DOCSLIB.ORG

A Hierarchical Model of Altruism and Prosociality 1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF ALTRUISM AND PROSOCIALITY 1 Let´s call it altruism ! A psychological perspective and hierarchical framework of altruism and prosocial behavior Johannes Rodrigues and Johannes Hewig Department of psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany Author Note Johannes Rodrigues: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8471-0816 Johannes Hewig: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8400-189X We have no known conflict of interest to disclose. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Johannes Rodrigues, Department of psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius- Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Marcusstraße 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany. Email: [email protected] A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF ALTRUISM AND PROSOCIALITY 2 Abstract “Altruism” is a term used by many disciplines like biology, economics, sociology and psychology that varies in its definition even by researchers in the same field. This lack of common ground concerning the definition has often led to misunderstandings due to the different approaches taken by researchers from various fields. In this work, we propose a hierarchical model of prosocial behavior that provides an overview on the hierarchical structure and position of several definitions of altruism provided by researchers from several disciplines. The highest hierarchical level is helping behavior that comprises both voluntary and involuntary behavior of benefit for others. The next hierarchical level is the general category of prosocial behavior, which is voluntary helping and yet independent from the reasons or motivation to help. The subsequent level of the hierarchy on the one hand defines different kinds of prosocial behavior in humans according to the source of general motivation being for example motivated by empathy, external rewards like reputation, or even by anger in case of costly punishment. On the other hand, on the same level, a differentiation using concepts from evolutionary perspectives grounds this very influential approach to prosocial behavior. Social interaction rules according to social exchange theory and situationally specific motivational aspects of prosocial behavior define further lower hierarchical levels. We propose this model to create a common ground for communication as well as to spread the awareness of the hierarchical differences in the different definitions of the term “altruism” in various fields of research. Keywords: altruism, hierarchical model of altruism, categorization of definitions of altruism, prosocial behavior, helping behavior A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF ALTRUISM AND PROSOCIALITY 3 Let´s call it altruism ! A psychological perspective and hierarchical framework of altruism and prosocial behavior What is altruism? This short and seemingly easy question is not easy to answer at all. Altruism is a concept, which is defined by many different disciplines, and the perspectives taken on this term are indeed extremely different. Hence there is not only one conceptual perspective linked to the term “altruism”, instead there are many perspectives from different disciplines as well as within disciplines. For example, in psychology, a relatively narrow version would be ‘vernacular altruism’ (see Sober, 1994) implicating a selfless, prosocial behavior that is performed to help, support or do some good to another person. In contrast, a wider definition would be ‘altruistic behavior’ in economics entailing any costly behavior of benefit to another person (Fehr et al., 2002; Fehr & Fischbacher, 2003; Fehr & Gächter, 2002). Again, a different connotation has ‘evolutionary altruism’, which denotes behavior that has a direct fitness cost to the individual and an indirect fitness benefit through relatives (Hamilton, 1964a, 1964b; West & Gardner, 2010). Each of these definitions serve an important function in their respective field. The goal of the present article is a hierarchical structure model of altruism in psychology by also providing delineating statements to show the necessary and valid differences and relations between the definitions of altruism in different fields of research as well as clarifying definitions of altruism in psychology. In this attempt, a deeper perspective on subjects that are not directly linked to the psychological perspective can only be shallow and somewhat superficial due to the scientific background of the authors. Yet we try to provide a basic framework to identify different aspects and point of views on the concept of altruism that may well be extended by other researchers having more detailed information on the respective subject matter in their disciplines, which are only vaguely addressed in this work. To exemplify the definitory problem we start with our own field, personality psychology, and we will further argue that each discipline does indeed have its own definitions for good reasons. In the A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF ALTRUISM AND PROSOCIALITY 4 literature review and concept analysis of the term altruism Krebs (1970) used the term in the rather broad context of prosocial behavior. The latter author already mentioned that different researchers use different (partly layman´s) definitions and that new research needs to provide a meaningful and precise definition of altruism. It was also shown that meaningful differentiations of trait and state variables (i.e. a stable persistent property of an individual’s personality versus a single behavioral act) as well as of the influence of social roles and norms have to be made concerning prosocial behavior. Also, the different experimental approaches and methodologies to measure altruism were leading to quite different results for various aspects of “altruism” (Krebs, 1970). In an instructive overview, De Waal (de Waal, 2008) further added the notion that intentions are a very important aspect in the psychological perspective on altruism. Summing up the important aspects of this psychological characterization of ‘Psychological altruism’, we need to take into account the motivational aspects, the personality aspects, the situational aspects and specific interaction features as well as the experimental and diagnostic aspects of the situation, in order to get to a meaningful classification and definition of the concept of altruism. Yet, ‘Psychological altruism’ in sense of the personality psychology perspective is already a complex phenomenon, as we have to separate ‘trait altruism’ as a stable psychological personality variable, from ‘altruistic action’. The latter is an intentional behavior or situational reaction to a situational aspect with the conscious intention to help another person in general that can be defined as altruistic by specific criteria. It has to be separated from ‘helping behavior’, being any behavior that may include an implicit or explicit intention to help another person (see e.g., Bierhoff, 2010). Intention in altruistic action and helping behavior The description and definition of which kind of action a person really performed has been debated intensively in philosophy and psychology of action and it seems clear that saying a person did perform an altruistic action does necessitate an altruistic intention (for a treatment of action and A HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF ALTRUISM AND PROSOCIALITY 5 intention see Greve, 2001). Such an altruistic intention comprises two components, a cognitive content (what to do) and a feeling state (truly intending it and not only thinking of it c.f. Hewig, 2018). Now, this definition does apply to the psychological domain of intentional action whereas behaviors may generally appear without conscious intentions and a large variety of motivations or reasons may lead to what we might provisionally term helping behavior to separate this from altruistic action (see also Bierhoff, 2010). For the latter – altruistic action – a psychological definition that specifies criteria to subsume what is altruism seems necessary, whereas for the former broader conditions may apply. For helping behavior, it may even get more difficult to assess the motivational nature of the behavior if the person cannot give a reason for the behavior him or herself. Most importantly an altruistic motive is not necessary for the helping behavior. Nevertheless, it might be interesting to assess the motivational intention behind the act, as even some subconscious altruistic motivation might be leading to altruistic behavior that is not consciously executed. Having briefly addressed the importance of intentionality for the concept of altruism and “altruistic behavior”, we now want to disentangle the definition of altruism by using previous conceptualizations. We take these from different disciplines and researchers in personality psychology, getting more into detail and providing an overall concept of “altruism” as a subconstruct of prosocial behavior (see e.g., Carlo & Randall, 2002). For this purpose, we separate different kinds of conceptions of trait altruism and state altruism (altruistic action and helping behavior) according to suffixes denoting the theoretical origin as examples for the focus of their definitions in the respective research field and specific topic. As a first example, evolutionary altruistic behavior would be defined by yielding direct fitness costs and indirect fitness gains (see e.g., West & Gardener, 2010). This definition is from the field of biology and the topic of evolutionary aspects
Recommended publications
  • Happiness and Prosocial Behavior: an Evaluation of the Evidence

