Question

According to the article, what was the effect of elevation on the experimental group?

The article:
Altruism is the practice of unselfish interest for the good of others. When people are altruistic, they are more concerned about the welfare of others than they are for their own welfare. They do good things for others and do not worry about how it will affect their own lives. They do not think, “What’s in it for me?”; they just want to help.

Witnessing someone being altruistic, or doing a good deed, makes others feel good. It gives the witnesses a positive, uplifting feeling known as elevation. It is a great feeling. Those feeling elevation may go out into the world and perform good deeds themselves.

Three psychological scientists wanted to study the way the feeling of elevation can affect people’s behavior. Simone Schnall, Jean Roper, and Daniel Fessler were interested in seeing if elevation made people perform more altruistically. Test participants were shown either a video clip of a nature documentary or a segment from “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The nature film showed neutral scenes of the ocean. The Oprah clip was an uplifting piece of musicians thanking their mentors. Once the test participants watched their assigned videos, they were asked if they would be willing to participate in another study. Test subjects who watched the Oprah clip were more inclined to help with the second study.

For the next study, there were three groups and three video clips shown. The first was the neutral clip, the second the uplifting Oprah video, and the third was a British comedy. They added a funny video, to see if humor made a difference. After the participants watched their videos, the research assistant pretended to have trouble with her computer. She told the test subjects that they were free to leave since she could not open a file needed to finish the study. As they were leaving, she asked if they would want to fill out a questionnaire. She pointed out that the questionnaire was boring and not required.

The results of this second test were interesting. The participants who had watched the uplifting Oprah video experienced elevation and tried to help the research assistant. Few of the subjects who had viewed the other videos tried to help or left once they had spent a little time on the questionnaire. The test supported the theory that the elevation felt from watching the uplifting video encouraged its viewers to be more helpful. Schnall, Roper, and Fessler were able to show that the happiness associated with a feeling of elevation can lead to more altruism or helping behaviors.

Answer 1

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