Altruism and empathy in situations involving unpredictable personal cost
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v12i1.1589Keywords:
altruism, empathy, personal cost, gambling, risk behaviorAbstract
This current study aimed to investigate the influence of empathic feelings on a risky altruistic behavior of young adults. 60 undergraduate students, aged between 18 and 35 years old took part in an experiment in which they had to decide in rather to give or not raffle tickets to an unfamiliar person, after participating of a gambling game. The tickets were gained after a memory quiz. 30 participants were allocated to an experimental condition named “neutral” in which they freely took their distributive decisions, and the other 30 were allocated to an “emotional” condition, in which empathic feelings were induced, by using a video. Results indicated that the participants’ sex and the experimental manipulation influenced gambling behavior, allowing the participants to be in the “emotional condition”, more prone to altruistic behavior than the participants in the “neutral” condition. Also, the men helped more in a high-cost condition than the women did. These results point that the influence of empathic concern on altruistic behavior in a situation involving risks might be mediated by the sex and the relation between these variables should be better observed in studies on distributive behavior.
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References
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Klimecki, O. M., Mayer, S.V., Jusyte, A., Scheeff , J., & Schönenberg, M. (2016). Empathy promotes altruistic behavior in economic interactions. Scientific Reports, 6, 31961. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31961
Lange, P.A.M.V. (2008). Does empathy trigger only altruistic motivation? How about selfleness or justice? Emotion, 8(6), 766-774. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013967
Lee, Z., & Woodliffe, L. (2010). Donor misreporting: Conceptualizing social desirability bias in giving surveys. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 21(4), 569-587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9153-5
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Page, K.M. & Nowak, M.A. (2002). Empathy leads to fairness. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 64, 1101-116.
Panagopoulos, C. (2014). I've got my eyes on you: Implicit social‐pressure cues and prosocial behavior. Political Psychology, 35(1), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12074
Panno, A., Donati, M. A., Milioni, M., Chiesi, F., & Primi, C. (2017). Why women take fewer risk than men do: the mediating role of state anxiety. Sex Roles, 78 (3-4), 286-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0781-8
Powell, M. & Ansic, D. (1997). Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: an experimental analysis. Journal of economic psychology, 18(6), 605-628. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-4870(97)00026-3
Preston, S. D. & De Waal, F. B. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behavioral and brain sciences, 25(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x02000018
Sampaio, L. R.; Camino, C. P. S., & Roazzi, A. (2010). Produtividade, necessidade e afetividade: justiça distributiva e empatia em jovens brasileiros. Psicologia em Estudo, 15(1), 161-170.
Smith, E. R. & Mackie, D. M. (2016). Representation and incorporation of close others’ responses: The RICOR model of social influence. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868315598256
Sierksma, J., Thijs, J., & Verkuyten, M. (2015). In‐group bias in children's intention to help can be overpowered by inducing empathy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12065
Zaki, J. (2014). Empathy: a motivated account. Psychological bulletin, 140(6), 1608. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037679
Batson, C. D., Klein, T. R., Highberger, L., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Immorality from Empathy Induced Altruism: When Compassion and Justice Conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(6), 1042–1054. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.68.6.1042
Batson, C. D., Kobrynowicz, D., Dinnerstein, J. L., Kampf, H. C., & Wilson, A. D. (1997). In a very different voice: unmasking moral hypocrisy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(6), 1335-1348. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.72.6.1335
Batson, C. D., Lishner, D. A., Carpenter, A., Dulin, L., Harjusola-Webb, S., Stocks, E. L., Gale, S., Hassan, O., & Sampat, B. (2003). “… As you would have them do unto you”: Does imagining yourself in the other’s place stimulate moral action? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(9), 1190-1201. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203254600
Batson, C.D., Polycarpou, M.P., Harmon-Jones, E., Imhoff, H.J., Mitchener, E.C., Bednar, L. L., Klein, T. R., & Highberger, L. (1997). Empathy and attitudes: can feeling for a member of a stigmatized group improve feelings toward the group? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(1), 105-118. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.72.1.105
Bethlehem, R. A., Allison, C., van Andel, E. M., Coles, A. I., Neil, K., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2017). Does empathy predict altruism in the wild?. Social neuroscience, 12(6), 743-750. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2016.1249944
Bernhardt, B. C., Singer, T. (2012). The neural basis of empathy. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 35, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150536
