...Altruism can be described as a form of pro-social behavior in which an individual seeks to voluntarily satisfy the welfare of others at their own costs. It is an unselfish concern of a person to achieve the good of others and this tends to be the primary motivation and the ultimate goal of an altruistic behavior. Genuine altruism is guided by the desire to improve the state and welfare of other people without expecting a reward or indicating some degree of self interest (Ricard, 2011). A number of historical figures and other individuals have been implicated in the demonstration of altruism. Below are five examples of altruistic behaviors. Example 1- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Activism) One example of altruistic behavior was demonstrated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He emphasized on the need of equality and basic civil rights for all. He labored hard and was committed to ensuring that democracy and justice was practiced irrespective of an individual’s race and social status. King did not mind facing the dangers that were associated with his fight against injustice. His ultimate sacrifice was demonstrated through his death, since he was killed for trying to improve the welfare and lives of others (Myers, 2014). Martin Luther’s altruistic behavior was a product of modeling. For instance, Kail and Cavanaugh (2015) explain that King’s pursuit of civil rights and equality for African Americans was significantly influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, a political leader, Henry David Thoreau...
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...Issue Analysis: Pro-Social Behavior Psych. 555 April 29, 2013 Dr. Anthony Issue Analysis: Pro-social Behavior Human kindness has been studied for centuries and spawned debates over the reasons behind exhibiting kindness and the lack of it. Pro-social behaviors are those behaviors that involve helping another person; ulterior motives may or may not play a part. Altruism is a pro-social behavior in which helping behavior occurs with no indication of personal benefit. According to Fiske (2010), “altruism describes a motive that makes people help because of genuine concern for others, to increase the welfare of others,” (p. 347). A person acts altruistically when he or she feels empathy for another person and assumes responsibility for helping. Another concept of helping is Egotistic helping, that is the idea that the primary motivator is to decrease one’s own distress and places the decreasing another’s distress as the secondary motivator (Nier, 2009). The existence of true altruism has been a topic of longstanding debate in social psychology. Nier (2009) has provided information concerning both sides of this debate (Nier, 2009). Batson (et. Al, 1981) supports the concept of true altruism stating that individuals help others simply out of a desire to do so. This help earns the individual no reward. The opposing side is presented by Cialdini (et. Al, 1987) concludes that when individuals offer aid to others, they are doing so for a personal gain of some kind. The articles...
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...phrase “pay it forward” is society’s way of describing Altruism. Altruism is the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. Within the following paragraphs the comparison of the respective roles of altruism, personal and professional social responsibility, and codependency will be presented. A description of how altruism applies to psychology or psychological principles will be addressed. A description of how altruism improves the human condition, and whether or not there are limits to altruism will also be discussed. Personal and professional responsibilities related to altruism will also be addressed. The future of psychology, specifically in relation to altruism, in contemporary society will also be presented. The Comparison of the Respective Roles of Altruism, Personal and Professional Social Responsibility, and Codependency Pure altruism is giving without expecting something in return or some form of compensation (Landrum, & Davis, 2010). Not like altruism, which is a genuine and unselfish thought for people other than oneself, personal and professional social responsibility is performing in a manner benefitting humanity as a whole rather than just an individual. “Codependency is an emotional and behavioral condition where in individuals with low self-esteem try to find meaning and happiness in things outside of themselves (Trivers, 1971, para, 3).” Acts of Altruism happen infrequently and according to some...
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...Outline one or more explanations of media influence on pro-social behaviour and discuss research support Pro social behaviour is when the acts are intended to benefit others. This is usually seen in fundraising campaigns whereas anti social behaviour is usually seen on the news. The social learning theory explains this by learning through media as indirect reinforcement; the media portrays pro-social behaviour as if you see people helping charities then you become aroused to do the same. Hearold in 1987 completed a meta analysis of over 1000 studies seeing the effect of TV on behaviour. Overall he found pro-social to be more effective than anti-social in effecting people. This study is recognised due to the large amount of studies it used so can be generalised to a lot of different places around the world. However, making a conclusion from this many studies is difficult to operate. Another explanation of the media influence is exposure to the pro-social messages. Children watching TV are exposed to a large number of pro-social acts. An early content analysis of US broadcasting found that on average there were 11 altruistic acts and 6 sympathetic behaviours per programming (Skrafkin 1075). However these acts are frequently appeared in the context of anti-social behaviour. From this we can conclude that studies continue to demonstrate pro-social content on TV is clearly as evident as anti-social behaviour. Howard and Roberts 2002 studied toddlers from the age of 14 months watching...
