Reciprocal altruism (Trivers, 1971) provides the answer. Because of reciprocal altruism, we are all better off in the long run if we help one another. If helping someone now increases the chances that you will be helped later, then your overall chances of survival are increased.

prepare them to respond differently to the needs of others

it is the economics of helping. If costs outweigh the rewards, helping is less likely. If rewards are greater than cost, helping is more likely.

Each one no doubt felt a personal responsibility to help by virtue of their official capacity in the event; fulfilling the obligations of their roles overrode the influence of the diffusion of responsibility effect.

Relying on others to define the situation and to then erroneously conclude that no intervention is necessary when help is actually needed is called pluralistic ignorance

One passerby did stop to take a cellphone photo, however.)

He found that obedience rates decreased when the learner was in the same room as the experimenter and declined even further when the teacher had to physically touch the learner to administer the punishment.

excessive alcohol consumption

We don’t want to look out of step or become the target of criticism just because we like different kinds of music or dress differently than everyone else. F

mimic

But our views on political issues, religious questions, and lifestyles also reflect to some degree the attitudes of the people we interact with.

Obeying orders from an authority figure can sometimes lead to disturbing behavior.

content of our character instead of the cover on our outside.

brings in values or beliefs that the person high in RWA disagrees with, thus “threatening” the collective values of his or her group.

ertain groups: men, native-born residents, heterosexuals, and believers in the dominant religion.

blatant biases tend to run in packs: People who openly hate one outgroup also hate many others.

“cruel, very religious, and treacherous”