Question 1

Daniel Batson has argued that there are three main motives for helping others. They are

Accepted Answer

Daniel Batson argues that the three main motives for helping others are social rewards, personal distress, and empathic concern. These motives explain why individuals might be motivated to help others due to the benefits they receive (social rewards), to alleviate their own discomfort (personal distress), or out of genuine concern for the well-being of the other person (empathic concern).

Question 2

Imagine that you witness a car plowing into a pedestrian. Research on bystander intervention suggests that you are most likely to offer help if there

Accepted Answer

Research on bystander intervention shows that the presence of other eyewitnesses can sometimes reduce the likelihood of someone offering help, a phenomenon known as the bystander effect. This effect is more pronounced when there are more witnesses, making it less likely for any one person to feel responsible for taking action. Therefore, the best answer is A, where there is only one other eyewitness and the responsibility is more likely to be felt by the individual witness.

Question 3

Stephen notices that Jenny is sitting by herself in the cafeteria, crying. Watching her cry makes Stephen feel upset, so he goes over to try to comfort her. Stephen's behavior is likely motivated by the ________ motive for helping others.

Accepted Answer

Stephen's behavior is likely motivated by personal distress because he feels upset seeing Jenny cry and is motivated to help her to alleviate his own discomfort.

Question 4

When we help others in order to receive positive attention or gratitude, we are motivated by ________, but when we help others because we identify with people in need, we are motivated by ________.

Accepted Answer

When we help others for positive attention or gratitude, it's for social rewards. When we help because we identify with those in need, it's due to empathic concern.

Question 5

Recall that Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered in front of several eyewitnesses who did not intervene or call for help. According to social psychologists, this failure to assist Kitty was due to

Accepted Answer

The failure of bystanders to help Kitty Genovese was due to a diffusion of responsibility. This occurs when individuals assume that someone else will intervene, leading to a sense of reduced personal responsibility to act.

Question 6

If you want to increase the odds that you will get help when you are in need, which of the following actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Singling out a specific person and asking him or her for help increases the likelihood of receiving assistance. This is because of the "bystander effect," where individuals in a group are less likely to offer help to a person in need due to the assumption that someone else will take action. By directly asking a specific person for help, you clearly assign the responsibility to them, making it more likely they will respond.

Question 7

All of the following victim characteristics are likely to increase helping EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

Bleeding may deter potential helpers due to fear of blood, potential disease transmission, or perceived danger, thus decreasing the likelihood of receiving help.

Question 8

The concept of altruism refers to

Accepted Answer

Altruism refers to unselfish behavior that benefits others without regard to consequences for the self. It is the opposite of selfish behavior, where actions are taken to benefit oneself. Altruistic behavior can be observed in animals as well as humans, and is often motivated by feelings of sympathy, empathy, or a desire to help others.

Question 9

Research suggests that the greater the number of individuals who witness a person in trouble, the

Accepted Answer

This is known as the bystander effect, which occurs when individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. The more people present, the greater the diffusion of responsibility, leading to a decrease in the likelihood of any one person helping. Therefore, the greater the number of witnesses, the less likely it is that any one person will help the person in need.

Question 10

Janet is sitting in the front of the bus when she hears someone cry out from the back of the bus. Research suggests that she is more likely to help this person if

Accepted Answer

The person crying out and clearly asking for help is more likely to grab Janet's attention and prompt her to help them. The other factors (being in a rush, worried about an upcoming test, and the bus being crowded) may make Janet less likely to help as she may feel overwhelmed or preoccupied with her own concerns.

Question 11

According to Daniel Batson's theory about the motives that produce altruistic action, only one motive is NOT selfish. That motive is

Accepted Answer

According to Batson's theory, the only motive that is not selfish is empathic concern, which refers to the genuine concern for the well-being of others. Affiliation and reciprocity are considered to be selfish motives because they involve social relationships that may benefit the self. Personal distress is also considered to be a selfish motive because it involves the discomfort or anxiety that an individual experiences when witnessing the suffering of others.

Question 12

Stephanie Brown and her colleagues (2003) conducted longitudinal research on volunteerism in elderly couples. What did they find about the connection between volunteerism and health?

Accepted Answer

The researchers found that people who engaged in volunteerism (helping others) were less likely to die over the course of the study, indicating a positive connection between volunteerism and health. There was no mention of a connection between receiving help and mortality rates, nor was there evidence that receiving help was associated with better health outcomes than helping others.

Question 13

Of the following individuals, who would be most likely to volunteer to take homework to a group of injured children in the hospital?

Accepted Answer

Based on the given information, Dani shows a concerned gaze and a slowing of her heart rate, which are signs of empathy. Empathy is a key factor in volunteering to help others, especially in a situation where a group of injured children need help. The other individuals do not display strong indications of empathy or a desire to help.

Question 14

In their research on motives for altruism, Daniel Batson and his colleagues found that

Accepted Answer

The research conducted by Daniel Batson and his colleagues found that people who felt more empathy were more likely to volunteer to alleviate another person's pain. This suggests that empathy is a key motivator for altruistic behavior. Option A is incorrect because the researchers did not find that people were less likely to feel empathy toward a single person than toward a group of people. Option B is also incorrect because the researchers did not find that most people volunteered to alleviate another person's pain when they felt high levels of personal distress. Option C is incorrect because the researchers did not find that people only expressed empathy in response to people who were physically attractive.

Question 15

Imagine that you are sitting in class and smoke starts to filter into the room, but nobody else seems to be doing anything about it. According to research described in the textbook, you are

Accepted Answer

This scenario describes the bystander effect, where individuals are less likely to take action in the presence of others due to fear of embarrassment or assuming someone else will act.

Question 16

In one experiment, smoke filtered into a room when participants were filling out a questionnaire. Results indicated that participants were most likely to report the smoke to the experimenter when they were in the room

Accepted Answer

Participants were most likely to report the smoke when they were alone in the room, indicating a diffusion of responsibility when others are present. When alone, they felt a greater personal responsibility to act on the situation.

Question 17

Imagine your car breaks down on a street late at night. According to research on culture and altruism, you are more likely to receive help

Accepted Answer

The answer of Imagine your car breaks down on a...

Question 18

In one experiment, a "victim" (actually a confederate) staggered across the aisle of a subway car, collapsed to the floor, and then stared up at the ceiling. In one condition, the victim was bleeding, while in another condition, he was not. Results showed that the

Accepted Answer

The victim was less likely to get help when he was bleeding, according to the results of the experiment.

Question 19

Talia is providing nonmonetary assistance to others with no expectation of receiving any compensation in return. Talia is engaging in

Accepted Answer

Talia is engaging in volunteerism, where she is providing assistance without expecting anything in return. Kin selection involves providing assistance to family members to pass on shared genes. Empathic helping involves providing assistance due to feelings of empathy towards the other person. Reciprocity involves providing assistance with the expectation of receiving something in return in the future.

Question 20

In one study, Daniel Batson and his colleagues manipulated whether participants were feeling more or less empathic when evaluating another person, and then they asked participants if they would help the person in the future. Some participants thought that both the experimenter and the person needing help knew their decisions (i.e., helping was made public), but other participants thought that their responses were anonymous. The results showed that

Accepted Answer

The study found that high-empathy participants helped more than low-empathy participants, even when helping was anonymous.

Quiz 14: Altruism and Cooperation