In one study, subjects were given what they erroneously believed to be a mood 'fixing' drug -- "empathic subjects were more helpful than their nonempathic counterparts only when it seemed possible that their personal moods could be raised as a consequence of helping. High-empathy subjects who learned that their saddened mood states could not be altered by the helping act (because of the temporary action of a "mood-fixing drug") did not help at enhanced levels, despite their still-elevated empathic-concern scores" (Cialdini et al. 1987, p. 757). The proposition of a financial reward in exchange for nonempathetic behavior also reduced the subject's generosity -- the selfish pleasure from the reward reduced the selfish desire to reduce the anxiety from 'doing nothing,' Cialdini hypothesized.
Interestingly, only female subjects were used in the test, and Cialdini notes that they were psychology students. This raises several questions: firstly, might male and female empathic responses differ? Also, the idea of a 'mood stabling drug' seems to lack credibility to some extent, and perhaps the students might suspect that they were being lied to, given their experience with basic psychology. The same might be true with Batson's subjects, especially given the famed Stanley Milgram experiments involving electroshock therapy, which were also conducted under false pretexts.
There is a further problem with defining empathy in a narrow, either/or fashion, as either predominantly a sense of identification with the subject or predominantly a way of relieving one's own psychological distress. The feelings...
Altruism & Aggression Altruism and Aggression Social psychology is a science that studies a series of specific relationships. Social psychology attempts to explain human behavior as a consequence or condition of the intersections among individual mental states and the social conditions of immediately experience reality. Social psychologists study many of the internal mechanisms within us all such as feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people
Through this blind test, it is our hope to observe that there is a significant difference between the decision making of men and women when they are presented with different scenarios involving altruism. Method Participants: The participants within this study will be comprised of students within the University Psychology Research class. In total there will be thirty three different students, with nineteen participating female students and fourteen male students. These students will
While it was not found that there are significant differences in one's gender and his/her altruistic behavior, it is important to note that the respondents' responses demonstrated that it is not empathy that is the main criterion that one uses in determining one's propensity to become altruistic towards others, but rather, more about feeling "at one with the other" (that is, the other person) (Cialdini et. al., 1997:483). The feeling
Gandhi incited the people to protest peacefully rather than resort to violence. He believed that this form of rebellion suited the case of the blacks in America. After his doctorate studies at Boston University and his marriage to Coretta Scott, he became minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In Montgomery, blacks and whites were segregated and made to attend different schools and sit in separate
Fear of Success through Positive Psychology Perhaps we are blinded to the survival value of positive emotions precisely because they are so important. Like the fish who is unaware of the water in which it swims, we take for granted a certain amount of hope, love, enjoyment, and trust because these are the very conditions that allow us to go on living. They are the fundamental conditions of existence, and
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