Your task is to write an essay response to the following: Use psychological research studies to evaluate how well the empathy-altruism hypothesis explains prosocial behaviour in humans. Note: You should weigh the nature of the evidence available, identify and discuss the convincing aspects of the argument and include its limitations and implications. Remember that GRAVE is a useful tool to help you evaluate studies in Psychology so you can start with that but you will also need to provide a more holistic reflection of the question and research area as well. This task addresses the following unit goals: –Understand psychological models, theories and concepts –Analyse observations and ideas related to human thoughts, emotions and behaviour Ensure that your essay: Explicitly answers the essay question. Is structured into paragraphs, without subheadings. You do not need to follow a 3-paragraph essay format, use whatever works best for your essay and its arguments. Uses psychological language, avoiding emotive and judgemental language. Avoids using absolute terms such as prove, instead replacing with more cautious terms such as suggests; indicates; supports. Does not use first-person pronouns. Does not include tables, charts, graphs, or images. Formatting your essay: Provide a cover page for the essay: with the essay topic your full name the word count (excluding your cover page, reference list, and in text citations) Format your essay using: 12 point font (Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman); 1.5 spacing, Normal margins. Ensure that you provide a reference list in a new page at the end of your essay. A level ‘A’ response: Response shows breadth and depth of knowledge that is skilfully synthesised Demonstrates detailed, accurate knowledge and understanding highly relevant to the question Uses highly relevant psychological research skilfully applied to support the argument Integrates explicit evidence of critical thinking relevant to sources used Draws insightful connections and conclusions in response to the question, clearly supported with evidence Communicates knowledge effectively using psychological terminology and formal written expression Uses a sophisticated essay format with an introduction, topic sentences and logical progression of ideas Includes a minimum of five sources of academic quality that are chosen with discernment Sources are referenced consistently and accurately in text and in reference list using APA 7 format I have already written some of the essay. Currently, it’s a bit all over the place as some info is missing/needs to be polished and it’s not been formatted into a concise structure. I don’t know if what I have is usable to you, but please feel to adapt it into your essay if desired. Also, I was really hoping to do well on this essay, so if you adapt what I’ve already written into your essay and have saved a little bit of time, making sure it’s polished to its best would be much appreciated. My Partially Completed Essay: Prosocial behaviour (PB) is defined as “behaviour directed toward promoting the well-being of another.” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354049820_Experiencing_organ_failure_in_virtual_reality_Effects_of_self-_versus_other-embodied_perspective_taking_on_empathy_and_prosocial_outcomes) It is a critical aspect of human society and is universally seen across the globe, occurring in almost all societies. The idea of PB seems counter-intuitive as The empathy-altruism hypothesis states “that empathic concern (an other-oriented emotional The response elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone in need) produces altruistic motivation (a motivational state with the ultimate goal of reducing that need).” This behaviour can encompass small acts, such as helping someone cross the street, to larger, life-threatening acts. Thus, while altruism results in PB, it is not the only factor that influences it. Egoistic motivations can also result in PB. This is because even though the welfare of the helper is increased, the welfare of the individual receiving the help is also increased. Whether humans are truly capable of altruism has heavily been debated among researchers. Part of this is due to confusion over the differences in the definitions for egoism, altruism and empathetic in philosophy and biological and social sciences; however, much of the debate also concerns whether motivation resulting from empathic concern is the result of altruism (what the empathy-altruism hypothesis claims) or egoism — “a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing one’s welfare.” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313391047_The_empathy-altruism_hypothesis) This has made researching altruism, and by extension, the empathy-altruism hypothesis difficult because egoistic and altruistic motivations can co-occur during PB (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-04682-019&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1634987348054000&usg=AOvVaw1k4JBvlXhWBtGbJGhved_y). To help answer this, a large meta-analysis by (insert name of study) evaluated “research over the past 35 years” on altruism, finding a strong, positive correlation between altruistic acts and an individual’s level of empathy, even when egoistic factors into account. Although a large amount of the evaluated studies were solely on self-volunteering, young adults, the meta-analysis also evaluated many studies that focused on other population groups of varying ages, ethnicities, genders, etc., giving the meta-analysis a high population validity. In addition, the meta-analysis examined both artificial and real-life environments, giving the study high ecological validity. Some studies also suggest that a variety of other alternative egoistic factors may be at play. For example, individuals with high levels of empathy may be more inclined to help to avoid feeling bad about themselves — an egoistic motivator. Similarly, individuals with high levels of empathy may be more inclined to help for social recognition and feelings of accomplishment. The theory of social reciprocity suggested that PB acts are somewhat selfish in nature as PB behaviour is motivated by the expectation of direct or indirect rewards through reciprocity. The empathy-altruism hypothesis claims that human behaviour and empathetic concern produces altruistic motivation. The evidence strongly supports this claim over many alternative egoistic motivator explanations, supporting the hypothesis. However, prosocial behaviour can result from both egoistic and altruistic motivations, meaning that the theory does not explain all aspects of prosocial behaviour. So while the empathy-altruism hypothesis explains the role of altruism in regards to prosocial behaviour, it fails to consider all aspects of prosocial behaviour.