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...“Critically evaluate how social psychology relates to the ‘European Migration Crisis’ of the summer 2015 using the two news articles provided.” ‘’Migrants and refugees streaming into Europe from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia have presented European leaders and policymakers with their greatest challenge since the debt crisis, ’’ Jeanne Parker, Deputy Director Council of Foreign Relations (September, 2015). It has been estimated by the IOM that within the first few months of this year, over 464,000 migrants have crossed into Europe, 150 per hour in Germany (Express), with the majority constituting Syrians escaping civil war. With the recent terrorist attacks on France and threats of ISIS across Europe and Western countries imminent, it has caused much concern among settling nations of the threat of facilitated entry for terrorist groups disguised as asylum seekers. As well as how the massive influx of migrants will further affect their standard of living and the relative depravity with the impending strain on the economy and resources. Social psychologists have theorized over the different behavioural response’ and attitudes of migration on receiving countries, with four main inter-connected concepts applicable to European communities involved in the humanitarian crisis of 2015: the dynamics of in-group/out-group processes and prejudice from unwelcoming communities to pro-social behavior and altruism shown by welcoming sectors of society. A major field of psychology...
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...Social neuroeconomics combines tools form neuroscience and task from economics, trying to understand brain processes underlying decision-making in a social context. Examples of (behavioral) economic tasks used in neuroeconomics are the Dictator Game, Ultimatum Game, Trust Game and Public Goods Game. These tasks are often presented as a one-shot anonymous game to avoid the strategic complexity of repeated games, such as reciprocity. A typical finding in these experiments is that people behave pro-social. But the question arises: why do people act pro-social in an anonymous one-shot game? This position paper discusses why people exert pro-social behavior in the one-shot Dictator Game, and if the Dictator Game is therefore a good measure for social...
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...come over to the gas station so that she could fill up his tank. Now, let it be known that no one was around and perhaps a chance was being taken at 0330 in the morning, but it was a chance that needed to be taken on this day. The gentleman let a few tears escape before he explained his situation and expressing his gratitude. It was a heartwarming and eye opening experience. The gentleman asked what he could ever do to repay me, now we both knew that the odds of our paths ever crossing again were next to nil; so this author handed him a coupon for a free coffee. The gentleman looked at the coupon and smiled then replied, "I believe that I will pay this forward." Altruism, Responsibility, and Codependency Altruism is best defined as giving without expectation of retribution or compensation. Personal and professional social responsibility as a whole is found...
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...Evaluate evolutionary accounts of altruistic behaviour, drawing upon more recent published papers as well as material covered in the core textbook. One enduring question in social sciences and biology is the behaviour of altruism. In a common sense altruism is pro-social behaviour, which is positively seen in today’s society and acted out by helping and behaving favourably towards other individuals without any expectation of a reward. Usually without an immediate external feedback, helping is considered to be rewarding in a sense that it activates the reward centres in the brain. Under evolutionary theory, the behaviour of altruism as the common trait of being unselfish makes little sense. However, the origin of altruism is far more benefit...
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...Introduction “At a time when bullying is rampant, it makes more sense to build on the positive by instilling compassion and dealing with kids’ questions about the unfamiliar, rather than simply outlawing behaviours,” author Tim Huff. Tim Huff is the creator of a storybook and discussion guide, titled The Cardboard Shack Under the Bridge, that focuses on teaching elementary school students compassion for people who are homeless. The focus of the material is to encourage children to understand the people and stories behind homelessness in a hope to instil compassion, rather than judgement or fear. Furthermore, the hope of the program is that it encourages children to care deeply for their communities. We created an hour and a half interactive lesson for a Grade 1/2 class at Briar Hill Elementary School with the hope that it would give the children a new perspective on people who do not have homes to live in. The lesson started with us reading the story, The Cardboard Shack Under The Bridge, by Tim Huff, and asking the students many meaningful questions on their interpretations of the pictures and what it means to be homeless. They then rotated around four centres where they got to engage in activities that helped them develop empathy for people who are homeless. Rationale: A classroom that is built around democratic principles will look very different than the average classroom. Often teachers will take on more of the role of dictator than democratic leader which leads...
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...honesty, strong and moral practiced standards. The indicators of integrity are truthfulness, fairness, doing what you said you will do for patient/clients, resolving predicament for two similar conditions, knowing limitation and referrals appropriate professionals. Professional duty of PT is commitment and provide best of knowledge PT treatment to serve patient for healthy community and nation. Social responsibility to support profession by mutual trust(PT and society), advocating to culture, voluntarism for nation and worldwide issue to fulfill health and wellness needs. APTA (2003) developed self-assessment tools for this seven core values which is really helpful to individual in professionalism. As per Guenther, McGinnis, Romen, & Patel (2014), six out of seven professional core values were well coordinated into practice of PTs. After taking core value assessment test, I realized my real strength, weakness and area of improvements with shocking results on my daily PT...
