Altruism and Helping Behaviour

Ex.1. Learn the following words and word combinations:

1. tobenefit– приносить пользу, извлекать пользу, выгоду;

2. to conduct research – проводить исследования;

3. hypothesis –гипотеза;

4. toimplement– выполнять, осуществлять; приводить в исполнение;

5. to intervene – вмешиваться, intervention – вмешательство;

6. topredict– предсказывать, пророчить; прогнозировать;

7. toprovide– давать, предоставлять; обеспечивать;

8. response – ответ, реакция;

9. self– собственная личность, сам;selfish– эгоистичный;

10. tosupport– поддерживать; обеспечивать;support– поддержка, помощь.

Ex.2. Read the following text.

According to the theory of universal egoism, people are fundamentally selfish and they can’t be altruistic. This was the dominant view in the social psychology. Similarly, sociobiologists consider acts of apparent altruism to be act of selfishness in disguise.

But according to the empathy-altruism hypothesis, human beings are capable of altruistic acts. Those who adopt this hypothesis claim that under certain circumstances, we are capable to benefit another person. Empathic emotions include sympathy, compassion, and tenderness and so on, and are associated with empathic concern. These empathic emotions should be distinguished from the more self-oriented emotions of discomfort, anxiety and upset, which are associated with personal distress. While personal distress produces an egoistic desire to reduce one’s own distress, empathic concern produces an altruistic desire to reduce the others’ distress.

Over the past 20 years, Batson and others have conducted a series of experiments, in which people are given an unexpected opportunity to help someone in need. Several of these experiments have supported the empathy-altruism hypothesis. As Barton says:

“ … it is not true that everything we do is directed towards the ultimate goal of benefiting ourselves. It seems that we are capable of being altruistic as well as egoistic.”

This indicates that the reasons of helping are still unclear.

B. Latane and J.M. Darley represented the decision model which shows person’s reasoning before he/she helps another. According to the decision model the person must:

• notice that something is wrong;

• define it as a situation requiring help;

• decide whether to take personal responsibility;

• decide what kind of help to give;

• implement the decision to intervene.

This model represents a logical sequence of steps. If there is a negative response to any one step, the bystander won’t intervene, and the victim won’t receive help.

Women may feel greater empathy for others’ feelings than men and are more attentive to others’ needs, which would predict greater helping by women. On the other hand, the psychologists conducted some studies and found that men turn out to be significantly more helpful than women. The female gender role involves caring for others, providing friends with personal favours, emotional support, giving advice and so on, what is called communal helping. By contrast, the male gender role requires heroism and chivalry: men are more likely to help another when there is an audience present to witness the helping act, and/or where there is an element of risk involved in helping (agentic helping). Most studies of bystander intervention (at least those involving emergencies) seem to require agentic helping.

1. bystander – свидетель, очевидец

2. chivalry – рыцарство

3. disguise – притворство, маскировка

4. emergency – чрезвычайное положение

Ex.3. Practice to pronounce the following words.

Altruism, altruistic, empathy, empathic, audience, agentic, hypothesis, ultimate, sociobiologist, circumstance, fundamentally, significantly.

Ex.4. Form the nouns and adjectives according to the examples. Translate them.

Selfish – selfishness

Good, aware, conscious, tender, kind, lonely, lively, sleepy, useful, serious, quick.

Home – homeless

Price, care, use, help, hope, rest, fear, doubt.

Ex. 5. Read and translate the words and word-combinations.

Universal egoism, apparent altruism, empathy-altruism hypothesis, empathic emotions, self-oriented emotions, personal distress, empathic concern, to reduce the others’ distress, emotional support, communal helping, agentic helping, decision model, negative response, the reasons of helping, female, male, gender role.

Ex. 6. Find English equivalents in the text.

Поддерживать гипотезу, чувства, симпатия, сострадание, эгоизм, альтруизм, сочувствие, тревога, желание, конечная цель, забота о других, логическая последовательность этапов, жертва, акт помощи, требует поддержки, потребности других людей.

Ex.7. Answer the questions on the text:

1. Can people be altruistic according to the theory of universal egoism?

2. What do empathic emotions include?

3. What are self-oriented emotions?

4. What are the steps of the decision model of helping?

5. When doesn’t a person intervene if someone needs help according to the decision model?

6. What are the differences between male and female in helping?

7. Why do people help others?

Ex. 8. Open the brackets using the Infinitive with or without to:

1. Do you want me (to help) you?

2. I’d like him (to come) to our party.

3. I made him (to help) her.

4. I’d prefer you (to do) it today.

5. I didn’t hear you (to come) in.

6. I heard the door (to open).

7. My boss never lets me (to leave) early. He’s very strict.

8. We expect them (to accept) our proposals.

9. My car won’t start. I must (to get) John to have a look at it.

10. Her different approach to the problem enabled us (to see) it in a new light.

Ex.9. Find in the text the sentences with the infinitives without to and translate them in writing.

Ex. 10. Make a discussion answering the following questions:

1. Try to remember a situation in which you helped someone who was upset or distressed?

2. What kind of help was it?

3. How did you reach the decision to help?

4. What were your motives for helping – at that time and in retrospect?

5. Would you help a stranger who had fallen due to effects of alcohol? due to the medical reason?

6. Is helping motivated by a desire to benefit someone else, or are we also motivated by self-interest?

Text 3.