Exam 9: Prosocial Behavior: Doing Whats Best for Others

Many people try to appear to be moral (like an actor playing a role)while quietly being selfish.

According to evolutionary theory, kin selection is most adaptive in terms of ____.

Richard is having a seizure in the back of the classroom. His classmates look around at each other, unsure of how to react. As they watch each other doing nothing, they shrug and go about packing up for the next class, assuming that nothing must be wrong because no one else reacted as if it were an emergency. Their reactions illustrate diffusion of responsibility.

When communication is difficult in a prisoner's dilemma game, cooperation ____.

Research suggests that some people are more forgiving than others. In particular, ____ tend to be especially forgiving.

An emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of others is called ____.

Forgiveness is beneficial to the person receiving it, but not to the person doing the forgiving.

People who live in New York City have a reputation for being rough and tough; there are stories of people who have fallen and hurt themselves on major city streets simply being stepped over by passerby. While it may well be the case that New Yorkers are less sensitive to others' needs than non-city dwellers, it could also be that they are more prone to engage in ________________ when someone has fallen down on the street. For example, passersby may well assume that their help is not needed, as someone else may well have already called for help or be calling for help very soon.

When Milgram surveyed psychiatrists prior to conducting his famous "obedience to authority" studies, the psychiatrists predicted that about 60% of participants would deliver the most severe shocks.

Under what circumstances are attractive victims more likely to receive help than unattractive victims?

Research on the influence of physical attractiveness and helping indicates that people are more likely to help ________________ individuals than they are ________________ individuals.

According to the text, altruism as a personality characteristic appears to ____.

In his classic research on obedience to authority, Milgram found that roughly ____ of participants eventually "went all the way" and administered the highest levels of shocks.

Altruistic helping is motivated by ____ and the end goal is to ____.

Business deals are often win-win propositions; both parties to the deal can end up benefiting. Social psychologists would describe such deals as ____.

What is a good example of prosocial behavior?

Una has done a number of things to annoy her boyfriend recently-she crashed his car, is repeatedly late for dates, and was rude to his mother-and she feels a bit bad. However, Una's boyfriend has forgiven her for each of her offenses. As a result, Una is likely to ____.

Much of the time, people engage in altruistic behaviors because doing so makes them feel good. Is it correct to conclude, then, that altruistic acts are fundamentally selfish at their core? What do social psychologists generally conclude?

Conformity is more likely in larger groups than in smaller groups.

If a bus full of mixed-sex beautiful people crashed into a bus full of mixed-sex unattractive people, would the beautiful group be more likely to receive top-notch help?