Deck 11: Prosocial Behavior: Why Do People Help

Question 1

According to evolutionary theory (Darwin, 1859), natural selection favors genes that promote individual survival.This tenet is most troublesome in explaining

A) aggression.
B) altruism.
C) prosocial behavior.
D) the protection of the young.

Answer 1

altruism.

Question 2

Reuben has three cats at home and doesn't want another one.Still, on the way home from work, he stops to rescue a kitten from the highway.This is an example of ________ behavior.

A) prosocial
B) altruistic
C) sociobiological
D) self-interested

Answer 2

altruistic

Question 3

Prosocial behavior is

A) performed with the goal of benefiting another person.
B) appreciated by everyone we help.
C) performed without regard to a person's self-interest.
D) all of the above

Answer 3

performed with the goal of benefiting another person.

Question 4

________ refers to any act that someone performs in order to benefit another person.

A) Prosocial behavior
B) Altruism
C) Kin selection
D) Empathy

Question 5

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

A) are more likely to pass on her genes.
B) are less likely to be able to save themselves.
C) share more genes in common with Doris than do her parents.
D) are more likely to seek Doris out than are her parents.

Question 6

Julianna likes to contribute to worthy charities because she can help others and, at the same time, get a tax deduction.Julianna is engaging in

A) altruism.
B) dissonance reduction.
C) hypocrisy.
D) prosocial behavior.

Question 7

Recall that the introduction to Chapter 11 (Prosocial Behavior) began with a description of several of the citizen-heroes of September 11, 2001-for example William Wik, who refused to flee to personal safety because there were still people to be rescued.He died when a tower collapsed.Wik was willing to sacrifice his own life to save others, and his behavior could thus best be described as

A) altruistic.
B) prosocial.
C) evolutionarily adaptive.
D) an example of kin selection.

Question 8

Which of the following is the best example of altruistic behavior?

A) Julie puts a dollar in the church collection basket because everyone else donates.
B) Lexy volunteers at her son's school to help out his class.
C) Robert anonymously donates a kidney to a twenty-year-old accident victim he will never meet.
D) Lou helps his wife with the dishes in the hopes that she'll cook dinner more often.

Question 9

Allen volunteers to visit the homes of AIDS patients because those visits help him forget about his own problems.This is an example of ________ behavior.

A) altruistic
B) self-sacrificing
C) prosocial
D) reciprocal

Question 10

A giant tornado is bearing down on Dorothy's farmhouse.She only has time to help one other resident.Based on research regarding kin selection, whom will Dorothy take with her to the storm cellar?

A) her sister, Glenda
B) her grandmother, Margaret
C) her beloved dog, Toto
D) her favorite farm hand, Ray

Question 11

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 ________.

A) increase; more unfit offspring might survive
B) disappear; self-sacrifice would produce fewer offspring
C) disappear; only the fittest, most selfless offspring would survive
D) remain unchanged; the gene pool would become more variable

Question 12

According to the evolutionary psychology notion of kin selection, Bob is most likely to help his

A) cousin Herbert.
B) step-sister Sally.
C) brother Ralph.
D) best friend Randall.

Question 13

Marla has revised her will to ensure that upon her death, all of her functioning organs (corneas, liver, kidneys, heart, and so on) will be used to help transplant patients.She's told no one about her actions, and expects nothing in return.This is an example of a(n) ________ behavior.

A) altruistic
B) evolutionarily adaptive
C) self-sacrificing
D) normative

Question 14

Researchers (Burnstein, Crandall, & Kitayama, 1994) found that when participants imagined a house fire, they were more likely to help some people than other people.Based on these researchers' findings, it seems that in life-and-death situations,

A) norms are more important than genetic similarity.
B) culture is more important than biology.
C) biological relatives are more likely to be helped than are nonrelatives.
D) women are more sensitive to norms, and men more sensitive to biology.

Question 15

Evolutionary psychology is the study of

A) how our environment modifies inherited characteristics.
B) the immediate influence our biology has on how we react to social situations.
C) social behaviors as a result of genetic factors and natural selection.
D) application of social psychology to the study of biological processes.

Question 16

Evolutionary psychology would have the most trouble explaining which of the following incidents?

A) Samuel risks his life to save his nephew in a car accident.
B) Jane runs in to save her adopted daughter from a fire.
C) When Alphonso was put in the unfortunate situation of saving his wife or his son in a boating accident, he chose to save his son first, and his wife died.
D) When Larry was on a ship going down at sea, he let everyone else be saved ahead of him, even though everyone on the ship was a complete stranger to him.

