Deck 7: Social and Physical Environments

Question 1

What are the core differences between prosocial behaviour and altruism? Support your answer with relevant examples.

Answer 1

Prosocial behaviour refers to anything that increases another's well-being, such as helping, sharing or cooperation. If that behaviour also increases the actor's well-being, it is still counts as prosocial-even if personal gain motivated the prosocial behaviour. For example, giving a gift to someone is a prosocial act whether or not it comes just before asking a big favour.
Here, we can make a distinction with altruism, where actions benefit someone else, without clear personal benefit, or even at a potential cost to the actor. Given the many potential indirect benefits of prosocial behaviour (e.g. good moods, earned gratitude, reputation), it is difficult to know conclusively that an act is unambiguously altruistic. As such, the definition of altruism is commonly expanded to include prosocial behaviours that are performed without (conscious) regard to potential personal benefits, even if they may eventually accrue.

Question 2

Name four aspects of a social situation that can promote cooperation.

Answer 2

Allowing communication among people promotes cooperation
 Smaller groups tend to be more cooperative than larger groups
Cooperative norms and knowing that similar others cooperate help promote prosocial choices
Adding rewards for cooperation or punishments for noncooperation increases cooperation
Respect from leaders and fair treatment within groups promotes cooperation
 Cooperation increases within a group when competing against another outgroup

Question 3

Describe the notion of biophilia. How did it help early humans thrive? How does a fascination with unpleasant or dangerous aspects of nature fit with this idea?

Answer 3

The notion of biophilia posits that humans have an innate emotional attraction other forms of life, to nature (Wilson, 1993).
That is, humans evolved in natural environments, and our evolutionary history favoured people who developed strong bonds with and understanding of nature. Being attracted to lush greenery and the density of life around water, for example, meant that early humans were drawn to resource-rich places-good for survival.
A fascination with unpleasant or dangerous aspects of nature fits with this idea too; the emotional bond is not always positive. For example, it is easier to condition a fear of snakes in people (and monkeys), compared to other objects, presumably because fear of snakes has been adaptive over mammals' evolutionary history (Öhman & Mineka, 2003).
Snakes also hold prominent places in art, religion, dreams, etc.; this fascination may connote the value of learning and teaching about environmental threats, driven by an evolutionarily shaped emotional link (Wilson, 1993). Snake fear is a clear and well-supported example of evolved preferences in the natural world; yet, most aspects of nature are pleasing. We see this theme in other areas (e.g. emotions, close relationships): the negative features grab attention, but the positive ones are far more common. As such, connecting with nature is typically associated with well-being.

Question 4

Prosocial action directed towards genetic relatives is also known as ______.

A) empathy
B) competitive altruism
C) kin altruism
D) preservation

Question 5

We are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviour with people ______.

A) who will be able to reciprocate
B) who are more distressed
C) who we know better
D) who are elderly

Question 6

Improving one's reputation through prosocial acts with no direct benefits is known as ______.

A) reciprocal altruism
B) competitive altruism
C) empathy-altruism
D) selfishness
E) None of these

Question 7

In ______ most specifically, individuals must choose between maximising immediate personal benefit or contributing to collective well-being.

A) reciprocal altruism
B) kin altruism
C) prosocial behaviour
D) social dilemmas

Question 8

Creating a benefit that does not yet exist is a ______.

A) common pool resource dilemma
B) an ethical decision
C) public goods dilemma
D) 'take some' dilemma

Question 9

Cooperation is higher when the social dilemma is framed as ______.

A) an ethical decision
B) a business decision
C) a public good's dilemma
D) a common pool resource dilemma

Question 10

Changing the incentives of a dilemma can also help ______.

A) people ignore the dilemma
B) change the dilemma from common to public, and vice-versa
C) change perceptions of social norms
D) All of these

Question 11

The term 'intuitive prosociality' describes our ______.

