Psychology Vs Altruism

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evolutionary approach suggests that a predisposition to help is part of our genetic, evolutionary heritage. A socio- cultural perspective emphasizes the importance of social norms that dedicate when we should help people in need. A diction making perspective focuses on the influenced judgment about when help is needed. It also emphasizes the weighting costs and benefits in the diction to give help. Why is pro social behavior important? It is because pro social behavior built relationships. Pro social behavior is there within each and every human from the beginning. It is up to the individual to use in the positive manner. When we speak about the pro social behavior we must know what anti-social behavior is too. Anti-social behavior…show more content…
Altruism is helping behavior focused only on the well-being of others. “In contrast to the perspective of evolutionary psychology, a social learning approach to altruism does not look to our genetic endowment to explain apparently altruistic behavior. Rather it suggests that we learn to be altruistic through our observations of our social environment and our understanding of which behaviors are reinforced and which are censored”. Altruism and pro social behaviors are interrelated. If pro social behavior is an act of helping someone, altruism is the inner motivation that leads to the helping action. If someone volunteers to work for a charity to impress your friend it cannot be considered as an altruistic behavior. “Social evolutionary theory argues that human beings are not truly altruistic, but that merely appear to be so. So, for example, if you stop in the supermarket to help the women who is out of breath, you are not doing so out of a genuinely selfless desire to help, but your selfish motives may not be entirely apparent”. Altruism or altruistic behavior really means that the behavior that expects nothing from the one who is being…show more content…
Intervention is the act of an individual voluntarily giving assistance in an emergency, often at personal risk. “The presence of other people often inhibits bystander intervention, both as a result of ambiguity in the situation that occurs when no one else is responding with help, and diffusion of responsibility, since each individual is less personally responsible than he or she would be if alone with the victim”. So bystander effect is also an important thing which is included within the concept of pro social behavior. Conclusion Psychologists prefer the term ‘pro social behavior’ to ‘altruism’ because it does not involve judgments about internal self-reward. We tend to help people as described above and helping makes us to feel good about ourselves in different ways. All the more I came across many books related to social psychology and it was helpful for me to motivate myself in helping others and doing well for them without expecting anything from them. Bibliography Callaghan, Jane.Social Psychology.Devon: learning Matters Press,
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