Question 17

The idea that natural selection favors behaviors that help a genetic relative is known as

A) kin selection.
B) familial selection.
C) kinship bias.
D) familial reciprocity.

Question 18

________ refers to the desire to help another person, even if such help involves cost to the helper.

A) Prosocial behavior
B) Altruism
C) Empathy
D) Reciprocity

Question 19

Prosocial behavior is to ________ as altruism is to ________.

A) selflessness; pure motive
B) rewards; good mood
C) rewards; selflessness
D) feeling good; avoiding feeling bad

Question 20

Whereas ________ is any act performed to benefit another, ________ is such an act performed with no regard for one's safety or interests.

A) altruism; prosocial behavior
B) prosocial behavior; self-help
C) prosocial behavior; altruism
D) altruism; self-sacrifice

Question 21

Based on evidence from studies presented in the chapter on evolutionary explanations of helping behavior, whom would you be the most likely to help if she had just spilled the contents of her purse?

A) your friend
B) your cousin
C) your sister
D) You would be equally likely to help anyone.

Question 22

________ theory would be most likely to mention such factors as social approval and increased self-worth as motivations for prosocial behavior.

A) Evolutionary
B) Social exchange
C) Norm activation
D) Empathy-altruism

Question 23

A principal theory in social psychology is social exchange theory.According to this theory, we will be most likely to help others

A) when the benefits outweigh the costs.
B) who are closely related to us.
C) who have already helped us.
D) for whom we feel empathy.

Question 24

The authors provide the text of a UPI story describing the discovery of the bones of a disabled dwarf in a cave in northern Italy.The reporters speculate that over 12,000 years ago, early hominids would take care of the disabled members of their group.________ would argue that the bones belonged to a dwarf who was related to the other cave inhabitants, whereas ________ would argue that the other inhabitants relied on the dwarf for some unknown purpose.

A) Social exchange theorists; evolutionary theorists
B) Evolutionary theorists; social exchange theorists
C) Social psychologists; evolutionary theorists
D) Social exchange theorists; social psychologists

Question 25

You ask your brother if you can borrow his car for a date on Saturday night.Before handing over the keys, he asks in jest, "What's in it for me?" His question best reflects ________ as applied to prosocial behavior.

A) the empathy-altruism hypothesis
B) social exchange theory
C) the reciprocity norm
D) an egocentric perspective

Question 26

Your text offers several challenges that evolutionary psychology has not been able to address.Which of the following would also challenge evolutionary rationales for helping behavior?

A) Mario calls an ambulance to help his elderly mother, who is dying.
B) Susan runs out into a busy freeway to save a wounded animal.
C) Henry saves his daughter before he saves his sister from a flooded basement.
D) Sarah helps her biological daughter before helping her step-son escape a fire.

Question 27

Although George wants to help a stranded motorist he passed on the freeway, he passes by because he knows it would take too much time out of his busy schedule.What theory offers the best explanation as to why George did NOT help?

A) evolutionary
B) negative-state relief
C) empathy-altruism
D) social exchange

Question 28

Why would gratitude evolve in a social group?

A) to motivate us to return help we have received from others
B) to increase the costs of helping
C) to make people feel empathy
D) to facilitate group selection

Question 29

Some evolutionary psychologists argue that in our distant past, those who selfishly pursued their own individual interests would be less likely to survive to pass on their genes.This argument lies at the heart of ________ as a source of altruistic behavior.

A) kin selection
B) social exchange
C) the reciprocity norm
D) the ability to learn social norms

Question 30

Social exchange theory would have the most trouble explaining which of the following helping situations?

A) Anna visits people with AIDS as a requirement of her health psychology course.
B) Theo calmly walks into heavy traffic to rescue a stranger who collapsed in the crosswalk.
C) On the way home from work, David drops off some notes for a classmate.
D) A wealthy businesswoman makes a hefty donation to her congressman.

Question 31

Why are many biologists skeptical about the concept of group selection?

A) Classic evolutionary theory proposes that the processes of natural selection operate only at the individual, not the group level.
B) Humans have not lived in groups for very long in their evolutionary history.
C) Evolutionary theory does not have any interesting in examining the concept of altruism.
D) Evolutionary theory believes it does an adequate job of explaining altruism with concepts such as rewards and costs.

Question 32

Elaine explains that she donates money to charity because, "It makes me feel like I'm investing in the future.It just feels good!" Her motive for helping is best described by which theory?

A) evolutionary
B) social exchange
C) kin selection
D) empathy-altruism

Question 33

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

A) paying it forward.
B) reciprocity.
C) karmic law.
D) evolution.

