Examples of Altruism and Helping Behavior

📚 Quick Study Guide

• ❤️‍🩹 Altruism Defined: Acting selflessly to benefit others, without expecting anything in return.
• 🤝 Helping Behavior: Actions intended to provide aid or benefit to someone else.
• 🌱 Empathy's Role: Understanding and sharing the feelings of another person. A key motivator for altruism.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Kin Selection: The idea that altruistic behavior is more likely to occur when it benefits relatives, increasing the chances of shared genes surviving.
• ⚖️ Reciprocal Altruism: Helping others with the expectation that they will return the favor in the future.
• 😥 Bystander Effect: The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency when others are present.
• 📢 Social Norms: Societal rules and expectations that influence helping behavior.

🧪 Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following BEST describes altruism?
   1. A) Acting in your own self-interest.
   2. B) Acting selflessly to benefit others.
   3. C) Expecting something in return for your actions.
   4. D) Ignoring the needs of others.
2. What is kin selection?
   1. A) Helping strangers in need.
   2. B) Helping those who are likely to reciprocate.
   3. C) Acting altruistically towards relatives to increase the survival of shared genes.
   4. D) Selecting friends based on their helpfulness.
3. Reciprocal altruism involves:
   1. A) Helping others without expecting anything in return.
   2. B) Helping others with the expectation of future reciprocation.
   3. C) Helping only your family members.
   4. D) Ignoring the needs of others.
4. What is the bystander effect?
   1. A) People are more likely to help when alone.
   2. B) People are more likely to help when in a large crowd.
   3. C) People are less likely to help when others are present.
   4. D) People are always helpful, regardless of the situation.
5. Which of the following is a key motivator for altruism?
   1. A) Greed.
   2. B) Empathy.
   3. C) Apathy.
   4. D) Selfishness.
6. Social norms influence helping behavior by:
   1. A) Discouraging people from helping.
   2. B) Providing guidelines and expectations for helping.
   3. C) Having no impact on helping behavior.
   4. D) Making helping illegal.
7. What is the primary focus of helping behavior?
   1. A) Benefitting oneself.
   2. B) Providing aid or benefit to someone else.
   3. C) Ignoring the needs of others.
   4. D) Causing harm to others.