    Happiness and Prosocial Behavior: an Evaluation of the Evidence

    1 Happiness and Prosocial Behavior: An Evaluation of the Evidence Lara B. Aknin1, Ashley V. Whillans2, Michael I. Norton2, Elizabeth W. Dunn3 1 2 3 Simon Fraser University, Harvard Business School, University of British Columbia 2 Introduction Humans are an extremely prosocial species. Compared to most primates, humans provide more assistance to family, friends, and strangers, even when costly.1 Why do people devote their resources to helping others? In this chapter, we examine whether engaging in prosocial behavior promotes subjective well-being, which encompasses greater positive affect, lower negative affect, and greater life satisfaction.2 Next, we identify the conditions under which the well-being benefits of prosociality are most likely to emerge. Finally, we briefly highlight several levers that can be used to increase prosocial behavior, thereby potentially increasing well-being. How to Interpret the Evidence In interpreting the evidence presented in this chapter, it is crucial to recognize that most research on generosity and happiness has substantial methodological limitations. Many of the studies we describe are correlational, and therefore causal conclusions cannot be drawn. For example, if people who give to charity report higher happiness than people who do not, it is tempting to conclude that giving to charity increases happiness. But it is also possible that happier people are more likely to give to charity (i.e. reverse causality). Or, people who give to charity may be wealthier, and their wealth – not their charitable giving – may make them happy. Researchers typically try to deal with this problem by statistically controlling for “confounding variables,” such as wealth.
  • Beowulf and Competitive Altruism,” P