Question 34

The groups of people who live among those who are ________ may be more likely to survive than those people who live among groups of people who are ________.This idea is referred to as ________.

A) selfless; selfish; altruism
B) selfish; selfless; natural selection
C) selfless; selfish; group selection
D) selfish; selfless; altruism

Question 35

In a group setting, one member could take advantage of the help that he/she receives from the other group members, thereby exploiting the reciprocity norm to his/her advantage.Some researchers believe that, instead, ________ evolved.

A) gratitude
B) diffusion of responsibility
C) bystander effect
D) volunteering

Question 36

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

A) the norm of obedience.
B) the norm of reciprocity.
C) informational social influence.
D) normative social influence.

Question 37

The main tenet of social exchange theory is that we will help others when

A) the rewards outweigh the costs.
B) the rewards are high.
C) the costs are low.
D) they have already helped us.

Question 38

In explaining the process by which kin selection works to encourage altruism, evolutionary psychologists would argue that

A) helpers consciously consider "biological importance" before helping.
B) norms have arisen to replace ingrained human behavior.
C) over millennia, the genes of those who follow the "biological importance" rule will survive.
D) the "biological importance" rule is used only in life-and-death situations.

Question 39

Although evidence from studies presented in the chapter suggests that people are more likely to help family than strangers or friends in some situations, they also note that people are equally likely to help a friend or family member under which of the following circumstances?

A) a life-threatening emergency
B) a life-threatening nonemergency
C) any life-threatening situation
D) a non-life-threatening situation

Question 40

Complete the following analogy.Reward of helping: ________ :: cost of helping: ________.

A) relieves distress; embarrassment
B) pain; time
C) danger; relieve distress
D) embarrassment; pain

Question 41

Which of the following statements is most closely related to the empathy-altruism hypothesis (Batson, 1991)?

A) "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
B) "Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself."
C) "Walk a mile in my shoes."
D) "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Question 42

Recall that participants in an experiment described in the text (Toi & Batson, 1982) listened to an (alleged) radio interview in which a student in their introductory psychology class described an accident that caused her to fall behind in the course.Some participants were encouraged to empathize with "Carol," whereas others were encouraged to listen objectively to the interview.Some participants in each of these two groups were led to believe that Carol would be returning to their psychology course; others were led to believe that she would finish out the term at home, and that they would never see her again.These researchers found that when participants ________, their decision to help was guided by ________.

A) empathized with Carol; social exchange concerns
B) listened objectively; their own personal experiences
C) empathized with Carol; their own personal experiences
D) did not empathize with Carol; social exchange concerns

Question 43

One of the major problems with the empathy-altruism hypothesis, which Batson himself admits, is that

A) people rarely experience empathy.
B) people are motivated strongly by rewards.
C) it can be difficult to know people's true motives when helping.
D) helping is difficult to do because of the costs involved.

Question 44

According to Batson (1991), when people experience empathy with another in need, ________ motivates helping.

A) maximizing rewards and minimizing costs
B) passing their genes to the next generation
C) making a difference in the world
D) helping others independent of self-interest

Question 45

Suppose Dan is late for a very important meeting.As he runs toward his car, he sees a woman using crutches who has dropped a large stack of papers onto a busy sidewalk.Dan feels a great deal of empathy for this woman because he remembers how tough it was when he had to use crutches a couple years before.According to the empathy-altruism hypothesis, Dan will

A) help her pick up the papers because knows that she and other people around them will think he's a nice person.
B) help her pick up the papers because he wants to reduce his own and her distress.
C) help her pick up the papers because he wants to feel good about himself.
D) not help her pick up the papers because he knows how long it takes to pick up papers.

Question 46

The authors of your text offer three main motives as to why people help others.These motives include all of the following EXCEPT

A) evolutionary explanations.
B) social exchange theory.
C) the empathy-altruism hypothesis.
D) cognitive dissonance.

Question 47

________ refers to the ability to experience events or emotions from another person's perspective.

A) Empathy
B) Identification
C) Altruism
D) Transference

Question 48

Jim dives into the water to help his drowning sister; Ivan dives into the water to help a total stranger because he wanted to impress his new girlfriend and is a trained lifeguard.Jim's motive to help is best explained by ________, while Ivan's motive to help is best explained by ________.

A) evolutionary theory; kin selection
B) evolutionary theory; social exchange theory
C) social exchange theory; empathy-altruism hypothesis
D) kin selection; empathy-altruism hypothesis

Question 49

The authors of your text explain that there are three main motives for helping others.They are

A) evolutionary, kinship selection, and cognitive dissonance.
B) evolutionary, cognitive dissonance, and empathy-altruism.
C) evolutionary, empathy-altruism, and social exchange.
D) empathy-altruism, social exchange, and cognitive dissonance.

