Social Judgment and Empathy

Class 16

Emotions Diary Exercise

Daily Mood Diary

Date:_________________

Mood None Very Little

Moder-ate

Amount

A Lot

A Great

Degree Happy Mood Sad Mood Anxious Mood Angry / Irritable Mood Relationship Stress Work/school/financial Stress Very Sick

(Flu, severe cold)

Sick (mild cold)

Fair (sympts, but not very sick)

Good (few sympts, mainly well)

Excellent (no

symptoms) How would you rate your current health, compared to normal?

Notes and observations about significant events or experiences going on in your life. Write only the facts of what is happening to you, do not write about your feelings or opinions. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO SHARE THIS INFORMATION, BUT MAY DRAW ON IT IF YOU WISH TO DO SO. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

Emotions Diary Exercise

Create packet of 7 diaries, including today's

Complete diary at start of class, from today to April 23 (NOT April 25)

On April 23 I will provide materials for analyzing your diaries.

NOTE: I will not see your individual diaries--that is yours. What you write on them is for your eyes only!

Subliminally Priming MoodsBargh & Chartrand, 1996

Ss told: Interested in how fast people can react to visual stimuli.

Procedure

1. Four stimulus words, all of which are:

a. Very Pos: music, friends

b. Mildly pos: clown, parade

c. Very neg: war, cancer

d. Mildly neg: worm, Monday

2. Backward mask: XBMEMENGYRYRBHXM

3. Mood measure

Effect of Subliminal Prime on Mood

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Mild Prime Strong Prime

Moo

d sc

ore

Positive PrimeNegative Prime

Subliminal Moods and StereotypingBargh & Chartrand, Study 2

Who are more likely to apply stereotypes?People in good moods?

People in bad moods?Wait and see.

Procedure:

1. Ss subliminally primed with strong pos, strong neg, or neutral words.

2. Ss complete stereotyping task:

John/Jane fed the baby because __________

Sally/Steve changed the motor oil because ______

Effort to "explain away" gender-inconsistent action = stereotyping.

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

Negative Prime Neutral Prime Positive Prime

Ster

eoty

ping

Effect of Mood on Stereotyping

Why do positive moods --> stereotyping?

Stereotypes are mental short-cuts.

People take short cuts in positive moods.

Do Subliminally Primed Emotions Affect Liking for Things You Consume? Winkielman, Berridge, & Wilbarger, 2005

Class 17

Empathy and Altruism

Jacob Riis and Urban Poverty: The Progressive Era (1880s-

1910s)

Dorothea Lange and FSA New Deal Photos of the Great Depression (1932-1942)

FSA to Steinbeck to Hollywood: New Deal Imagery

Acts of Selfless (?) Heroism

The “fifth man” in Air Florida crash

Polish Concentration Camp Guard

Question: What motivates this behavior?

Why Do People Help Others?

Altruistic explanation -- Caring

Egoistic explanations

Negative state relief: Stop personal discomfort

Avoid social/self punishments: Shame, guilt

Seek social/self rewards: Honor, pride

A “Selfishness Bias” in Psychology?

Freud: Behavior based on pleasure principleSkinner: Behavior based on pleasure principle Modern Self Theorists in Social Psychology:

1. Totalitarian ego: false uniqueness, false representativeness

2. Self affirmation3. Self esteem4. Self monitoring5. Self efficacy6. Downward social comparison

The “Selfish Gene” Theory

Fundamental goal of life-forms – pass on genes

Who will pass on genes? Those who survive

Therefore behaviors that promote survival are “adaptive” and are “selected in”

Behaviors that jeopardize survival are maladaptive and are “selected out”

Who is more likely to survive, the selfless helper or the selfish non-helper?

Challenges to “Selfish Gene”

Inclusive Fitness:

Share genes with others

Risk taking for others promotes their survival

People more apt to sacrifice for those closest to them

in terms of shared genes

Reciprocal Altruism:

I help you today, you help me tomorrow, and typically

with interest.

