Short Story Essay -- Papers Creative Writing Essays

Short Story Once in a small cottage deep in a thickly overgrown forest there was a young boy who lived with his mother, his father and his elder sisters, two of the most beautiful girls in the whole of Ireland. This forest was different to the many others that form a blanket over this enchanted land. The young boy often quarrelled with his sisters and felt that their talents overshadowed him. The two beautiful girls were not only very fair of face but also always endeavoured to do well in their studies and were a great help to the mother around the cottage. One day, a day which seemed unusual to the young boy from almost the moment he woke in the morning, something happened which changed the life of the boy and the life of every Irishman here after. The day had begun with the young boy hearing his mother calling his name in a rather frantic tone. "Luke", "Luke", she called. The young boy feeling the sense of importance rushed down stairs to be meet by his father, mother and grandfather. His mother told him that neither of the girls had been seen since bedtime the previous night and asked him did he know where they might be or why they may have wandered off. The evening before this influential morning his sisters had decided to take a walk into the forest that surrounded the cottage. Luke did not wish to not be included in their adventure and so tagged along but always keeping a few paces behind so as not to be seen by the girls and to be told to return to the cottage. He had over heard the girls talking about small creatures that lived in solitude i... ... into a banshee that he must suffer the penance of a horrific death and a eternal spell of bad luck upon any Irishman who hereafter dared to disturb a hidden fairy. It wasn't until preparing for the funeral of Luke that the Parents remembered his delirious rant but still dismissed it as the senseless ramblings of a dying child. However it is said that at the funeral of Luke O'Riley that above the wails of his parents and other mourners could be heard the distinct high-pitched cries of several Banshees. It is also said that Two tiny creatures identical to his sisters could be seen wandering the dark hills around the cottage that was once their home crying in bereavement of their brother which they had taken for granted and would eternally join the other Banshees wailing at the funerals of every Irishman hereafter.

Edgware in London to City Road Essay

Using what I have learned from my study materials, I will compare Station Road, Edgware in London to City Road, Cardiff for either their similarities or differences relating to inequalities. Both roads are over 200 years old and have similar layouts. Station Road is located in a neighbourhood and is very similar to City Road as it is extremely busy with high volumes of traffic and also pedestrians shopping and commuting. Along this road there are a few takeaways, cafes, restaurants, newsagents and estate agents, pharmacy, banks, charity shops and also Edgware Underground station. On the one side of the streets is a big shopping centre with more shops inside and well known supermarkets Sainsburyà ¢s and Marks & Spencer. There are similarities on mentioned streets such as road signs, bollards and of course shops and people which make the street what it is. City Road has a large Ethnic minority, on Station road only a small minority are white British, the rest are Asians and East Europ eans. There are also differences between the streets and this essay will use the differences to show how this can create inequalities. Differences are not just there or given, they are made by people in relation to others and by people in relation to material things and their environment. One of the visible inequalities on Station Road is the traffic infrastructure. The numerous controlled crossings help pedestrians access their destinations, but in turn it has an adverse effect for motorists and increases social disorder between motorists and pedestrians as they fight for space among the road. City Road was said to have been a country lane 200 years ago, but by the 1960à ¢s was taken over by car showrooms. Most of them have been replaced by cafes, takeaways and restaurants designed for large numbers of ethnic minority and student population (The Street 2009, scene 1). There are inequalities between local shops and big supermarkets on both streets. On the street I know there are three powerful stores, Sainsburyà ¢s, Marks & Spencer and Lidl. They have large ranges of products, the competitive prices, car parking spaces, they sell more goods for the convenience of people.

