Psychology2016

494 CHAPTER 12

et al., 2010; Bushman & Huesman, 2006). While it should be noted there are some

researchers that do not agree, with some questioning the measures of aggression being

used, the analysis procedures, or finding different outcomes (Adachi & Willoughby, 2011;

Ferguson, 2015; Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010), evidence appears to be strong that playing

violent video games does correlate with increased aggression levels of the children who

play them, both young children and adolescents (Anderson, 2003; Anderson & Bushman,

2001; Anderson et al., 2008; Bartlett et al., 2008; Ferguson et al., 2008; Przybylski et al.,

2014). And while correlation does NOT prove causation—some researchers believe that

we may be able to infer causation based on examination of the observed risk factors,

outcomes, experimental studies of violent media exposure, and the positive effects of

preventative measures (Bushman et al., 2016; to Learning Objective 1.7).

Prosocial Behavior

12.15 Identify the factors influencing why people help others.

Another and far more pleasant form of human social interaction is prosocial behavior, or

socially desirable behavior that benefits others rather than brings them harm.

ALTRUISM One form of prosocial behavior that almost always makes people feel good

about other people is altruism, or helping someone in trouble with no expectation of

reward and often without fear for one’s own safety. Although no one is surprised by

the behavior of a mother who enters a burning house to save her child, some people are

often surprised when total strangers step in to help, risking their own lives for people

they do not know. Take the survey Could You Be a Hero? to learn more about your own

tendencies to take risks to help others.

prosocial behavior
socially desirable behavior that
benefits others.

altruism
prosocial behavior that is done with no
expectation of reward and may involve
the risk of harm to oneself.

Simulate the Experiment Could You Be a Hero?

Survey COULD YOU BE A HERO?

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INTRODUCTION SURVEY RESULTS

Interactive

This survey asks you about your attitudes

toward and experiences with a broad range of

psychological principles and theories.

Click Next to begin the survey

Sociobiologists, scientists who study the evolutionary and genetic bases of social orga-

nizations in both animals and humans, see altruistic behavior as a way of preserving one’s

genetic material, even at the cost of one’s own life. This is why the males of certain species of

spiders, for example, seem to willingly become “dinner” for the female mates they have just

fertilized, ensuring the continuation of their genes through the offspring she will produce

(Koh, 1996). It also explains the mother or father who risks life and limb to save a child.

But why do people risk their own lives to help total strangers? One answer may

lie in the structure of the brain. Using brain-imaging techniques, researchers have found

evidence that a brain region known as the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is larger in