No Behaviour Is ‘Really’ Altruistic. Based on Theory and Research in Social Psychology, Critically Discuss This Contention. Essay Example
Altruism is a subcategory of helping behaviour, and refers to an act that is motivated by the desire to benefit another rather than oneself (Batson & Coke, 1981; Berkowitz, 1970, cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2005). The main issue with determining whether a helping act is truly altruistic is one of motivation; if we cannot determine whether an act stems from a desire to benefit others or some kind of ulterior motive, altruism is difficult to demonstrate (Rushton & Sorrentino, 1981, cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2005). This essay will firstly discuss the Empathy-Altruism hypothesis, which rejects the claim that no behaviour is ‘really’ altruistic and will go on to discuss opposing theories of egoism such as negative state relief, reciprocity and social responsibility, and Piliavin’s bystander-calculus model.
Gaertner and Dovidio (1977, cited in Passer & Smith, 2007) commented that it is likely that empathy motivates us to help others. Batson, Duncan, Ackerman, Buckley and Birch (1981) developed this by suggesting that feeling empathy for a person in need is an important motivator of helping and hypothesised that this motivation might be truly altruistic. Batson et al. (1981) experimentally tested this hypothesis by having subjects watch another person receive electric shocks and then giving the subject the chance to help by taking the remaining shocks themselves The experiment concluded that empathic emotion does evoke altruistic motivation to see another's need reduced. This empathy-altruism hypothesis had significant theoretical implications because it contradicted the more widely accepted theories of egoism, which are built on the assumption that everything we do is ultimately directed toward the end-state goal of benefiting ourselves (Batson et al. 1981).
The empathy-altruism hypothesis comments that motivation for helping may be a mixture of altruism and egoism (Batson et al. 1981). Batson, Early and Salvarini, (1997, cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2005) developed on
Gaertner and Dovidio (1977, cited in Passer & Smith, 2007) commented that it is likely that empathy motivates us to help others. Batson, Duncan, Ackerman, Buckley and Birch (1981) developed this by suggesting that feeling empathy for a person in need is an important motivator of helping and hypothesised that this motivation might be truly altruistic. Batson et al. (1981) experimentally tested this hypothesis by having subjects watch another person receive electric shocks and then giving the subject the chance to help by taking the remaining shocks themselves The experiment concluded that empathic emotion does evoke altruistic motivation to see another's need reduced. This empathy-altruism hypothesis had significant theoretical implications because it contradicted the more widely accepted theories of egoism, which are built on the assumption that everything we do is ultimately directed toward the end-state goal of benefiting ourselves (Batson et al. 1981).
The empathy-altruism hypothesis comments that motivation for helping may be a mixture of altruism and egoism (Batson et al. 1981). Batson, Early and Salvarini, (1997, cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2005) developed on