Altruism

1. Theories of Altruism

2. Learning Outcome
 HR.2.B – Contrast two theories
explaining Altruism

3. Warm-Up: The Joker’s
Social Experiment
 Why do the people on the boats make the
decisions that they do? What motivated
them?
 Is this an example of Altruism? Why or why
not?
 Can evolution explain these choices?

4. Altruism
 When one person helps another person for no reward,
and even at some cost to oneself.
 Evolutionary Biology Explanation:
 Behavior that benefits other organisms but has some
cost. (Cost & Benefit measured in reproductive
fitness)
 Kin Selection Theory
 Cognitive Psychology Explanation:
 Altruism is witnessed in higher-order mammals and
appears to have some conscious cognitive component,
rather than just instinctual nature.
 Empathy-Altruism Theory

5. Explanations of Altruism
 Evolutionary Explanation
 Altruism can be beneficial to the group, not
just to help the individual survive.
 Psychological Explanation
 Altruism is witnessed in higher-order
mammals and appears to have some
conscious cognitive component, rather than
just instinctual nature. Empathy…

6. Evolutionary Explanation
 Kin Selection Theory (Hamilton, 1963)
 Individuals are more likely to sacrifice
themselves for relatives than non-relatives.
I only saved
you because
I am your
father!

7. Kin Selection Theory
 Hamilton based much of his theory on
observations of insects and animals…
 R x B > C
 Genetic Relativeness x Benefit > Costs
 SciShow on Altruism

8. Building on the Kin
Selection Theory
 Selfish Gene Theory (Dawkins, 1989)
 What looks like self-sacrifice could, in reality,
promote survival of your genes.
 If your brother survives, your genes do as well.
 Egoism: The theory that one’s self is, or should be,
the motivation and the goal of one’s own actions.

9. Roles in a Beehive

10. Naeger et al (2013)
 Aim: To determine the role of altruism in a
Queenless bee colony.
 Method: Observed behaviors in a bee hive
suffering from colony collapse.
 Findings:
 Worker bees begin to lay eggs (selfish) but also
continue to work cooperatively to supply and
defend their colony (altruistic).
 Conclusion: Bees demonstrate larger amounts of
altruism than Kin Selection would suggest.

11. Simmons et al (1977)
 Aim: To investigate whether close relatives were
more likely to be kidney donors.
 Results/Conclusions:
 86% of parents agreed to be donors but only 47%
of siblings agreed.
 It was found that when siblings were donors, the
recipient and the donor were significantly closer
in age and more likely to be of the same sex than
were non-donors. Generally, the recipients felt
very close to the potential donors, but not always.
 Evaluation: The theory predicted that parents
and siblings should have been equally as likely
to volunteer.

12. Evolutionary Explanations
for Prosocial Behavior
 Direct Reciprocity – “I’ll scratch your back,
then you scratch mine.”
 Spatial Collection - “Lend me some sugar, I
am your neighbor!”
 Kin Selection – R x B > Costs
 Indirect Reciprocity – “I’ll scratch your back,
and someone else will scratch mine.”
 Group Selection – “There is no I in Group.”

13. Kin Selection Theory
Strengths
Supported by Empirical
Studies (Real-World
Examples of animals and
humans)
Mathematical
simulations (Hamilton’s
equation) support the
theory.
Limitations
Does not explain why
people help people who
are not related to
themselves.
Blood alone does not
create kinship ties.
Community does so as
well.
Does not address why
cooperation continues
when it offers little
advantage.

14. The Situation
 James is paired up with a stranger in a
learning experiment on the value of electric
shocks. James is assigned the role of the
control (no shocks) and his partner is
assigned the treatment (electric shocks).
After watching his partner receive shocks,
he is asks if he wants to switch roles and
James agrees.
 How can this be explained?

15. The Empathy-Altruism
Theory: Batson et al. (1981)
 By feeling empathy for another person, it is
possible for true altruistic behavior to occur.
 When we see a bad situation we face…
 Personal Distress (anxiety and fear)
 Empathetic Concern (sympathy and
compassion)

16. Perspective Taking
 True altruism requires perspective taking.
This requires three traits.
1. The observer must have had similar
experiences.
2. The observer must be attached to the
victim.
3. The person is instructed to imagine what it is
like to be in the victim’s shoes.

17. Batson et al (1981)
 Aim: To investigate individuals’ willingness to
help if they had an escape.
 Method:
 Using college students, researchers had
participants read a short description of Elaine.
 One story led to high empathy and the other low
empathy.
 They then watched Elaine participate in a
memory test in which she received electric
shocks. Some participants were offered the
choices of either taking her place or filling out a
questionnaire. The other half were offered the
choices of either taking her place or watching
the remainder of the trials.

18. Batson et al. (1981)
 Findings:
 High Empathy: Most participants agreed to help
Elaine.
 The difficulty of escape had little impact.
 Low Empathy: Participants were less likely to help.
 Easy escape: Less Helping
 Difficult Escape: More Helping
 Conclusion:
 Feeling empathy for a person drastically
increases the likelihood of altruistic behavior.
 Negative State relief motivates altruistic behavior.
 Critical Thinking?

19. Empathy-Altruism Theory
Strengths
 Experimental Studies
defend the theory.
 The theory can predict how
likely someone is to help
another.
Limitations
 Ecological Validity?
 Is altruism the goal, or is
stopping negative feelings?
 Empathy does not always
predict altruism.

20. Contrasting the Theories
Kin Selection Theory
 The focus is on genes that
operate beyond human
consciousness. Largely based on
observations of insects.
 Altruism is seen as a behavior
that has a cost to the individual.
 The theory is based on egoism.
 The theory can explain why
humans are more likely to help
our kin. The theory does not
explain why we help non
relatives.
 Testing the theory is very difficult
because it is based on
evolutionary processes.
Empathy-Altruism
Theory
 The focus is on the human emotion
empathy as the primary motivation
for helping.
 Altruism is seen as a behavior that
benefits the individual.
 The theory is based on altruism
existing.
 The theory can explain why people
tend to behave altruistically in
situations where they feel empathy.
The theory does not explain why
people feel empathy but do not
help.
 It is relatively easy to test the theory
under lab conditions but difficult to
bring it into the real world.