A) unconscious desire to help ourselves
B) intuitive impulse to improve another person's well-being
C) deliberate decision to improve another person's well-being
D) intuitive impulse to help only others that can reciprocate

Question 12

______ is about perceiving things that are unexpected, profound or amazing.

A) Awe
B) Empathy
C) Altruism
D) Kindness
E) None of these

Question 13

Environments that ______ are restorative for cognitive resources.

A) provide some stimulation while allowing attention to wander freely
B) are natural as opposed to built
C) allow for socializing as opposed to solitude
D) both provide some stimulation while allowing attention to wander freely and are natural as opposed to built
E) both provide some stimulation while allowing attention to wander freely and allow for socializing as opposed to solitude
F) None of these

Question 14

Strolling through a forest mindfully is called ______ and was developed by government to promote ______.

A) forest bathing; the potential health benefits of nature
B) biophilia; connection to nature
C) connection to nature; prosocial behaviour
D) environmentalism; nature in urban areas

Question 15

Biophilic design has been found to improve ______ and ______ by creating a sense of connection with nature.

A) empathy; awe
B) kindness; altruism
C) aesthetic appeal; human well-being
D) built environments; natural environments

Question 16

The empathy-altruism model stipulates that people help ______ when they ______.

A) close friends and family; are able to cope with negative emotions
B) without regard to personal costs; have empathic concern for another person
C) strangers; have something to gain
D) strangers; see other people also helping

Question 17

Reciprocal altruism is adaptive because ______.

A) societies become more empathetic over time
B) healthy competition increases and people become more productive
C) people who cooperate will succeed more than those that do not
D) None of these

Question 18

The notion of reciprocal altruism has a hard time explaining ______.

A) generous acts towards strangers
B) generous acts towards close others
C) generous acts made in groups
D) generous acts done for powerful people

Question 19

When people draw from goods that already exist, they are partaking in a ______.

A) public goods dilemma
B) an ethical decision
C) common pool resource dilemma
D) a 'give some' dilemma

Question 20

Common pool resource dilemmas are known as ______, while public goods dilemmas are known as ______.

A) 'give some' dilemmas; 'take some' dilemmas
B) 'take some' dilemmas; 'give some' dilemmas
C) an empathy dilemma; altruism dilemma
D) None of these

Question 21

SVO stands for ______ and helps assess how people respond in ______.

A) serving via others; distressing situations
B) self versus others; competitive environments
C) sensitive valence objects; emotional situations
D) social value orientation; social dilemmas

Question 22

Trust builds ______, but disappears ______.

A) quickly via mutual cooperation; slowly via cheating
B) in common pool resource dilemmas; in public goods dilemmas
C) slowly via mutual cooperation; quickly via cheating
D) All of these

Question 23

In the public goods game used by Rand, Green and Nowak (2012), findings suggested that ______ happen fast, while ______ require more deliberate strategizing.

A) prosocial choices; selfish choices
B) selfish choices; prosocial choices
C) loosing trust from others; gaining trust from others
D) helping close others; helping strangers

Question 24

In the ______, environments that ______ encourage reasonable behaviours like sensibility, fairness, moderation and cooperation.

A) empathy-altruism model; promote prosocial behaviour
B) reasonable person model; meet people's informal needs
C) social dilemma model; promote cooperation
D) biophilia model; have natural elements

Question 25

People who report a greater connection to nature also tend to be ______.

A) less productive
B) less comfortable in-built environments
C) happier
D) better at solving social dilemmas

Question 26

Being exposed to nature can lead to more ______.

A) prosocial behaviour
B) pro-environmental behaviour
C) connection to nature
D) well-being
E) All of these

Question 27

______ incorporates natural elements into built spaces

A) Biophilic design
B) Fractal design
C) Natural design
D) Pro-environmental design

Question 28

______ represents natural forms that have repeating patterns of self-similarity at different scales.

A) Natural geometry
B) Scaling geometry
C) Fractal geometry
D) Biophilic geometry