Question 50

"Put yourself in my position," Janice whines."Can't you spare an hour to help me out?" Janice is attempting to evoke ________ when trying to persuade you to help her.

A) empathy
B) the reciprocity norm
C) kin selection
D) social exchange pressures

Question 51

Recall that participants in an experiment described in the text (Toi & Batson, 1982) listened to an (alleged) radio interview in which a student in their introductory psychology class described an accident that caused her to fall behind in the course.Some participants were told that Carol would soon be returning to their class.According to the research, why is this referred to as a "high cost" condition?

A) Carol was still in a wheelchair, and it would be hard for her to get to class.
B) Every time participants saw her, they would feel guilty if they didn't help her.
C) Participants would have to go out of their way to copy their notes for Carol.
D) Every time participants saw her, they would be able to empathize with her.

Question 52

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.

A) kin selection
B) evolutionary psychology
C) the reciprocity norm
D) the empathy-altruism hypothesis

Question 53

According to research by Batson and his colleagues, when empathy is ________, people ________.

A) low; will help when the costs of not helping are high
B) high; will help no matter what the costs
C) high; will pay attention to social exchange factors
D) low; only help when the costs of not helping are high

Question 54

Every morning at the bus stop, Carlos encounters an old woman begging for change.She is clearly hungry and alone.Because Carlos feels very bad for this woman and can "feel her pain," he makes a point of giving her some change each morning that he sees her.Which theoretical approach best explains Carlos's behavior?

A) social-exchange theory
B) kin selection
C) the empathy-altruism hypothesis
D) the norm of reciprocity

Question 55

In support for the empathy-altruism hypothesis, researchers (Toi & Batson, 1982) found that participants were most likely to help a student named Carol who was injured in an automobile accident when they were told

A) to try to imagine how Carol felt about what happened to her and how it changed her life.
B) to be objective, and not to focus on how Carol felt.
C) that they would see Carol every week in class.
D) that they would never come face to face with Carol.

Question 56

A child starts to cry after she sees her best friend trip and scrape her knee.The child's behavior is most likely an example of

A) fear.
B) confusion.
C) empathy.
D) shame.

Question 57

Raphael volunteers as a Big Brother.He donates money to charity, and he helps his elderly next-door neighbor with weekly shopping and home repairs.Raphael's personality is

A) altruistic.
B) egoistic.
C) controlling.
D) prosocial.

Question 58

The authors of your text tell a story about Abraham Lincoln in which Lincoln ordered a coach to stop so he could save some piglets from drowning.Lincoln claimed that he helped because "I should have had no peace of mind all day had I gone on and left that suffering old sow worrying over those pigs." Lincoln argued that he was helping because of

A) altruism.
B) self-interest.
C) social exchange concerns.
D) the reciprocity norm.

Question 59

Complete the following analogy about helping behavior.Rewards outweigh costs: social exchange theory :: ________: ________.

A) helping those in need: evolutionary theory
B) evolutionary theory: empathy-altruism hypothesis
C) helping others: helping yourself
D) feeling empathy: empathy-altruism hypothesis

Question 60

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?

A) if he is running late for a meeting
B) if the rewards would outweigh the costs
C) if the costs are very high
D) if Justin is angry

Question 61

Research has found an answer to the question of whether people will help out-group and in-group members.People help their in-group members because of _______ and out-group members because of _______.

A) rewards; instinct
B) instinct; empathy
C) empathy; rewards
D) empathy; instinct

Question 62

A(n) ________ is a group with which individuals identify and of which they feel they are members.

A) peer group
B) out-group
C) reference group
D) in-group

Question 63

When it comes to helping behavior,

A) men are more helpful than women.
B) women are more helpful than men.
C) there is no difference between men and women.
D) either gender might be more helpful, depending on the help needed.

Question 64

A woman has just been in a car accident and needs someone to get her out of her car.A man has AIDS and needs someone to take him to the hospital for ongoing treatments.According to the research on gender differences in prosocial behavior, which of the following is most likely to be true?

A) John is more likely to help the woman; Karen is more likely to help the man.
B) John is more likely to help the man; Karen is more likely to help the woman.
C) John is more likely to help both the man and the woman.
D) John and Karen are equally likely to help both the woman and the man.

Question 65

You know that Susan is a very helpful person.She spends many hours each week volunteering at a local homeless shelter; she donates a lot of money to charities, and she is always the first person to volunteer to organize something when your group of friends wants to get together.According to the research on the altruistic personality, you ________ that Susan would help carry a neighbor's groceries if the situation arose because ________.

