Altruism Any behavior that is designed to increase another person’s welfare, and particularly those actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them

Altruistic or prosocial personality An individual difference variable that relates to the likelihood of helping others across many different situations

Autonomy-oriented help The belief that, given the appropriate tools, recipients can help themselves

Dependency-oriented help When the recipient feels that the implication of the helping is that he or she is are unable to care for himself or herself

Diffusion of responsibility When we assume that others will take action and therefore we do not take action ourselves

Empathy An affective response in which a person understands, and even feels, another person’s distress and experiences events the way the other person does

Empirical Based on the collection and systematic analysis of observable data

Entitativity The perception, either by the group members themselves or by others, that the people together are a group

Just world belief The belief that people get what they deserve in life

Macbeth effect The observation that people tend to want to cleanse themselves when they perceive that they have violated their own ethical standards

Personal distress The negative emotions that we may experience when we view another person’s suffering

Reciprocity norm A social norm reminding us that we should follow the principles of reciprocal altruism

Social exchange The idea that, if we help other people now, they will return the favor should we need their help in the future

Social responsibility norm A social norm that we should try to help others who need assistance, even without any expectation of future paybacks