    Beowulf and Competitive Altruism,” P

    January 2013 Volume 9, Issue 1 ASEBL Journal Association for the Study of Editor (Ethical Behavior)•(Evolutionary Biology) in Literature St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D. ~ Editorial Board ~▪▪~ Kristy Biolsi, Ph.D. THIS ISSUE FEATURES Kevin Brown, Ph.D. Wendy Galgan, Ph.D. † Eric Luttrell, “Modest Heroism: Beowulf and Competitive Altruism,” p. 2 Cheryl L. Jaworski, M.A. † Dena R. Marks, “Secretary of Disorientation: Writing the Circularity of Belief in Elizabeth Costello,” p.11 Anja Müller-Wood, Ph.D. Kathleen A. Nolan, Ph.D. † Margaret Bertucci Hamper, “’The poor little working girl’: The New Woman, Chloral, and Motherhood in The House of Mirth,” p. 19 Riza Öztürk, Ph.D. † Kristin Mathis, “Moral Courage in The Runaway Jury,” p. 22 Eric Platt, Ph.D. † William Bamberger, “A Labyrinthine Modesty: On Raymond Roussel Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, and Chiasmus,” p. 24 Ph.D. ~▪~ Editorial Interns † St. Francis College Moral Sense Colloquium: - Program Notes, p. 27 Tyler Perkins - Kristy L. Biolsi, “What Does it Mean to be a Moral Animal?”, p. 29 - Sophie Berman, “Science sans conscience n’est que ruine de l’âme,” p.36 ~▪~ Kimberly Resnick † Book Reviews: - Lisa Zunshine, editor, Introduction to Cognitive Cultural Studies. Gregory F. Tague, p. 40 - Edward O. Wilson, The Social Conquest of Earth. Wendy Galgan, p. 42 ~▪~ ~ Contributor Notes, p. 45 Announcements, p. 45 ASEBL Journal Copyright©2013 E-ISSN: 1944-401X *~* [email protected] www.asebl.blogspot.com ASEBL Journal – Volume 9 Issue 1, January 2013 Modest Heroism: Beowulf and Competitive Altruism Eric Luttrell Christian Virtues or Human Virtues? Over the past decade, adaptations of Beowulf in popular media have portrayed the eponymous hero as a dim-witted and egotistical hot-head.
  • Prosocial Behavior Increases Well-Being and Vitality Even Without Contact with the Beneficiary: Causal and Behavioral Evidence

    Prosocial Behavior Increases Well-Being and Vitality Even Without Contact with the Beneficiary: Causal and Behavioral Evidence

    Motiv Emot (2016) 40:351–357 DOI 10.1007/s11031-016-9552-z ORIGINAL PAPER Prosocial behavior increases well-being and vitality even without contact with the beneficiary: Causal and behavioral evidence 1 2,3 Frank Martela • Richard M. Ryan Published online: 28 March 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract A number of studies have shown that prosocial Introduction behavior is associated with enhanced well-being, but most prior experimental studies have involved actual or The association between prosocial behavior and well-being potential face-to-face contact with the beneficiary. To has become a target of increasing amount of empirical establish that it is prosocial behavior itself, and not only work (e.g. Aknin et al. 2013a; Poulin et al. 2012; Shariff an increased sense of social relatedness to the recipient and Norenzayan 2007). In addition to extensive amount of that improves well-being, participants (n = 76) were cross-sectional work connecting various forms of prosocial invited to play a simple computer game, where half were behavior with well-being (partially reviewed in Piliavin made aware of a chance to have an anonymous prosocial 2003; Post 2005), a number of studies that have used impact through gameplay. As compared to the control experimental manipulation have established that prosocial condition, this group experienced more positive affect, behavior leads to increased well-being (e.g. Harris 1977; meaningfulness and marginally more vitality. Going Weinstein and Ryan 2010; Williamson and Clark 1989). beyond self-reported outcomes, they also demonstrated However, most causal studies to date have involved better post-game performance on a subsequent Stroop direct or potential face-to-face contact with the beneficiary, task, providing behavioral evidence for the positive where the improved well-being could arguably also be the effects of prosocial behavior.
  • Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum

    Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum

    Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum A Forum for Scholarship and Newsletter of the AMSS Section of ASA Volume 3, Issue 2 May 2012 What’s so Darned Special about Church Friends? Robert D. Putnam Harvard University One purpose of my recent research (with David E. Campbell) on religion in America1 was to con- firm and, if possible, extend previous research on the correlation of religiosity and altruistic behavior, such as giving, volunteering, and community involvement. It proved straight-forward to show that each of sev- eral dozen measures of good neighborliness was strongly correlated with religious involvement. Continued on page 19... Our Future is Just Beginning Vincent Jeffries, Acting Chairperson California State University, Northridge The beginning of our endeavors has ended. The study of altruism, morality, and social solidarity is now an established section in the American Sociological Association. We will have our first Section Sessions at the 2012 American Sociological Association Meetings in Denver, Colorado, this August. There is a full slate of candidates for the ASA elections this spring, and those chosen will take office at the Meetings. Continued on page 4... The Revival of Russian Sociology and Studies of This Issue: Social Solidarity From the Editor 2 Dmitry Efremenko and Yaroslava Evseeva AMSS Awards 3 Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences Scholarly Updates 12 The article was executed in the framework of the research project Social solidarity as a condition of society transformations: Theoretical foundations, Bezila 16 Russian specificity, socio-biological and socio-psychological aspects, supported Dissertation by the Russian foundation for basic research (Project 11-06-00347а).
  • 'It's up to You': Experimentally Manipulated Autonomy Support For

    'It's up to You': Experimentally Manipulated Autonomy Support For

    This article was downloaded by: [University of California, Riverside Libraries], [Katherine Nelson] On: 18 December 2014, At: 10:55 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpos20 ‘It’s up to you’: Experimentally manipulated autonomy support for prosocial behavior improves well-being in two cultures over six weeks S. Katherine Nelsona, Matthew D. Della Portaa, Katherine Jacobs Baob, HyunJung Crystal Leeb, Incheol Choib & Sonja Lyubomirskya a Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA b Department of Psychology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Published online: 16 Dec 2014. Click for updates To cite this article: S. Katherine Nelson, Matthew D. Della Porta, Katherine Jacobs Bao, HyunJung Crystal Lee, Incheol Choi & Sonja Lyubomirsky (2014): ‘It’s up to you’: Experimentally manipulated autonomy support for prosocial behavior improves well-being in two cultures over six weeks, The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2014.983959 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.983959 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content.
  • Trustworthiness and Competitive Altruism Can Also Solve the ''Tragedy

    Trustworthiness and Competitive Altruism Can Also Solve the ''Tragedy

    Evolution and Human Behavior 25 (2004) 209–220 Trustworthiness and competitive altruism can also solve the ‘‘tragedy of the commons’’$ Pat Barclay* Department of Psychology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1 Received 4 November 2003; accepted 19 April 2004 Abstract The benefits of a good reputation can help explain why some individuals are willing to be altruistic in situations where they will not receive direct benefits. Recent experiments on indirect reciprocity have shown that when people stand to benefit from having a good reputation, they are more altruistic towards groups and charities. However, it is unknown whether indirect reciprocity is the only thing that can cause such an effect. Individuals may be altruistic because it will make them more trustworthy. In this study, I show that participants in a cooperative group game contribute more to their group when they expect to play a dyadic trust game afterwards, and that participants do tend to trust altruistic individuals more than nonaltruistic individuals. I also included a condition where participants had to choose only one person to trust (instead of being able to trust all players) in the dyadic trust game that followed the cooperative group game, and contributions towards the group were maintained best in this condition. This provides some evidence that competition for scarce reputational benefits can help maintain cooperative behaviour because of competitive altruism. D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Evolution; Competitive altruism; Game theory; Trust; Public goods 1. Introduction Altruism towards unrelated individuals has puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades, and several theories provide possible explanations for its existence.
  • Competitive Altruism, Mentalizing, and Signaling †