Brañas-Garza, P. (2007). Promoting helping behavior with framing in dictator games. Journal of Economic Psychology, 28, 477-486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2006.10.001
Byrnes, J. P., Miller, D. C., & Schafer, W. D. (1999). Gender differences in risk taking: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 125(3), 367-383. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.125.3.367
Castelán Cargile, A. (2016). Can empathy improve concern for secondary group members? Testing an emotionally engaging video intervention. Communication Research Reports, 33(3), 265-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2016.1186623
Davis, M.H. (1983) Measuring individual differences in empathy: evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113- 136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
De Waal, F. B. (2008). Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 59, 279-300. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625
Decety, J. & Cowel, J.M. (2015). Empathy, justice and moral behavior. AJOB Neuroscience, 6(3), 3-14. doi:10.1080/21507740.2015.1047055. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2015.1047055
DeScioli, P. & Krishna, S. (2013). Giving to whom? Altruism in different types of relationships. Journal of Economic Psychology, 34, 218-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2012.10.003
Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665-697. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.665
Eisenberg, N., Eggun, N. D., & Giunda, L.D. (2010). Empathy-related responding: associations with prosocial behavior, aggression and intergroup relations. Soc. Issues Policy Rev. 4(1), 143-180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2010.01020.x
Espinosa, M. P., & Kovářík, J. (2015). Prosocial behavior and gender. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 9, 88. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00088
FeldmanHall, O., Dalgleish, T., Evans, D., & Mobbs, D. (2015). Empathic concern drives costly altruism. Neuroimage, 105(15), 347-356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.10.043
Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and Moral Development: implications for caring and justice. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511805851
Klimecki, O. M., Mayer, S.V., Jusyte, A., Scheeff , J., & Schönenberg, M. (2016). Empathy promotes altruistic behavior in economic interactions. Scientific Reports, 6, 31961. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31961
Lange, P.A.M.V. (2008). Does empathy trigger only altruistic motivation? How about selfleness or justice? Emotion, 8(6), 766-774. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013967
Lee, Z., & Woodliffe, L. (2010). Donor misreporting: Conceptualizing social desirability bias in giving surveys. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 21(4), 569-587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9153-5
Manesi, Z., Van Lange, P. A., & Pollet, T. V. (2016). Eyes wide open: Only eyes that pay attention promote prosocial behavior. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(2), 1474704916640780. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704916640780
Niemi, L. & Young, L. (2017). Who sees what as fair? Mapping individual differences in valuation of reciprocity, charity, and impartiality. Social Justice Research, 30(4), 438-449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-017-0291-4
Paciello, M., Fida, R., Cerniglia, L., Tramontano, C., & Cole, E. (2013). High cost helping scenario: The role of empathy, prosocial reasoning and moral disengagement on helping behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.11.004
Page, K.M. & Nowak, M.A. (2002). Empathy leads to fairness. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 64, 1101-116.
Panagopoulos, C. (2014). I've got my eyes on you: Implicit social‐pressure cues and prosocial behavior. Political Psychology, 35(1), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12074
Panno, A., Donati, M. A., Milioni, M., Chiesi, F., & Primi, C. (2017). Why women take fewer risk than men do: the mediating role of state anxiety. Sex Roles, 78 (3-4), 286-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0781-8
Powell, M. & Ansic, D. (1997). Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: an experimental analysis. Journal of economic psychology, 18(6), 605-628. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-4870(97)00026-3
Preston, S. D. & De Waal, F. B. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behavioral and brain sciences, 25(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x02000018
Sampaio, L. R.; Camino, C. P. S., & Roazzi, A. (2010). Produtividade, necessidade e afetividade: justiça distributiva e empatia em jovens brasileiros. Psicologia em Estudo, 15(1), 161-170.
Smith, E. R. & Mackie, D. M. (2016). Representation and incorporation of close others’ responses: The RICOR model of social influence. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868315598256
Sierksma, J., Thijs, J., & Verkuyten, M. (2015). In‐group bias in children's intention to help can be overpowered by inducing empathy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12065
Zaki, J. (2014). Empathy: a motivated account. Psychological bulletin, 140(6), 1608. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037679
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Published
2018-05-07
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Alves de Amorim, D., Rodrigues Sampaio, L., & Eulálio Cabral, G. R. (2018). Altruism and empathy in situations involving unpredictable personal cost. Ciencias Psicológicas, 12(1), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v12i1.1589
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