Helping as Evolutionary Value
(Survival of Species)
Kin Altruism. What is it? What evidence exists??
• More likely assist closely related genetic relatives (Bressan, 2009)
• Migrant workers sending money back home:
• fitness costs to workers sending money
• fitness benefits worker receives through the enhanced fitness of
relatives who receive money (Bowles & Posel, 2005)
These 2 factors account for 33% of the variance in amount of
money sent back home
More willing to give costly help (e.g., emergencies) to healthy
relatives than non-healthy ones (Burnstein et al., 1994)
Direct Reciprocity/Reciporcal Altruism
[Likely to get help in return for helping]
Tit-for-Tat Strategy (e.g., respond based on the actions of others –
most effective strategy across time):
Cooperation = Cooperation
Competition = Competition
Advantages:
•Begins “nice” – cooperation
•Retaliatory
•Forgiving (Competition then return to cooperation = Cooperation)
• Straightforward/Clear
~ Kitty Genovese Story ~
(From New York Times, March 27th, 1964)
For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a
killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.
Twice the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights
interrupted him and frightened him off, Each time he returned, sought her out and
stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one
witness called after the woman was dead.
That was two weeks ago today. But Assistant Chief Inspector Frederick M. Lussen, in
charge of the borough’s detectives and a veteran of 25 years of homicide
investigations, is still shocked.
He can give a matter-of-fact recitation of many murders. But the Kew Gardens slaying
baffles him — not because it is a murder, but because the ‘good people’ failed to call
the police. ‘As we have reconstructed the crime,’ he said, ‘the assailant had three
chances to kill this woman during a 35-minute period. He returned twice to
complete the job. If we had been called when he first attacked, the woman
might not be dead now.’
Basic Assumption
Groups should be more likely to help in emergency situations
But what if the situation is relatively ambiguous (as most
emergencies may be, or at least start off, in such a manner)?
Presence of others as a source of information (social cues)
Latane and Darley’s Model of Emergency
Intervention (1970)
Notice the
Event?
Define as
Emergency?
Take Responsibility?
Have the
qualifications to
help?
Decide to Help?
HELP
Smoke-Filled Room Study
Procedure?
Did the presence of others affect how quickly participants
noticed the smoke in the room?
Alone = Less than 5 seconds
(63% noticed within 5 sec.)
Group = About 20 seconds
(26% noticed within 5 sec.)
What if a condition existed where a confederate signaled the
need to help?
Epileptic Seizure Study
Procedure?
You are driving along a city street and you notice that a car has slid
across the shoulder and into a ditch. A middle-aged woman is
standing next to the car, bewildered. You are running a a few
minutes late to meet to meet someone in town, but it’s obvious that
the woman needs help. What would you do?
% helping
Time Pressure and Helping
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ahead of schedule
On schedule
Behind schedule
In a local grocery store you notice a small child in a shopping cart. A
woman, likely the mother, slaps him in the face and yells for the child
to shut up or be hit again. You fell bad for the child but you wonder if
you’d make things worse if you say something. What would you do?
Perceived Costs & Helping
Blood on
Victim
Strangers
Arguing
No Blood on
Victim
Couples
Arguing
Who gets the most help in each case above?
Piliavin and Piliavin’s Cost Analysis of Emergency Intervention
How do perceived costs for helping and not helping affect our willingness to
intervene in an emergency?
Low
High
Low
Costs (to victim) if No
Direct Help Given
Costs (to helper) for Directly Helping Victim
Direct
Intervention
Intervention or
nonintervention largely
a function of perceived
norms in situation
High
Indirect
intervention
or
Redefinition of the situation,
disparagement of victim, etc.,
which lowers costs for no
help, allowing
Leaving the scene,
ignoring, denial
You a watching the TV news about a large-scale national disaster
across the world. Men, women and children are shown blankly
starring at the TV screen. It’s easy to contribute; you can donate
money by calling a number on your cell phone. How would this make
you feel? What would you do?
Impact of Past Experience on Helping
Thanked for
helping
Ask for
directions
Give help
What are the “big picture”
implications of such a finding,
especially for long-term helping
efforts?
“Punished” for helping (“I
cannot understand what
you’re saying. Never mind,
I’ll ask someone else”
Less likely to provide
assistance in future
The United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti has
reported that only 40 percent of money raised for
Haiti in 2010 has been distributed, and only 15
percent of needed temporary housing has been built.
