To address the argument, psychologists on both sides have conducted their own experiments in order to assert whether true altruism exists or not. Batson and colleagues argue yes, empathic reaction is a source of altruistic motivation. On the contrary, Cialdini and colleagues argue that egoism is a source for helping and that altruism does not exist. Although neither truly answered the original question, they came up with different viewpoints from similar results based on Batson’s original experiment.
The yes argument suggests that empathy motivates people to help selfishly. For the yes experiment, altruistic is defined as helping another in order to reduce the other persons distress. In order to test this idea, Batson came up with a 2x2 design involving empathy and ease of escape. Participants are told they are involved in an experiment to test one idea instead of discover whether their motivations are altruistic which is tested with high empathy or egoistic which is tested through low empathy. Both situations are compared to difficulty of escape. Participants included 44 female students who were put under the influence that Elaine was administered shocks. In the easy to escape situation they were told they only have to watch 2 sets, then they were asked if they wanted to switch places, in the hard to escape situation the participants were told they had to watch all ten trials. Before asked if subjects wanted to switch places, Elaine admitted she had a horrific experiences with shocks and it may affect her horribly. High empathy was addressed when the participant appeared to be most similar to the subject.
Results from Batson and colleagues experiments lined up with their hypothesis that people are motivated by empathy. Subje...
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... in order to relieve stress and level out moods. Since the high empathy/rewards set helped less than the high empathy/no reward set it further showed people only help others when necessary to decrease current depressive symptoms.
Neither of the arguments addressed the issue whether altruism exists. Since both experiments had values for all scenarios, altruism must exist by both sides’ standards. Whether many people have altruistic motivations or not is another argument. Few people, rarely have altruistic motivations, but they do exist and show to be hard to prove. At this time I think of altruism as helping somebody carelessly, like giving somebody on the street a hamburger when nobody is around and feeling nothing afterward, just continuing home. Based on this personal assessment, I have committed one or true altruistic acts before, but none more than one or two.
The article Empathy as a Personality Disposition written by John A. Johnson delves into the idea of what comprises one's personality in order to explore the idea of empathy as a behavioral talent. We are introduced to the concept of personality through the lens of experimental social-psychology. This perspective presents the idea that the perceived sincerity of a front as well as the clues to a person's inner personality is based on the verbal and involuntary nonverbal mannerisms that the audience automatically picks up from an individual's performance. It also indicates that these fronts are selected as a result of the combination of an individual's inherit talents and the larger influence of the world around them. The article also explores
Altruism regards the individual life as something one may be required to sacrifice for the sake of
This problem claims that altruism is only intrinsically good, and it is only a means to an end. I disagree with this claim and I believe that altruism can be both intrinsically and extrinsically good. It is clear that altruism is intrinsically good as it can result in a better understanding of morals and beliefs for both the recipient of the help and the one that provided the assistance. Altruism can also be extrinsically good. Helping other people because they are suffering can produce results that are extrinsically good for both parties as well. For example, after you have assisted someone who is suffering the person who received the aid could potentially do something in the future that he or she would be unable to do without the previous assistance. This thing then could benefit the one who acted altruistically in the first place extrinsically. Baggini himself even said that altruism at least values the right thing, which is leading a full life. The same cannot be said for other common optimistic
In nonhuman animals, altruism is mainly seen in the form of one animal sacrificing or risking its life to save another. Studies of animals by researchers such as Hamilton, who worked with bees who sacrifice themselves to allow the queen to produce of...
Burton defines empathy as the ability to not only recognize but also to share another person’s or a fictional character’s or a sentient beings’ emotions. It involves seeing a person’s situation from his or her own perspective and then sharing his or her emotions and distress (1). Chismar posits that to empathize is basically to respond to another person’ perceived state of emotion by experiencing similar feelings. Empathy, therefore, implies sharing another person’s feeling without necessary showing any affection or desire to help. For one to empathize, he or she must at least care for, be interested in or concerned about
Generosity and trustworthiness are two personality traits that have a heavy correlation. There is evidence that trustworthiness can be proven to another person through acts of generosity. In the experiment described in this article, people are tested to see how trustworthy they are based on how generous they are in a given situation. The people in this experiment are given no reason to be generous, and their response will show how trustworthy they are. Ten sessions were given in which five people were recipients and five people were senders. They played a series of games that would determine how trustworthy and how generous they would be. The results were around 25 percent of the participants displayed generous traits during the games. A conclusion
Empathy, is a self-conscious characteristic human beings hold that allows them to understand another individual’s situation and feelings (Segal, Cimino, Gerdes &Wagaman, 2013). In regard to ho...
