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Describe and evaluate two theories of Altruism.
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Describe and evaluate two theories of Altruism. Firstly altruism is a form of pro social behaviour in which a person will voluntarily help another at some cost to himself or herself. The primary motivation for altruistic behaviour is seen as a desire to improve the welfare of another person rather than the anticipation of some reward or for any other reason that might indicate self interest (Cardwell 1996). There has been a debate between psychologists about what is truly altruistic and what might better be explained in terms of egoism. There was a hypothesis made a psychologist called Batson (1991). It was called Batsons empathy - altruistic hypothesis. This hypothesis explains altruistic behaviour as a consequence of empathy. Empathy involves feeling an emotional response that is consistent with another's emotional state or condition. Batson also added to this hypothesis that this empathy will also result in feelings of sorrow, concern or...
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