a test subject is reliable in verifying human nature due to the fact that developing minds are less influenced by political and religious views. Results from this test showed that praise ended up promoting generosity in charitable acts. The trend of being offered a reward for supporting charitable acts continued with women taking telephone surveys who were offered money. These women were less likely to continue their generosity if they were not offered money just a few days later; also, repeated blood donors who were reminded of the personal benefits of donating blood tended to be less motivated to donate their blood. At the end of the article Kohn states, “...whenever people seem to act altruistically, there must be egotistical reasons for it. Based on the research provided Kohn is able to conclude that it is human nature to be selfish towards people in

Prosocial behavior refers to "voluntary actions that are intended to help or benefit another individual or group of individuals" (Eisenberg and Mussen 1989). This definition refers to consequences of the people who do the actions rather than the motivations behind those actions. These behaviors include a broad range of activities: sharing, comforting, rescuing, and helping. Though prosocial behavior can be confused with altruism, they are, in fact, two distinct concepts. Prosocial behavior refers to a pattern of activity, whereas, altruism is the motivation to help others out of pure regard for their needs rather than

Further, another form for caring is altruism this is characterized as helping others without any benefits in return. Altruism is acting to enhance an individual’s welfare regardless of the actions and consequences that can be brought upon oneself.

Out of selfishness and altruism, which has more of a say in our decisions as people? It is arguable that humans are naturally selfish, with every decision we make ultimately being for the good of ourselves. In picking a future spouse we originally become interested in a person when their appearance is appealing to us, in choosing a group of friends we often choose groups that are able to bring us benefit and better social stature, in choosing jobs we prefer the one which will bring us more

Many have defined altruism in a similar context, a special form of helping behaviour that is “an act that is motivated by the desire to benefit another individual rather than oneself” (Hogg &Vaughan, 2008). An altruistic act does not necessarily have a negative or zero value to the actor (Margolis, 1982) but a true altruistic act is detrimental to the actor's fitness and enhances another individual’s fitness, in other words, a selfless act (Batson, 1991). Throughout the evolution of altruism, there have been many controversies about the existence of true altruism. Most theories have argued that it stems from ulterior motives, but does that prove

First, it is important to understand what altruism is. Altruism is any act carried out by an individual in order to benefit another individual. [1, 2] At first glance,

According to Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (2013) prosocial behavior is defined as an act performed for the benefit of another person. Altruism is referred to as the want to help another individual even if it means no benefits, or possibly a cost, for the helper (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2013). One particular factor, the bystander effect, has a profound impact on whether or not people help others. The bystander effect states that as the number of people who witness an emergency increases, the likelihood that any of those people will help decreases (Aronson et al., 2013). Processes associated with the bystander effect such as pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility, and victim effect all impact the likelihood of prosocial

How do humans actually behave when faced with the decision to help others? The innate desire that compels humans to help is called altruism by psychologists. Through this feeling, humans transform from a selfish jerk to a more compassionate and caring person. Some psychologists believe that this feeling stems from nature itself. Despite the fact that some altruistic acts originate from the pressures of society, altruism predominantly comes from the survival of the fittest, the feeling of empathy, and the selfish desire to benefit your own kin.

This links to the theory of altruism where people help on a purely selfless basis and have no ulterior motive other than to help those that need help. If someone walked past a man getting beaten up, they may help purely for this reason. But an altruistic act is extremely difficult to perform as by helping; the individual may get a feeling of pride after, cancelling out the altruism. Therefore the reason for the prosocial behaviour is due more to reinforcement.