A good person is considered to be selfless

Altruism: the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others

What is prosocial behaviour?

  • Helping behaviour- bystander intervention
  • Kindness, friendliness- EQ & SQ
  • Cooperation- social order
  • Gratitude
  • Forgiveness

Just world hypothesis/theory/fallacy/effect: the tendency for people to want to believe that the world is fundamentally just.

Cultural realities defining the “good”

  • Egocentric social reality: promotes serving of the wants of the individual ego, and therefore “good behaviour” is based primarily on self interest
  • Sociocentric social reality: promotes the wants of a particular society, without taking into account the wants of other societies and/or does not care about the impact it has on the environment. “good for our people”
  • Worldcentric social reality: serves the wants across the spectrum of different cultures and which is in harmony with the environment; good for all people.
  • Kosmocentric social reality: able to integrate the different cultures and societies with each other in a harmonious way and taps into the field of collective consciousness to guide the unfolding of activities within the system. Transcendent

What causes prosocial behaviour?

  • In born tendencies
  • Compliance with social norms
  • A product of learning and socialization
  • A function of mood (good or bad)
  • An experience of empathy

Sense making

Ontology: how I think things are

Deontology: how I think they ought to be

Epistemology: what are valid ways of knowing how things are?

Mainstream views see prosocial behaviour as an internal condition that leads to the behaviour

Aggression

Behaviour directed toward another intended to harm

Mainstream solutions for violence:

  • The de- glorification of violence
  • Gun control
  • Parent training
  • Reduction of social/ethnic inequalities
  • Hormone therapy
  • International diplomacy

Desirable violence and aggression

Violence and aggression as protection: police, military and bystander intervention

Violence and aggression as play: sports, entertainment, sexuality

We have the capacity for aggression just as much as for cooperation and empathy but we choose which organization of self to enact.

The Seville statement on violence. 5 declarations

  1. It is scientifically incorrect to say that we have inherited a tendency to make War from our animal ancestors.
  1. It is scientifically incorrect to say that war and other violent behaviour is Genetically programmed into our human nature.
  1. It is scientifically incorrect to say that in the course of human evolution there Has been a selection for aggressive behaviour more than for other kinds of Behaviour.
  1. It is scientifically incorrect to say that human beings have a “violent brain.”
  2. It is scientifically incorrect to say that war is caused by “instinct” or any single Motivation.
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