altruism and helping

30 Pages·2015·0.78 MB·English

by  Tom Farsides

UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Psychology Department

ALTRUISM AND HELPING
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CARING
ABOUT AND FOR OTHERS
(C8014)
3rd Year Option (Level 6, 15 Credits)
Autumn Term/Teaching Block 1, 2015-16

Module Convenor and Tutor: Tom Farsides

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. (Albert Einstein)

Always do right -- this will gratify some and astonish the rest. (Mark Twain)

There's nothing more dangerous than a shallow-thinking compassionate person. God, he can
cause a lot of trouble (Garrett Hardin)

Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive. (Ayn Rand)

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Essential information

On this module, “altruism” is the phenomenon of people
being concerned about the positive welfare of others.

Module Tutor

Location: Pevensey 1, 1C7
Telephone: 67 8886
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @TomFarsides
Office Hours Wednesday & Thursday, 12-1

Timetable

Week 1 Lecture: Altruism as a concern
Week 2 Seminar: Where altruistic concern comes from
Week 3 Seminar: Animal altruism
Week 4 Seminar: Infant altruism
Week 5 Seminar: ‘Empathy’
Week 6 Seminar: The neuroscience of altruism
Week 7 Seminar: The evolution of altruism
Week 8 Seminar: The altruistic gene
Week 9 Seminar: Enhancers of altruism
Week 10 Seminar: Impediments to altruism
Week 11 Seminar: Choosing altruism
Week 12 Lecture: Moving on

Please see Sussex Direct for where and when your lectures and seminars will be.

Assessment

Autumn Term assessed presentation (30%) – See Appendix.
One 3000-word essay (70%) – Titles will be announced by Week 5.

Please see Sussex Direct for assessment deadlines.

Information on the following can be found at the link below:
 submitting your work
 missing a deadline
 late penalties
 MEC – mitigating evidence
 Exams
 Help with managing your studies and competing your work
 Assessment Criteria
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/internal/students/examinationsandassessment

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Reading

Everyone should read as much as possible from the texts listed under each week’s
“Everyone should read as much as possible from the following” sub-heading. You can
read more if you want to, from anywhere. When doing assessed presentations or
essays you will need to do a lot more reading, mainly from the academic literature.
Some possible starting points for such reading are provided most weeks.

Please see end of this Handbook for further administrative and other details

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WEEK 1 LECTURE: ALTRUISM AS A CONCERN

Introduction

This week (Week 1) there are no seminars. Instead, there is a single two-hour lecture. In that
lecture I will provide some essential information about this module and execute some
essential administrative roles, e.g., sorting out which week each student will do their assessed
presentation. I will also go into a lot more detail about the sort of altruism that this module
investigates and spell out some implications of conceptualising “altruism” in this way.

After Week 1, the tutor is likely to respond to many administrative questions with the answer,
“We dealt with that in the first lecture”.

The central point made in the lecture is that the “altruism” studied during this module is the
potential phenomenon of people being concerned about the positive welfare of another.

The module is not concerned with the word “altruism” as such, or with how others may have
used it. Other uses of the word “altruism” will be of interest only to the extent that they might
illuminate the putative phenomenon of people being concern about the positive welfare of
others. This potential phenomenon (or things related to it) may at times be called something
other than “altruism”, e.g., benevolence, caring, compassion, charity, generosity, love,
responsibility, solidarity, etc. And not everything that others call “altruism” will necessarily
be of relevance to this phenomenon.

Everyone should read as much as possible from the following

Farsides, T. (2013, September 23). No such thing as altruism? Retrieved
from http://tomfarsides.blogspot.com/2013/09/no-such-thing-as-altruism.html
Farsides, T. (2013, October 7). Where’s the “I” in altruism? Retrieved from
http://tomfarsides.blogspot.com/2013/10/wheres-i-in-altruism.html
Lichtenberg, J. (2010). Is pure altruism possible? New York Times, October 19.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/is-pure-altruism-possible/

Other media

To hear a fascinating example of how words’ definitions can have life-or-death significance,
listen to Radiolab Season 12, Episode 7: “60 words” http://www.radiolab.org/story/60-words/

Further reading: Potential starting points

Blackburn, S. (2001). Ethics: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pages 26-32. (Previously published as Being Good).
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Block, J. (1996). Some jangly remarks on Baumeister and Heatherton. Psychological Inquiry,
7, 28-32.
Campbell, R. L. (2006). Altruism in Auguste Comte and Ayn Rand. Journal of Ayn Rand
Studies, 7 (2), 357-369.
Carlsmith, K. M., & Sood, A. M. (2009). The fine line between interrogation and retribution.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45 (1), 191-196.
Cohen, T. R., Panter, A. T., Turan, N., Morse, L. A., & Kim, Y. (2014). Moral character in
the workplace. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(5), 943-963.
Clavien, C., & Chapuisat, M. (2013). Altruism across disciplines: One word, multiple
meanings. Biology & Philosophy, 28(1), 125-140.
Levine, R. V. (2003). The kindness of strangers. American Scientist, 91, 226-233.
O’Donohoe, S. & Turley, D. (2006). Compassion at the counter: Service providers and
bereaved consumers. Human Relations, 59, 1429-1448.
Rempel, J. K., & Burris, C. T. (2005). Let me count the ways: An integrative theory of love
and hate. Personal Relationships, 1 (2), 297-313.
Sibicky, M. E., Schroeder, D. A., & Dovidio, J. F. (1995). Empathy and helping: Considering
the consequences of intervention. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 16, 435-453.
Sprecher, S., & Fehr, B. (2005). Compassionate love for close others and humanity. Journal
of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 629-651.