From: The Oakland Press, Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Charity
Disabled Veterans Associations
Children's Charitable Foundation
Firefighters Charitable Foundation
Disabled Police Officers Center
Law Enforcement Education Prog.
Operation Lookout
Wishing Well Foundation USA
Children's Charity Fund, Inc.
Coalition Against Breast Cancer
Children With Hairloss
Expenses
4.6%
10.3%
8.3%
11.8%
2.2%
2.6%
10.3%
5.7%
18.3%
24.5%
Fundraising
94.3%
87.3%
86.4%
85.7%
84.1%
80.8%
78.3%
78.1%
78.1%
72.3%
~ Gender and Helping ~
• Overall, males provide more help than females (e.g., emergency interventions, giving
$ to strangers, helping individuals who have dropped an item). Also, males give more
money when female observer is present (Signaling Theory – communicate information
to others about giver’s qualities))
BUT:
• Females provide more emotional help than males (e.g., social support, caregiving)
• Females:
• 13% more likely to donate kidneys
• 16% more likely to serve in Peace Corps
• 2 times greater chance of serving as physicians with Doctors of the World
Who Receives Help?
• Females (meta-analysis: 1.69 standard deviations more help for females)
• Similar and familiar others
• Attractive individuals
Similarity
Wrong phone number study
Heterosexual making request
100
Homosexual making request
90
80
90
70
70
60
50
40
30
30
35
20
10
0
Male
From Shaw, Borough, & Fink, 1994
Female
Moods (e.g., Guilt) on Helping
[Negative State Relief Model]
Break camera
Versus
Camera malfunctions
Helping?
Before confession
Versus
After confession
Attributions & Helping
External
attribution (e.g.,
poor economy is
at fault)
Helping
request (e.g.,
stranger
asking for
spare change)
Physiological
arousal
What are the “big picture”
implications of such a finding,
especially for social programs
(e.g., unemployment insurance,
health care, food stamps)?
Positive emotions
Helping
Analysis of
the situation
Internal
attribution (e.g.,
stranger is lazy)
Negative
emotions
No helping
Personality Characteristics of People
Choosing to Help
[Assistance to driver after a traffic accident]
• High empathy scores
• Strong belief in a just world (“people get what they deserve”)
(Other research: greater helping when people believe others deserve
help but less helping when other’s problems are perceived as selfinflicted)
• Greater levels of social responsibility
• Internal locus of control scores
• Less egocentric (selfish)
Sample Altruism Items
•
I have given directions to a stranger.
•
I have given money to a charity.
•
I have donated blood.
•
I have delayed an elevator and held the door open for a stranger.
•
I have allowed someone to go ahead of me in a lineup (at Xerox machine, in the
supermarket).
•
l have pointed out a clerk's error (in a bank, at the supermarket) in undercharging me for
an item.
•
I have helped a classmate who 1 did not know that well with a homework assignment
when my knowledge was greater than his or hers.
•
I have voluntarily looked after a neighbor's pets or children without being paid for it.
•
I have helped an acquaintance to move households.
--- From Rushton, Chrisjohn, & Cynthiafekken
Sample Locus of Control Items
Do you believe that most problems will solve themselves if you just don't fool with
them?
Do you feel that you have a lot of choice in deciding who your friends are?
Most of the time, do you feel that you can change what might happen tomorrow by
what you do today?
Do you think that people can get their own way if they just keep trying?
Are some people just born lucky?
Do you believe that if somebody studies hard enough he or she can pass any
subject?
Are you often blamed for things that just aren't your fault?
Sample Just World items
• I am confident that justice always prevails over injustice.
• I think basically the world is a just place
• I am convinced that, in the long run, people will be compensated for injustices.
• I firmly believe that injustices in all areas of life (e.g. professional, family,
politics) are the exception rather than the rule.
• I believe that, by and large, people get what they deserve
• I think that people try to be fair when making important decisions.
(From: Dalbert, Montada, & Schmitt, 1987)
Does Altruism Exist?
“Kindness is it’s own reward.”
Egoism: Behaving in one’s own self interest
Altruism: Unselfish concern for others
• Helping is a behavior
• Egoism and altruism are motivational forces
How can we know?
One assumption:
If altruism exists, the level of costs involved should not impact the
behavior of those helping out