Prosocial Behavior vs. Altruistic Behavior

1. Prosocial: Helping others, for any reason

2. Altruistic: Helping others because you care about them.

Emotions Consistent with

Egoistic (Selfish) Behavior

Envy Pride

Jealousy Spite

Greed

Lust

Gluttony

Covetousness

Scheudenfreude

Empathy

Emotions Consistent with

Altruistic Behavior

"Enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others"

“Circumstantial” Evidence of Empathy Altruism Link 1. Evolutionary Biology 2. Neurology/Physiology 3. Empathy evident at a very early age, perhaps across species.

a. Sympathetic crying b. Help kid who lost his marblesc. Walruses risk lives to help harpooned fellows

4. Empathy evident in individualistic societies 5. Empathy helping has immediate quality

a. Experiments on helping: physio reaction helpingb. Accounts of helpers: “didn’t think, just did it” “it felt right”

Daniel Batson: Empathy and Altruism

Batson conducts classic research on “bystander intervention”, showing how situations can prevent people from helping.

Jerusalem to Jericho study, for example

However, he becomes interested why some people help, others do not, regardless of the situation.

Asks: Are we capable of caring?

Empathy vs. Avoiding Shame: The “Elayne” Study

1. Subs. told: study about learning and shocks2. Sub. is “observer”, confed. (“Elayne”) is “learner”3. Sub. sees Elayne struggle showing distress, upset4. Exptr. calls a break, asks Elayne if OK, “yes, but water please.” Elayne is clearly distressed.5. During break, Sub completes mood check-list.

Purpose: ID people high/low on empathy6. Elayne confides to Expt. childhood trauma w’ shocks.7. Expt. asks Subs: “willing to switch places w’ Elayne?”8. Subs. must qualify to help by performing well at test

a. For ½ Subs. “easy test, most can do well”b. For ½ Subs. “hard test, most can’t do well”

“Social Censure” vs. “Empathy and Altruism” Predictions

Justification for not helping

Low Empathy Condition

High Empathy Condition

“Social Censure” Predictions

Weak Justif. Helps Helps

Strong Justif. No Help No Help

Justification for not helping

Low Empathy Condition

High Empathy Condition

“Empathy and Altruism” Predictions

Weak Justif. Helps Helps

Strong Justif. No Help Helps

Rates of Volunteering to Help Distressed “Elaine” as a Function of Felt Empathy and

Opportunity to Avoid Social CensureBatson et al., 1988

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.9

1

Distress Empathy

Easy TestHard Test

Note: Easy test = Low Justification to avoid helping

Hard test = High justification to avoid helping

Effort Made to Qualify to Help “Elaine” as a Function of

Felt Empathy and Opportunity for Face-Saving Out

Batson, et al., 1988

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Distress Empathy

Nm

ber C

orre

ct A

nsw

ers

Easy TestHard Test

Note: Easy Test = Low justification to avoid trying on test

Hard Test = High justification of avoid trying on test

Solution to Selfishness vs. Altruism Debate – “The Shared Self”

Problem: Do we ever intentionally act outside of self-interest?

Solution: Reconsider what we mean by “self” and “other”

Batson’s implicit definition – these are distinct entities

S O

Solution to Selfishness vs. Altruism, Contin.What do people say when someone they love has died? What phases do they use to express this kind of loss?

“Part of me is missing”, “It’s as if I lost a limb”

What does this suggest about the self/other divide?

In other words, can self/other be represented as overlapping, rather than separate? S O

In this case “me” is not limited to my biological self, but to a shared self.

Empathy Altruism my require this “shared self”

MID TERMAve. Score = 80.21

Correl: Multi : Short = .72

Added 4 pts "Extra Credit"

Midterm = 35% of grade

Mid.pts = Final.grade.pts

60 2170 2580 2890 32100 35 104 36