A) can be very sure; individual differences in personality are the most reliable predictors of prosocial behavior
B) can be very sure; anyone would help in this situation
C) cannot be sure; personality is not necessarily the most reliable predictor of prosocial behavior
D) cannot be sure; very few people help others in today's society

Question 66

A woman's car is stuck in the snow and she needs a push to get free.________ is more likely to stop to help her out because ________.

A) A man; the situation calls for sustained helping
B) A woman; the situation calls for sustained helping
C) A man; the situation calls for an act of chivalry
D) A woman; women in general are more altruistic than men

Question 67

In order to best predict whether people will help another person, it is best to know something about ________ and ________.

A) their personality; the particular situation in question
B) their parents' disciplinary practices; their personality
C) their relationship with the other person; their personality
D) the costs and rewards of helping; the particulars of the situation in question

Question 68

Researchers tested the hypothesis that rates of helping strangers would be higher in countries that valued simpatía.They staged helping incidents in twenty-three large cities and observed whether or not people helped.These researchers found

A) helping was dramatically higher in those countries that valued simpatía.
B) helping tended to be higher in those countries that valued simpatía, but was also high in some countries where this was not a value.
C) no difference in this study, because the helping examined was of strangers rather than of in-group members.
D) no differences in this study, because they examined helping in an urban rather than in a rural setting.

Question 69

Based on information presented by the authors of your text, complete the analogy about gender differences in helping behaviors.Men: ________ :: women: ________.

A) chivalry; long-term nurturing
B) volunteering; long-term nurturing
C) long-term nurturing; chivalry
D) volunteering; chivalry

Question 70

The text discusses a cultural value, simpatía, prominent in Spanish-speaking countries.Although simpatía has no direct English translation, it generally refers to

A) being sympathetic.
B) being friendly, polite, and helpful.
C) acting in a paternalistic fashion.
D) being similar in temperament to others around you.

Question 71

Andrew would be more likely to help than Carol in which of the following situations, based purely on the gender differences discussed by the authors of your text?

A) volunteering at a soup kitchen
B) helping a terminally ill relative with daily tasks for several years
C) diving in and saving a child who appears to be drowning
D) donating money to a charity

Question 72

A number of studies have revealed that doing well on a test, receiving a gift, and listening to pleasant music can increase helping.These consistent findings across investigations suggest that there is a ________ relation between ________ and helping.

A) negative; self-attention
B) positive; rewards
C) negative; positive mood
D) positive; positive mood

Question 73

Men are more likely to help in ________, whereas women are likely to help in ________.

A) heroic ways; altruistic ways
B) ways that involve a long-term commitment; heroic ways
C) communal ways; exchange ways
D) heroic ways; ways that involve a long-term commitment

Question 74

According to the gender differences presented by the authors of your text, generally speaking, ________ would be more likely to help an aging relative with daily tasks than ________.

A) a man; a woman
B) a woman; a man
C) neither gender; the other
D) Caucasian women; Asian men

Question 75

Researchers (Isen & Levin, 1972) found that mall shoppers who found dimes were more likely to help a stranger pick up papers he had dropped.These results suggest that

A) participants thought the money belonged to the man and wanted to return it.
B) finding a dime put people in a good mood and increased their helping.
C) finding a dime instead of a quarter disappointed people, and this negative mood increased helping.
D) thinking happy thoughts enhances both mood and helping.

Question 76

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

A) helping puts people in a good mood.
B) people in a good mood are more likely to help.
C) in adults, helping is self-reinforcing.
D) helping in emergencies relieves distress.

Question 77

According to research presented by the authors of your text, in which of the following cities would you be the most likely to be helped if you needed help crossing a busy street?

A) New York City, USA
B) Taipei, Taiwan
C) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
D) Cairo, Egypt

Question 78

According to research on the impact of religion on helping behavior, if Dr.Hinford, a devoutly religious man, makes a donation to a children's charity, he is most likely to do it

A) by leaving cash at the charity office.
B) for a children's charity that is religious.
C) at a press conference.
D) to get his name on a plaque at the hospital.

Question 79

Which of the following is the best example of someone with an altruistic personality?

A) Cassie, who helped her sister learn to read
B) Jack, who donated a kidney to his son
C) Lori, who volunteers her time running a women's shelter and regularly gives to charities
D) Scott, who helps his landlord wash her car so that she will let him have a cat in his apartment

Question 80

Research has demonstrated that people will help in-group members because

A) helping will earn them a reward.
B) they can make a good impression on others.
C) they have feelings of empathy.
D) it is an instinct.