Every action is a selfish one and thus true altruism does not exist. - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2530 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Psychology Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Discuss in relation to theory and research on pro-social behaviour. Introduction Helping behaviour has been a focus of social psychological research since the 1950s (Hogg and Vaughan, 2008) and within this literature; there exists an abundance of studies concerned with the concept of altruism. The main aim of this essay is to consider the assertion that every action is a selfish one and thus true altruism does not exist. In order to do this, relevant theory and research on pro-social behaviour will be explored. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Every action is a selfish one and thus true altruism does not exist." essay for you Create order Broadly speaking, pro-social behaviour involves carrying out an act that benefits another (Hogg and Vaughan, 2008) and the interest in this topic since the 1950s, from a research point of view, has impressive longevity. Altruism, as a concept, has attracted much debate and is a type of helping behavior, essentially involving helping another without any expectation of personal gain (Batson and Coke, 1981; Macaulay and Berkowitz, 1970). Perhaps it is rather difficult to realistically suggest that an act could ever be categorised as truly altruistic or indeed if it is not, then it must be selfish. This essay will help to support the view that altruism exists to some extent but often there can be benefits for the individual in demonstrating this behaviour. Research has unfortunately at times aimed to minimise the assertion that a motive to help others without personal benefit can exist (Krueger, 2012). Theory and Research Wilson (2015, p.5) very recently documented that the question of how altruism evolves is such a controversy that is just entering its resolution phase. Altruism is a fairly complicated concept to explore and some of Wilsons (2015) writings reflect this. For instance, Wilson (2015) alludes to the idea that it can be challenging to truly understand an individuals intention when helping another in that it may be to feel better, win favour with God or ensure the other person is in debt to you. The question therefore might be along the lines of what constitutes truly altruistic behaviour and when does it become selfish. Wilson (2015) also helpfully simplifies how one might view altruism by focusing, temporarily, only on the behaviour. An example is illustrated by Wilson (2015) whereby if one individual helps another at a cost to themselves then that demonstrates altruism regardless of what they thought or felt about the situation. Pro-social behaviour theory provides mixed support for the idea of true altruism. For instance, altruism does not particularly receive support from the well-known bystander-calculus model (Piliavin, Dovidio, Gaertner and Clark, 1981), if one is to accept it. This model would assert that individuals would take action in an emergency essentially to reduce their own unpleasant arousal (Batson and Oleson, 1991). This theory clearly makes reference to the significance of the thoughts and feelings of the individual. It may suggest that in part, the helper is to a degree being selfish, but at the same time, is actually carrying out an act that helps another. From this point of view, altruism is perhaps not the correct term since the individual is driven to act, to an extent, to serve his or her own interest. Egoism and altruism have historically been framed as a versus relationship with Hogg and Vaughan (2004) summarising that a significant number of psychologists side with the theory supporting the egoism argument whereby behaviour is driven by personal gain. The work around egoism tends to feel like the darker side of pro-social behaviour theory and research. Some of the evidence showing apparent support for this theory is rather questionable. For instance, Manucia, Baumann, and Cialdini (1984) conducted an experiment whereby certain participants were given a placebo pill but told that by taking it, their current mood would freeze. This led to people under this condition apparently being not as likely to help an individual in need since it would not improve their mood. Brown and Maner (2012) praised the intelligence of this study although it does have an artificial feel about it and one could question how much it might reflect a real-life scenario. It cannot necessarily be used as evidence that altruism does not exist since for some people, the motivation in the first instance might be to actually help the other person (Brown and Maner, 2012). The above mentioned study is somewhat at odds with a review of theory and research regarding altruism at that time (Piliavin and Charng, 1990). One conclusion by these authors was that evidence from a number of fields such as sociology and social psychology among others suggest that altruism is indeed a feature of human nature (Piliavin and Charng, 1990). Bierhoff (2002) builds on this and suggests that altruism exists and reported that it is arguably perfectly captured in the parable of the Good Samaritan whereby having empathy for the victim led to the unselfish act of helping the victim to safety, even at personal cost. This parable is still taught in the modern day and apparent acts of altruism remain a feature of everyday society. This is not to discount the assumption that there could be side effects whereby the individual may experience private