    Competitive Altruism, Mentalizing, and Signaling †

    American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 2014, 6(4): 272–292 http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/mic.6.4.272 Competitive Altruism, Mentalizing, and Signaling † By Ed Hopkins * One explanation of altruism is that it arises from “mentalizing,’’ the process of understanding the mental states of others. Another is based on sexual selection: altruism is a costly signal of good genes. This paper shows that these two arguments are stronger together in that altruists who can mentalize have a greater advantage over nonaltruists when they can signal their type, even though these signals are costly, when such signaling allows better matching opportunities. Finally, it shows how mentalizing leads to higher payoffs for both partners in a long-term relationship, modeled as a repeated game with private monitoring. JEL C73, D64, D82 ( ) ne of the biggest puzzles in social science remains that of understanding coop- Oeration in human society. Existing explanations have usually been based either on the theory of kin selection or on the theory of repeated games. Yet, there is much evidence that people cooperate with unrelated individuals even in short-run or one- shot encounters. An alternative theory that sees pro-social activities as an attempt to signal desirability to potential mates has been proposed by Zahavi 1975 and Miller ( ) 2000 . This sexual selection explanation of cooperation has been modeled formally ( ) by Gintis, Smith, and Bowles 2001 . They demonstrate that an equilibrium exists ( ) where a high-quality individual can successfully signal that quality to potential part- ners by engaging in costly pro-social activity. This has been called “competitive altruism’’ Roberts 1998 .
  • The Roles of Altruism, Heroism, and Physical Attractiveness in Female Mate Choice

    The Roles of Altruism, Heroism, and Physical Attractiveness in Female Mate Choice

    1 1 The Roles of Altruism, Heroism, and Physical Attractiveness in Female Mate Choice 2 Lacey Margana 1 3 Manpal Singh Bhogal 2 4 James E Bartlett* 3 5 Daniel Farrelly 4 6 7 1 School of Psychological, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Coventry University, Priory 8 Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK 9 2 Psychology Department, Institute of Sport and Human Sciences, Faculty of Education, 10 Health and Wellbeing, City Campus, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 11 1LY, UK 12 3 Brain, Belief, and Behaviour Lab, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, 13 UK 14 4 School of Psychology, St John’s Campus, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, 15 Worcester, WR2 6AJ, UK 16 *corresponding author: [email protected] 17 18 19 2 20 ABSTRACT 21 The role of prosocial behaviour in female mate choice has been extensively explored, focusing 22 on the desirability of altruism in potential mates, as well as altruism being a mating signal. 23 However, little research has focused on the desirability of heroism and altruism in potential 24 partners. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of attractiveness on the desirability of prosocial 25 behavior has only recently been explored, and to our knowledge, has not explored in relation 26 to the desirability of heroism in a romantic partner. We explored the effect of prosociality and 27 attractiveness on female desirability ratings (n=198), and whether desirability was influenced 28 by whether women were seeking a short-term or long-term relationship. We find that women 29 are attracted to men who display heroism and altruism, and this preference is higher when the 30 male is attractive compared to unattractive.
  • Kin Selection Raymond Hames University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Rhames2@Unl.Edu

    Kin Selection Raymond Hames University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected]

    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology, Department of Summer 8-2015 Kin Selection Raymond Hames University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Biological Psychology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Hames, Raymond, "Kin Selection" (2015). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 128. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub/128 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published (as Chapter 19) in Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, Second Edition, edited by David M. Buss, pp 505-523. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Used by permission. digitalcommons.unl.edu Kin Selection Raymond Hames University of Nebraska-Lincoln Introduction When Hamilton (1964) published his theory of inclusive fitness it had no immediate im- pact in the social and behavioral sciences, even though ethnographers knew kinship to be a universally fundamental factor in human social organization, especially in egalitarian so- cieties in which humans have spent nearly all their evolutionary history. In many ways, it was a theory that perhaps anthropologists should have devised: Anthropologists knew kinship fundamentally structured cooperation, identity, coalition formation, resource ex- change, marriage, and group membership in traditional societies.
  • Physical Attractiveness, Altruism and Cooperation in an Ultimatum Game

