{"id":11983,"date":"2023-07-15T10:42:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T01:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=11983"},"modified":"2023-07-21T16:04:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T07:04:08","slug":"key-theory-studies-the-empathy-altruism-hypothesis-batson-et-al-1981-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2023\/07\/15\/key-theory-studies-the-empathy-altruism-hypothesis-batson-et-al-1981-1982\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Theory & Studies: The empathy-altruism hypothesis (Batson et al. 1981 & 1982)<\/br>An explanation of prosocial behaviour<\/font>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do people help others? It’s a simple question but it intrigues psychologists because it doesn’t make sense evolutionarily speaking. In this post we look at one simple explanation: empathy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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If we feel empathy towards someone who needs help, we are more likely to help them. That’s the empathy-altruism hypothesis.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why do we humans help one another when there\u2019s nothing to be gained for ourselves? This seems to contradict what we know about evolutionary psychology – that we instinctively look out for our own best interests. According to Batson, psychologists have long believed that all deliberate actions, including those actions which helps others (i.e. prosocial behaviour), are done with our own self-interests in mind. This is an egoistic explanation – we help others because it will benefit us. The empathy-altruism hypothesis<\/strong>, challenges the idea that <\/span>all <\/span><\/i>helping behaviour is egoistic. Batson instead proposes that there should be a pluralistic (more than one) view of prosocial behaviour.<\/span><\/p>\n

This theory and the related study can be used for the prosocial behaviour topic in Human Relationships in IB Psychology.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis<\/b><\/h2>\n

Batson (2006) defines altruism as a \u201cmotivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing another\u2019s welfare.” The empathy-altruism hypothesis explains altruism as a result of empathy. Empathy is understanding someone else\u2019s perspective or situation (sympathy is feeling sorry for, empathy is understanding). So if you see someone struggling with their assignments because they procrastinated, you may not feel sympathy, but you may feel empathy, especially if you\u2019ve been in that position before. The hypotheses is, therefore, that feelings of empathy will lead to altruistic actions. <\/span><\/p>\n

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