rewards for acts of altruism. It is now necessary to consider relevant research studies in more detail in order to further explore the rather controversial central claim that every action is a selfish one and true altruism does not exist. It has been unfortunate in a way that researchers have, more often than not, chosen to focus on anti-social rather than pro-social behaviour. This perhaps reflects a tendency to be more interested in the worst in people. This also leads to the idea that people may be more likely to dismiss altruism and consider other explanations for this type of helping or selfless behaviour. May (2011, p.25) implies that caution should be taken when interpreting altruism-based research in stating that the consensus among psychologists (and common sense) is that a great number of our mental states, even our motives, are not accessible to consciousness. As mentioned above, Wilsons (2015) more recent writings seem to have certain parallels with this and it may be that one has to accept that knowing the individuals intent to help may not be possible.   This could cast doubt on the reliability of much of the experimental work in the field of altr uism, particularly when self-reporting measures are so commonly used. Cialdini and colleagues certainly invested much effort in demonstrating that true altruism does not exist. In a related piece of research, Maner, Luce, Neuberg, Cialdini, Brown and Sagarin (2002) explored the effect of manipulated perspective taking with a focus on the empathy-helping relationship, which they suggested underpins altruism. Interestingly, the study featured 169 university students who had an incentive to participate in the study in order to help fulfill their academic requirements. There is a certain irony about this in that it does not reflect altruism towards the researchers. Following observing the views of participants who had listened to a particular interview, Maner et al. (2002) suggested that negative emotional states like sadness are more likely to lead to helping others rather than genuine altruism. While it is difficult to prove that true altruism does exist, Batson and colleagues a dopted a very different angle with regards to this concept. For instance, in a similar but earlier study, Batson, Sager, Garst, Kang, Rubchinsky and Dawson (1997) again used only university students to assess empathy and helping behaviour towards a young woman in need. In certain conditions, this woman was depicted as being from a rival university yet the students displayed empathy and a willingness to help. As with much of Batsons research, this paper argued that empathy for others brings about natural altruism in people. These above examples highlight the entirely different ways in which altruism can be framed. Krueger (2012) alludes to the idea that the search for true altruism is one that cannot realistically bring success. Research has unfortunately historically been rather black and white in its mission to explain altruism. It has almost featured a rivalry between benefitting the self against motives to benefit others. Krueger (2012, p.397) argues that it is more important to protect the motive to benefit others from being discounted while essentially avoiding branding people as selfish. It is perhaps possible to learn something valuable about the nature of altruism from a piece of research regarding giving blood (Evans and Ferguson, 2013). It is difficult to generalise findings to the wider population given that it involved only university students. However, this particular paper examined, via surveying an impressive 414 responders, the motivating factors underpinning white blood donation. Evans and Ferguson (2013) reported that giving blood does not appear to be an act that reflects the actual definition of pure altruism. Instead, a blend of factors such as a sense of contributing to society, a feeling of being able to benefit others and personal satisfaction might explain blood donation. There are apparent benefits to the individual giving blood in the experience of positive emotions, described as warm glow by Evans and Ferguson (2013). This may not reflect true altruism. It would however seem unfair to suggest that the generally accepted altruistic act of giving blood is selfish. If one continues to accept the view earlier put forward by May (2012), it would help to have some acceptance that it may not be possible to really know if true altruism exists. In a cross-cultural qualitative paper, Soosai-Nathan, Negri and Delle-Fave (2013) documented evidence from Indian and Italian cultures that illustrated that altruism can be more than a pro-social behaviour. Soosai-Nathan et al. (2013) suggest that altruism can help to improve relationships and boosts happiness and wellbeing. It would also be useful to view this in a positive light if possible while clearly, these types of personal rewards may well reinforce the altruistic behavior. It is fundamentally a good human quality though. This may be a more useful area for further research to improve wellbeing rather than aiming to disprove altruism, which has quite a dehumani sing feel to it. It would however be ignorant to bypass the idea that altruism is influenced by a number of factors. It would be overly simplistic to accept that it is just a natural trait of individuals. The area of giving money to fundraisers adds interesting insights to the understanding of altruism. Andreoni, Rao, and Tratchtman (2011) conducted a natural field experiment involving monitoring the giving of money to fundraisers in a particular area of Boston, USA, and