    Physical Attractiveness, Altruism and Cooperation in an Ultimatum Game

    Physical Attractiveness, Altruism and Cooperation in an Ultimatum Game Manpal Singh Bhogal1 & Niall Galbraith1 & Ken Manktelow1 Manpal Singh Bhogal [email protected] Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Millennium City Building, City Campus, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1SB, UK Abstract Explaining cooperative tendencies through an evolutionary lens has been problematic for theorists. Traditional explanations derive from theories of reciprocity, biological markets, and more recently via partner choice and sexual selection. The sexual selection hypothesis has been tested within game-theoretic frameworks gaining empirical sup- port in explaining the evolution of altruism. Males have been found to be more altruistic towards attractive females. However, previous research has predominantly adopted a design where participants are not engaging with ‘real people’. Instead, participants make decisions when viewing images or hypothetical scenarios without visual cues. The present study aimed to investigate the sexual selection hypothesis using a face-to-face game theoretic framework. One hundred and thirty-eight participants played a 2-round ultimatum game with chocolate coins as the monetary incentive. We find, that physical attractiveness had no influence on generosity and cooperation when participants play a face-to-face ultimatum game. Instead, proposers were fair when allocating stakes, offering an average of half the endowment to responders. This study refutes the link between the sexual selection hypothesis and generosity when playing economic games with real people. Fairness appeared to drive generosity and cooperation. Keywords Game theory . Ultimatum game . Sexual selection hypothesis . Fairness . Generosity . Altruism Introduction Altruism1 refers to an act which is beneficial to the receiver, yet costly for the altruist (Trivers 1971).
  • COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas

    COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas

    Competitive altruism 1 Running Head: COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas: The Competitive Altruism Hypothesis Charlie L. Hardy and Mark Van Vugt University of Kent at Canterbury Please do not quote without permission! Word Count: 9840 Competitive altruism 2 Abstract Three experimental studies examined the relationship between altruistic behavior and the emergence of status hierarchies within groups. In each study, group members were confronted with a social dilemma in which they could either benefit themselves or their group. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that when members’ contributions were public, the most altruistic members gained the highest status in their group, and were most frequently preferred as cooperative interaction partners. Study 3 showed that high status members behaved more altruistically than low status members. These results support the idea that by behaving altruistically group members “compete” for social status within their group. Keywords: Altruism, Social Dilemmas, Social Status, Evolutionary Psychology Competitive altruism 3 Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas: The Competitive Altruism Hypothesis Humans are social animals. This phrase is often stated in the social and evolutionary literatures (Aronson, 1990; Buss, 2004; Forsyth, 1999), but what does it actually mean? The answer centers on issues of selfishness and altruism. Whereas most other mammals help each other only within small kinship groups, humans have the unique ability to form and cooperate within large social groups, which include many genetic strangers (McAndrew, 2002). For example, humans invest time and energy in helping other members in their neighborhood and make frequent donations to charity (Van Vugt, Snyder, Tyler, & Biel, 2000). They come to each other’s rescue in crises and disasters (Van Vugt & Samuelson, 1999).
  • Altruism and Popularity Eda Egilmez Fort Hays State University, E Egilmez Zrv@Mail.Fhsu.Edu

    Altruism and Popularity Eda Egilmez Fort Hays State University, E Egilmez [email protected]

    Fort Hays State University FHSU Scholars Repository Master's Theses Graduate School Fall 2016 Altruism and Popularity Eda Egilmez Fort Hays State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Egilmez, Eda, "Altruism and Popularity" (2016). Master's Theses. 32. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/32 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at FHSU Scholars Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of FHSU Scholars Repository. ALTRUISM AND POPULARITY being A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the Fort Hays State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Eda Egilmez B.S., Fort Hays State University B.S., Zirve University, Turkey Date_______________ Approved________________________ Major Professor Approved________________________ Chair, Graduate Council ABSTRACT Popularity, as a manifestation of social status, has been widely researched and appears to be determined by members of a social group. Individuals’ either aggressive or prosocial characteristics and environment lead them to one type of popularity. Prosocial behaviors are actions with intention of benefiting others or society as whole with little or no personal gain and may include helping, sharing, cooperating, donating, and other voluntary works. Altruism is a type of prosocial behavior that could affect individuals' popularity. Altruism has been studied in different disciplines with the general definition of cooperative behavior that has a cost to the actor with a benefit to the receiver. From the Evolutionary Psychology perspective, altruistic behaviors decrease the fitness of individuals, which is against the principles of evolution.