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...Thank you for reading and commenting on my post. I appreciate your kind words. As you have stated there are several ways that therapists can fulfill their societal responsibility. Looking back during my clinical training as a student, the College of PT at that time had a charity/ pro-Bono outpatient clinic where each one in our class had the chance to work with uninsured or indigent patients. The purpose for this setup was twofold; first, PT students can gain valuable insights and experience working with the uninsured and underprivileged population and secondly patients can avail of the much needed therapy without burdening them financially. A similar type of equal access pro-Bono clinics can now be found in different schools- Widener's...
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...Morality Essay Is morality a biological or social construct? The term morality, according to Eysenck(2009) can be described by Shaffer (1993) as: "A set of principles or ideals, that help the individual to distinguish right from wrong and to act on this distinction.” Morality is important to society as it would not function effectively, unless there was some kind of agreement on what is right and wrong. There seems to be a universal human acceptance on what right or wrong should be. If you look cross culturally over time it seems to suggest we all follow a certain basic rule, one that, Matthew 7:2 from The New Testament sums up quite efficiently: “ For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging, is the standard by which you will be judged” This very widespread principle would amount to us as a society today in the 21st century as more common sense but where did morality actually come from? According to All About Science(2013), the Darwinian principles suggest, we are all a product of evolution, from a process called natural selection. Natural selection is the continuing process in which biological characteristics become either more or less common in a population. Meaning that: Individuals in a species that show a wide range of variation is because of differences within their genes. Individuals with characteristics most suited to the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, as the genes that allow these...
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...Social Psychology: Prosocial Behavior Social psychology is one of the wide topics in sociology that have been widely studied. Social psychology is the study of human behavior in a social context. Stangor (2013) has described social psychology as the scientific study of how people think, feel and behave around people and how people’s feelings, thoughts and behaviors are influenced by these people. It aims at studying and explaining how individual personalities change due to social groups. Social psychology helps one understand how individuals fit in the society. Social psychology exists in our daily life. When we make friends, when we argue with friends, how we live with people and relate with them, are all examples of social psychology. There are different study areas in social psychology and they are; prosocial behaviors, prejudice, discrimination and diversity, self and social behavior, social influence, cultural links, psychology of gender and violence, conflict resolution and peace. In this paper I will discuss prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior is the opposite of anti-social behavior. While anti-social people will exclude themselves from the society, are selfish and don’t contribute much in conversations, prosocial people are philanthropic, obedient and cooperate with others. Prosocial behavior has been described as the phenomenon where people help each other, either willingly or with a hidden motive. Prosocial behavior should not be confused with altruism, which is...
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...University of Minnesota University of New Mexico Bram Van den Bergh Rotterdam School of Management Why do people purchase proenvironmental “green” products? We argue that buying such products can be construed as altruistic, since green products often cost more and are of lower quality than their conventional counterparts, but green goods benefit the environment for everyone. Because biologists have observed that altruism might function as a “costly signal” associated with status, we examined in 3 experiments how status motives influenced desire for green products. Activating status motives led people to choose green products over more luxurious nongreen products. Supporting the notion that altruism signals one’s willingness and ability to incur costs for others’ benefit, status motives increased desire for green products when shopping in public (but not private) and when green products cost more (but not less) than nongreen products. Findings suggest that status competition can be used to promote proenvironmental behavior. Keywords: altruism, environmental conservation, costly signaling, status competition, consumer behavior ported that the number one reason for purchasing the car is because it “makes a statement about me.” What statement does the Prius make? “It shows the world that its owner cares” (Maynard, 2007). At first blush it may seem puzzling why individuals would pay a premium to forgo luxury or comfort for the sake of displaying that they care...
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... Abstract This assignment will review the nature of conflict, from psychologist theories to what form it takes in an educational setting. In order to apply conflict resolution and conflict management effectively in an educational setting, it is important to understand the background disciplines of conflict and theories behind how humans behave in social settings. Comprehending how human behaviour initiates is the key stepping stone to resolving and managing conflict behaviour between humans. We will examine what the concept of conflict is and what shape of from it occurs in everyday life. A brief history of what psychologists have founded in their study of conflict, and human behaviour will lead this examination into conflict in educational settings and how they can arise. It is crucial to look at approaches that can be taken towards conflict in an educational setting in order to resolve and manage them effectively to reduce and minimise all forms of conflict. Introduction There are many different theories used when defining conflict. Morton Deutsch is renowned social psychologists (recognisable through research of this review) who has studied and researched conflict within human relations. According to Deutsch, conflict exists whenever incompatible activities occur (Deutsch, 1969, I25:p7) which is a simple and precise way of grasping the concept of conflict. A definition which is more fitting for this review centring conflict in an educational...
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