Exam 11: Prosocial Behavior: Why Do People Help

One consequence of living by the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," is that if you help those in need, they might return the favor someday. This idea is best represented by ___________.

Charles Darwin, an evolutionary theorist, found it difficult to explain altruism. From an evolutionary perspective, it would initially seem that over centuries and generations, altruistic behaviors would __________ because __________.

The "feel good, do good" effect in studies of prosocial behavior refers to the idea that __________.

Malika and Alicia are out shopping when they are asked to contribute to AIDS research. Malika has just received an A- on her psychology exam; Alicia has just received a D. According to your text, who is more likely to contribute?

Helga stops and helps Bjorn change a flat tire along the road because she figures that one day she'll need help and someone will return the favor. This best illustrates the idea of __________.

It would seem reasonable to assume that people would be more likely to help others who are part of their in-groups than their out-groups. It is not quite as simple and straightforward as that, however. Explain.

Why would gratitude evolve in a social group?

According to the authors of your text, people who have lived in the same place for a longer time tend to feel __________.

Evolutionary psychologists believe that people help others because __________.

Even if it is clear that a person needs help, that you are the person responsible to help, and that you know how to help, you might still decide not to help. Which of the following is NOT a reason that people choose not to help in these kinds of cases?

According to evolutionary psychologists, why would Doris be more likely to save her children than her parents in a life-threatening emergency? Doris's children __________.

The norm of reciprocity is defined as __________.

People who have lived in the same place for a long time are ___________ likely to help with needs.

Juanita sees a crowd of people gathered around a man lying on the ground. She thinks about whether to call an ambulance, but then reasons that somebody else has probably already done so. This is an example of __________.

According to Latané and Darley (1970), a number of things must occur before witnesses decide to intervene in an emergency situation. According to this stage model, diffusion of responsibility is most likely to affect witnesses' __________.

Pluralistic ignorance results when __________ backfires.

Justin sees a blind person in need of help crossing a busy intersection. If Justin does not feel empathy for the blind person, under what circumstances (according to Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis) would Justin help?

There is a stereotype that individuals who are described as religious will be more likely to help than others. However, the research demonstrates that this is not universally true. Describe the research findings.

Greitemeyer and his colleagues have conducted a number of studies to examine the effects of video games on helping. They have some participants play a prosocial video game and others play a neutral video game. The independent variable of this research is the __________.

The basic tenet of __________ is that when we feel empathy for another person's plight, we will help that person regardless of what we may stand to gain.