Outline and evaluate two or more studies relating to human altruism and/or Bystander Behaviour

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Taya Dufall

Outline and evaluate two or more studies relating to human altruism and/or Bystander Behaviour

Human altruism is the idea of people performing completely selfless acts, for example helping others because they feel only empathy for them and want to assist them. However it is often argued that truly altruistic behaviour doesn’t exist and there is always some egoistic motivation to help someone because you will be benefit from it in some way.

Batson’s Empathy Altruism Model explains altruistic behaviour as simply a consequence of empathy with someone in need. It’s suggested that when coming across someone who needs your help it will lead to empathetic concern, but only if the perspective of the other person is taken so that it is understood how they feel. Batson believed that three conditions facilitate perspective taking; the first would be that the observer is attached to the victim in some way, either romantically, through family or that they are similar in a way. The second is that the observer has had a similar experience so can understand the distress the person is going through, and the final condition would be that the observer is instructed to imagine what it must be like in the person’s situation by other people around them.

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To test this theory, Batson used a placebo drug that had no real effects but led all female participants to interpret their reactions as high or low empathy. Participants then watched a confederate named ‘Elaine’ receive electric shocks, and were given the chance to take her place, this would indicate empathetic concern, or to leave which would indicate personal distress. It was found that those in the high empathy condition chose to stay more than those in the low empathy condition.

Later a modified version of this study was repeated to eliminate the idea of people taking ‘Elaine’s place ...

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