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WEEK 2: WHERE ALTRUISTIC CONCERN COMES FROM

Introduction

This week the key issue is “What might lead people to care about the positive welfare of
others?” An incomplete list of candidates would include collectivism, compassion, empathy,
habit, identification, instinct, learning, morality, pity, and self-interest. Because this is a long
list, it is probably wise to initially focus on a limited number of contenders. The key readings
this week will focus on compassion and morality.

Everyone should read as much as possible from the following

Farsides, T. (2013, December 19). Alternatives to selfishness. Retrieved
from http://tomfarsides.blogspot.com/2013/12/alternatives-to-selfishness.html
Macaskill, W. (2015, September, 02). We should buy clothes made in sweatshops. The Big
Issue. Retrieved from http://www.bigissue.com/features/5638/william-macaskill-we-
should-buy-clothes-made-in-sweatshops
Singer, P. (2015, July 6). The logic of effective altruism. Boston Review. Retrieved from
http://bostonreview.net/forum/peter-singer-logic-effective-altruism Also with
commentaries and a response.
Thomson, D. (2015). The Greatest Good: Inspired to make a meaningful donation, I
wondered: What is the best charitable cause in the world, and was it crazy to think I
could find it? Atlantic, 15 June,
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/what-is-the-greatest-
good/395768/

Further reading: Potential starting points

Batson,C.D., Ahmad,N., & Tsang, J-A. (2002). Four motives for community involvement.
Journal of Social Issues, 3, 429-446.
Batson, C. D., Batson, J. G., Todd, M., Brummett, B. H., Shaw, L. L., & Aldeguer, C. M. R.
(1995). Empathy and the collective good: caring for one of the others in a social
dilemma. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 619-631.
Batson, C. D., Klein, T. R., Highberger, L., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Immorality from empathy-
induced altruism: When compassion and justice conflict. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 68, 1042-1054.
Bélanger, J. J., Caouette,J., Sharvit, K., & Dugas, M. (2014). The psychology of martyrdom:
Making the ultimate sacrifice in the name of a cause. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 107(3):494-515.
Boegershausen, J., Aquino, K., & Reed, A. (2015). Moral identity. Current Opinion in
Psychology, doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.07.017
Boninger, D. S., Krosnick, J. A., & Berent, M. K. (1995). Origins of attitude importance:
Self-interest, social identification, and value relevance. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 68, 61-80.
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Everett, J. A., Faber, N. S., & Crockett, M. (2015). Preferences and beliefs in ingroup
favoritism. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9, 15.
Feeney, B. C., & Collins, N. L. (2003). Motivations for caregiving in adult intimate
relationships: Influences on caregiving behaviour and relationship functioning.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 950-968.
Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010). Compassion: An evolutionary analysis
and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 136 (3), 351-374.
Grant, A. M. (2008). Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy
in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 93, 48-58.
Grant, A. M., & Hofmann, D. A. (2011).It's not all about me: Motivating hand hygiene
among health care professionals by focusing on patients. Psychological Science, 22
(12), 1495-1499.
Gray, H. M., Gray, K., & Wegner, D. M. (2007). Dimensions of mind perception. Science,
315, 619.
Hirt, E. R., Zillman, D., Erikson, G. A., & Kennedy, C. (1992). Costs and benefits of
allegiance: Changes in fans' self-ascribed competencies after team victory versus
defeat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 724-738.
Hui, C. M., Finkel, E. J., Fitzsimons, G. M., Kumashiro, M., & Hofmann, W. (2013). The
Manhattan Effect: When relationship commitment fails to promote support for
partners’ interests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(4), 546-70.
Margolis, J. D., & Molinsky, A. (2008). Navigating the binds of necessary evils:
Psychological engagement and the production of interpersonally sensitive behavior.
Academy of Management Journal, 51 (5), 847-842.
Packer, D. J. (2008). Identifying systematic disobedience in Milgram’s obedience
experiments: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3 (4),
301-304.
Singer, T. & Steinbeis, N. (2009). Differential roles of fairness- and compassion-based
motivations for cooperation, defection, and punishment. Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences, 1167, 41−50.
Vitaglione, G. D., & Barnett, M. A. (2003). Assessing a new dimension of empathy:
Empathic anger as a predictor of helping and punishing desires. Motivation and
Emotion, 27, 301-325.

