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Altruism 3

Altruism: Helping Others

Altruism refers to an act performed voluntarily to help someone else when there is no expectation of receiving a reward in any form. It is the desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper. It is selfishness in reverse. The Good Samaritan parable of Jesus provides a really good example. In that, the Samaritan illustrates pure altruism. Filled with compassion, he gives a total stranger time, energy and money not expecting repayment or appreciation.
Researches on Altruism sparked only after the murder of Kitty Genovese, in 1964.It was this incident that got the social psychologists interested on this aspect. Kitty Genovese , a bar manager was attacked by a rapist as she returned to her New York apartment at 3:00am.Though her screams of terror and pleas for help did arouse thirty eight of her neighbors, they did nothing but watch Kitty struggle for thirty five minutes to escape her attacker. The people called the police only after the attacker had escaped and Kitty had died. This incident made the psychologists wonder why did Genovese’s neighbors not come to her aid and this made them research why, when and whom do people help.

WHY DO WE HELP
To study altruistic acts, social psychologists examined the conditions under which people perform such deeds. They came up with three complementary theories that answered what motivates altruism. The theories are:

- Social Exchange Theory
- Social Norms
- Evolutionary Psychology

“The social-exchange theory is like the “social economics” that human interactions are directed by”.( “Altruism”,2007). Humans not only exchange goods and money but also social goods – love, services, information and status. “We do this using the minimax strategy which means minimizing our costs and maximizing our rewards.” (...