Five studies testing two new egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis.
The empathy-altruism hypothesis claims that prosocial motivation associated with feeling empathy for a person in need is directed toward the ultimate goal of benefiting that person, not toward some subtle form of self-benefit. We explored two new egoistic alternatives to this hypothesis. The empathy-specific reward hypothesis proposes that the prosocial motivation associated with empathy is directed toward the goal of obtaining social or self-rewards (i.e., praise, honor, and pride). The empathy-specific punishment hypothesis proposes that this motivation is directed toward the goal of avoiding social or self-punishments (i.e., censure, guilt, and shame). Study 1 provided an initial test of the empathy-specific reward hypothesis. Studies 2 through 4 used three procedures to test the empathy-specific punishment hypothesis. In Study 5, a Stroop procedure was used to assess the role of reward-relevant, punishment-relevant, and victim-relevant cognitions in mediating the empathy-helping relationship. Results of these five studies did not support either the empathy-specific reward or the empathy-specific punishment hypothesis. Instead, results of each supported the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Evidence that empathic emotion evokes altruistic motivation continues to mount.
University of Kansas, Lawrence 66045.
C D
CD
Batson
J L
JL
Dyck
J R
JR
Brandt
J G
JG
Batson
A L
AL
Powell
M R
MR
McMaster
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C
Griffitt
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000533:Altruism; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011908:Rationalization; D012201:Reward