People perpetrate seemingly selfless acts almost daily. You see it all over the news; the man who saved that woman from a burning building, the mother who sacrificed herself to protect her children from the bomb blast. But how benevolent are these actions? Are these so-called “heroes” really sacrificing themselves to help others? Until recently, it was the common belief that altruism, or selfless and unconditional kindness, was limited primarily to the human race. However, within the last century, the works of several scientists, most prominently George Price, have provided substantial evidence concluding that altruism is nothing more than a survival technique, one that can be calculated with a simple equation.
...t altruism cannot exists and if a reciprocal altruism appears it will later on change into egoism or it will be overtaken by the group’s leader, and his altruism or egoism.
...sness, Rachel Garneau fostered a chain reaction of kidney donation. A family member who was planning on donating but who wasn’t a match donated their kidney to someone else, and this chain saved countless lives. The end justifying the means is not really valid here, since the ‘means’ itself is self-evidence; we should see justification in the act itself. We are intrinsically programmed to do good, and maybe the reason we do that is because it brings us happiness, maybe we are, as Richard Dawkins puts it, a species consisting of “A Selfish Gene”; but we are human, and if I had to choose between a person bringing no good into this world, and a person fostering a cycle of good both to the subject and to themselves, I would never even consider that to be a choice worth weighing. Give that penny, that kidney, or simply show them love. Give them a ‘piece of your heart’.
Thomas, George and C. Daniel Batson. “Effect of Helping Under Normative Pressure on Self-Perceived Altruism.” Social Psychology Quarterly 44.2 (1981): 127-131. Web. 5 Feb. 2012
For someone who believes in psychological egoism, i t is difficult to find an action that would be acknowledged as purely altruistic. In practice, altruism, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal...
Empathy is the ‘capacity’ to share and understand another person’s ‘state of mind’ or their emotion. It is an experience of the outlook on emotions of another person being within themselves (Ioannides & Konstantikaki, 2008). There are two different types of empathy: affective empathy and cognitive empathy. Affective empathy is the capacity in which a person can respond to another person’s emotional state using the right type of emotion. On the other hand, cognitive empathy is a person’s capacity to understand what someone else is feeling. (Rogers, Dziobek, Hassenstab, Wolf & Convit, 2006). This essay will look at explaining how biology and individual differences help us to understand empathy as a complex, multi-dimensional trait.
Prosocial Behavior is the action one takes in order to assist someone without any expectations. This type of behavior can be as simple as holding a door open for someone, helping someone cross the street and assisting in the changing of a tire (Baron, Branscombe, 2012, pp. 289-317). Individuals have various reasons for helping others; from receiving praise, attention from others or out of empathy. Empathy is a response an individual experiences towards another and can relate to that individuals state of being, celebrating with those that rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Feldman, 2010). Our everyday hero doesn’t reside in a prestigious office, nor are they known amongst those that reside within our society. They are the ones that sacrifice their time to ensure others have a sense of hope and to bring hope to those that are in need. These individuals volunteer at the Good Samaritan putting together Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets, visit the elderly and disabled at the Waynesville Life Care Center on Sundays, reading the Bible and socializing, as well as supporting kids in other countries by sending Christmas boxes. Some might even show their support by donating monetary funds to charities or providing meals to the hungry.
Empathy also assists me to be helpful to my workmates. If I put their feelings at heart, I will manage to assist them when need be. They could have problems not only at the work place but also in their social life. This may be a hindrance to their productivity at work. In this case I can step in on their behalf. By being helpful to my patien...