Altruism is defined as behavior that helps a person in need and is driven purely by the desire to help the other person. Class discussion revolved around the question of whether or not altruism actually existed. The class, for the most part, arrived at the decision that altruism does exist. It was decided that motivation to help others is really altruistic in spite of the fact that the end result is self-benefitting. Egoism was the second topic we discussed in relation to the cartoons.
Egoism is the idea that people help each other based on some sort of personal gain.
The class seemed to understand quite easily the concept of egoism and relate to it on a personal level. The analysis of the cartoons also involved the bystander effect. The bystander effect states that helping behavior decreases as the number of bystanders increases. The bystander effect is further illustrated in a study conducted by Latane and Darley. The results of this study illustrate the bystander effect.