noted that a high volume of people avoided, via a number of means, the fundraisers who were standing at exits of a shopping centre. Robson (2002) warns of the dangers of these types of studies, e.g. loss of ability to control variables and loss of validity. Nonetheless, Andreoni et al. (2011) suggest that people may avoid eye contact with a fundraiser as empathy may be triggered otherwise, leading to the giving of money. On the other hand, people may give as they would like to be seen as being altruistic. There may also be a compromise between giving money to charity and balancing personal finances. Andreoni et al. (2011) conclude that altruism in people is influenced significantly by a combination of social cues and psychological mechanisms. This is perhaps unsurprising but helps to illustrate the complexity of human altruism. Conclusions Firstly, it would seem incorrect to necessarily reject findings from pro or indeed anti altruism research. May (2012) summed things up nicely, reminding that so often, peoples true intentions and thoughts about a situation are not visible even to themselves. If one accepts this then there might not be great confidence in suggesting either that altruism definitely exists or that all acts are selfish. Altruism can certainly be viewed as a fairly controversial concept and one that has featured in social psychology theory and research for some years. It would appear that it is extremely difficult to be involved in a truly altruistic act and Staub (1974) much earlier alluded to this as generally when one acts in a pro-social way, inwardly, it can be rewarding, bringing about positive feelings. When considering all of the available evidence, perhaps it can be concluded that altruism in its truest sense, as its very definition states, does not exist. However, there is likely to be a n altruism continuum upon where most people in society would sit, rather than acts necessarily being classed in a fairly black and white fashion as altruistic or selfish. Krueger (2012) adopts a common sense stance on altruism and is suggestive that it exists and people do engage in acts designed to benefit others, without intended personal gain. References Andreoni, J., Rao, J. M., Trachtman, H. (2011). Avoiding the ask: a field experiment on altruism, empathy, and charitable giving. (No. w17648). National bureau of economic research. Batson, C.D., and Coke, J.S. (1981). Empathy: A source of altruistic motivation for helping? In Rushton, J.P., and Sorrentino, R.M. (eds.), Altruism and helping behaviour: Social, personality, and developmental perspectives (pp. 167-183). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Batson, C.D., and Oleson, K.C. (1991). Current status of the empathy-altruism hypothesis. In Clark, M.S. (ed), Prosocial behaviour (pp. 62-85). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Batson, D.C., Sager, K., Garst, E., Kang, M., Rubchinsky, K., and Dawson, K. (1997). Is empathy-induced helping due to self-other merging? Journal of personality and social psychology, 73 (3), 495-509. Bierhoff, H-W. (2002). Prosocial behaviour. East Sussex: Psychology Press. Brown, S.L., and Maner, J.K. (2012). Egoism or altruism: Hard-nosed experiments and deep p hilosophical questions. In Kenrick, D.T., Goldstein, N.J., and Braver, S.L. (ed), Six degrees of social influence: Science, application and the psychology of Robert Cialdini (pp. 109-118). New York: Oxford University Press. Evans, R. and Ferguson, E. (2013).Defining and measuring blood donor altruism: A theoretical approach from biology, economics and psychology. The International journal of transfusion medicine, 106, 118-126. Available from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vox.12080/pdf (Accessed 01/10/15). Hogg, M.A., Vaughan, G.M. (2008). Social psychology (5th Edition). England: Pearson Education Limited. Krueger, J.I. (2012). Altruism gone mad. In Oakley, B., Knafo, A., Madhaven, G., and Wilson, D.S. (ed), Pathological altruism (pp. 395-405). New York: Oxford University Press. Macaulay, J.R., and Berkowitz, L.   (eds.) (1970). Altruism and helping behaviour: Social psychological studies of some antecedents and consequences. New York: Academic Press . Maner, J.K., Luce, C.L., Neuberg, S.L., Cialdini, R.B., Brown, S., and Sagarin, B.J. (2002). The effect of perspective taking on motivations for helping: Still no evidence for altruism. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 28, 1601-1610. Manucia, G.K.,Baumann, D.J., and Cialdini , R.B. (1984). Mood influences on helping: Direct effects or side effects? Journal of personality and social psychology, 46 (2), 357-364. May, J. (2011). Egoism, empathy and self-other merging. Southern journal of philosophy, 49, 25-39. Piliavin, J.A., and Charng, H-W. (1990). Altruism: A review of recent theory and research. Annual review of sociology, 16, 27-65. Piliavin, J.A., Dovidio, J.F., Gaertner,S.L., and Clark, R.D. (1981). Emergency intervention. New York: Academic Press. Robson, C. (2002). Real world research (2nd edition). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. Soosai-Nathan, L., Negri, L., and Delle-Fave, A. (2013). Beyond pro-social behaviour: An exploration of altruism in two cultures. Psychological studies, 58 (2), 103-114. Staub, E. (1974). Helping a distressed person: Social, personality and stimulus dterminants. In Berkowitz, L. (ed.), Advances in experimental and social psychology (Vol. 7), pp. 294-341. New York: Academic Press. Wilson, D.S. (2015). Does altruism exist?: Culture, genes and the welfare of others. New Haven: Yale University Press.