a) Evaluate two theories of altruism.
Altruism is a type of pro-social behaviour which is to help someone but the helping person has no intention of gaining reward or socially or materially. For e.g. when a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington in 1982 the waters were freezing yet still two men helped by jumping in the freezing water and helping people out, with a risk to their lives. It is argued that these acts are altruistic (unselfish), or whether they are driven by egoistic motivation. There are many theories of altruistic behaviour, two of which are the natural selection theory and the kin selection theory.
The natural selection theory was suggested by sociobiologists and says that altruism happens because of several years of evolution. This means that the best-adapted behaviours are more likely to survive and be passed on from generation to generation. It is suggested that egoism would be more likely to survive and be passed on because this behaviour is to be selfish and would allow the more egoistic people to survive and pass on their selfish genes rather than altruistic genes. The theory does not have a reason of why altruism is still present today. This is called the paradox of altruism.
The kin selection theory is sad to account for this paradox. The kin selection theory says that altruistic behaviour occurring between family members occurs because it protects the closely related genes of those members, which allows their genes to be passed on altruistically from generation to generation. This is backed up by research done on animal behaviour, where nearly always parents protect their young from danger. This is backed up by the meercats, where they protect their immediate relatives as well as their distant relatives.
Altruism is a type of pro-social behaviour which is to help someone but the helping person has no intention of gaining reward or socially or materially. For e.g. when a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington in 1982 the waters were freezing yet still two men helped by jumping in the freezing water and helping people out, with a risk to their lives. It is argued that these acts are altruistic (unselfish), or whether they are driven by egoistic motivation. There are many theories of altruistic behaviour, two of which are the natural selection theory and the kin selection theory.
The natural selection theory was suggested by sociobiologists and says that altruism happens because of several years of evolution. This means that the best-adapted behaviours are more likely to survive and be passed on from generation to generation. It is suggested that egoism would be more likely to survive and be passed on because this behaviour is to be selfish and would allow the more egoistic people to survive and pass on their selfish genes rather than altruistic genes. The theory does not have a reason of why altruism is still present today. This is called the paradox of altruism.
The kin selection theory is sad to account for this paradox. The kin selection theory says that altruistic behaviour occurring between family members occurs because it protects the closely related genes of those members, which allows their genes to be passed on altruistically from generation to generation. This is backed up by research done on animal behaviour, where nearly always parents protect their young from danger. This is backed up by the meercats, where they protect their immediate relatives as well as their distant relatives.