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WEEK 3: ANIMAL ALTRUISM

Introduction

This module focuses mainly on human altruism. The two foci of this week’s topic are “To
what extent do (or can) non-human animals manifest concern for the positive welfare of
others?” and “What can animal psychology tell us about human altruism?” The list of
animals claimed to show altruism is long but again it will probably be wise to initially focus
on a limited number of contenders. This week’s key readings will focus on the possibility of
altruism among rats.

Everyone should read as much as possible from the following

Jentsch, J. D., & Ringach, D. (2011, December 14). Empathy and altruism in rats. Retrieved
from http://speakingofresearch.com/2011/12/14/empathy-and-altruism-in-rats/
Underwood, E. (2015, May 12). Rats forsake chocolate to save a drowning companion.
Science, Retrieved from http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2015/05/rats-
forsake-chocolate-save-drowning-companion

Further reading: Potential starting points

Bartal, I. B-A., Decety, J., & Mason, P. (2011). Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats.
Science, 334 (6061), 1427-1430.
Bartal, I. B-A., Rodgers, D., Bernardez S., Decety, J., & Mason, P. (2014). Pro-social
behaviour in rats in modulated by social experience, eLife, 3, 1385.
Brosnan, S. F. (2012). Introduction to ‘Justice in animals’. Social Justice Research. Special
issue: Justice in animals, 25(2), 109-121.
Dingfelder, S. F. (2009). Nice by nature? APA Monitor, 40 (8), 58-61.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2007). Peace among primates. Greater Good, IV(2), 34-37.
Sato, N., Tan, L., Tate, K., & Okada, M. (2015). Rats demonstrate helping behavior toward a
soaked conspecific. Animal Cognition, 1-9.
Yamamoto, S., & Takimoto, A. (2012). Empathy and fairness: Psychological mechanisms for
eliciting and maintaining prosociality and cooperation in primates. Social Justice
Research, 25(3), 233-255.

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WEEK 4: INFANT ALTRUISM

Introduction

Especially before they can speak, infant humans can be investigated only in similar ways as
can any other animal. Accordingly, the two foci of this week’s topic are “To what extent do
(or can) infant humans manifest concern for the positive welfare of others” and “What can
infant psychology tell us about human altruism more generally?” At the same time, we will
consider what evidence is presented (and needed) to claim that altruism is “innate”.

Everyone should read as much as possible from the following

Baron-Cohen, S. (2013, December 27). Little angels: A review of ‘Just Babies: The Origins
of Good and Evil,’ by Paul Bloom. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/books/review/just-babies-the-origins-of-good-
and-evil-by-paul-bloom.html?_r=0
Carey, B. (2014, December 18). Stanford psychologists show that altruism is not simply
innate. Stanford News. Retrieved from
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/december/altruism-triggers-innate-121814.html
Chun, S. (2014, February 15). Are we born with a moral core? The Baby Lab says 'yes'. CNN.
Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/12/us/baby-lab-morals-ac360/
O’Mara, S. (2015, January 26). Kindness – How do children become kind? Shane O’Mara’s
blog. Retrieved from https://shaneomara.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/kindness-how-
do-children-become-kind/
Tucker, A. (2013, January). Are babies born good? Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/are-babies-born-good-
165443013/?all

Further reading: Potential starting points

Behne, T., Carpenter, M., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2005). Unwilling versus unable: Infants’
understanding of intentional action. Developmental Psychology, 41 (2), 328-337.
Hepach, R., Vaish, A., & Tomasello, M. (2013). A new look at children’s prosocial
motivation. Infancy, 18 (1), 67-90.
Martin, A., & Olson, K. R. (2013). When kids know better: Paternalistic helping in 3-year-
old children. Developmental Psychology, 49(11), 2071.
Paulus, M. (2014). The emergence of prosocial behavior: Why do infants and toddlers help,
comfort, and share? Child Development Perspectives, 8(2), 77-81.
Shaw, A., Montinari, N., Piovesan, M., Olson, K. R., Gino, F., & Norton, M. I. (2014).
Children develop a veil of fairness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,
143(1), 363-375.
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Smith, C. E., Blake, P. R., & Harris, P. L. (2013). I should but I won’t: Why young children
endorse norms of fair sharing but do not follow them. PloS one,8(3), e59510.
Thompson, C., Barresi, J., & Moore, C. (1997). The development of future-oriented prudence
and altruism in preschoolers. Cognitive Development, 12, 199-212.
Thompson, R. A., & Newton, E. K. (2013). Baby altruists? Examining the complexity of
prosocial motivation in young children. Infancy18 (1), 120-133.
Warneken, F., & Tomasello, M. (2009). Varieties of altruism in children and chimpanzees.
Trends in Cognitive Science, 13 (9), 397-402.
Zahn-Waxler, C., Radke-Yarrow, M., Wagner, E., & Chapman, M. (1992). Development of
concern for others. Developmental Psychology, 28, 126-136.

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