This is an individual project for each student but they will each share their findings with their classmates on a discussion board at the end of Module 6 of the course. Because it might take you a wh

For my individual media assignment, I chose to write about Altruism.  Altruism is loosely defined as doing something for someone that benefits that person. There are three types of altruism that include Reciprocity-based altruism, Care-based altruism, and kin-based altruism. Reciprocity-based altruism is basically helping someone in hopes that they would return the favor if needed. Care-based altruism is where you are helping someone because you have empathy for that person. Kin-based altruism is closely related to care-based altruism, except its relationship is with family members. There are two driving motives for this behavior. The Egotism-Motive is doing a good deed for someone in hopes of some sort of personal gain. Researchers for many years have said egotism “fuels altruistic behavior” because we benefit from caring for others. (Lopez, Pedrotti, & Snyder, 2019) It makes us feel good. The other driving force behind this behavior is empathy. Matching the emotions of others makes us feel for them and in turn, we want to do things to make them feel better and to better their well-being.

For my first media assignment, the TV show that I selected was My name is Earl. In this TV series, Earl Hickey is a no-good thief that wins the lotto. After he wins the lotto he is hit by a car and loses his lottery ticket. While he is in the hospital, he learns about Karma after watching a television talk show. He wants to be happy and so he decides to live his life by Karma so he sets out to right all the wrongs that he has ever done. This is the classic example of the Egotism-Motive. He makes a list of all the wrongs that he ever did and sets out to make them right and sometimes bad things end up happening to Earl in the process. In one episode, he attends the trial of Joy. This is her 3rd strike and as a character witness and her friend, he doesn’t want her to go to prison so he falsely confesses to her crimes and ends up getting sentenced to 2 years in prison. That was an example of the empathy motive.  Not only does he do things so good things will come to him, but he also starts doing things for others without thinking of himself first.

For the movies, I chose Finding Nemo. This is a movie that we are all too familiar with. Marlin is a clownfish whose son Nemo is swept away by divers. He ultimately goes on a quest to find him. He is joined by Dory, a Blue Tang fish with short-term memory loss. Dory is absent-minded, and but is a true definition of being altruistic. She sets out to help Marlin and although She does not know Marlin or his son, she jumped right in to help. They faced many dangers together, but she stuck by his side. There was nothing in it for her.

The news article that I chose to write about came from the Today Show. They were running a segment from The Sprout Network that was having a Kindest Kid Contest. One of the entries was a 5-year-old boy named Tavin.  Tavin was from Arkansas and lived in a neighborhood where a tornado had come through and caused major destruction. As he saw what had happened around him, instead of going on about his life and not giving much thought to others, he took $100.00 from his own savings account and gave it to some of the survivors. This boy melted my heart. If only we as adults could see kindness and compassion through a child’s eyes. His altruistic behavior is empathy-motivated as he was not expecting anything in return. He also worked on a coat and blanket drive. (Kim, 2014)

The Book that I chose for this assignment is called “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. In this book, there is a little boy that grows up doing many things with the tree. As the boy ages, he spends more time away from the tree, and every time he comes back to visit, he is sad and wanting more out of life. Every time he comes near, the tree gets happy and still offers him more. He offers him apples to take back to the city, tells him to use the branches to make the man's home, and offers the trunk to make a canoe. The tree just keeps giving and giving to the now elderly man until it has nothing left to give. At the very end, the man is old and all he wants to do is sit somewhere and the tree offers up the remaining trunk to use as a spot for him to sit and rest. Barns and Noble (Collins, 2014) described this as unchecked altruism and I could not agree more. The tree never tells the man that he has given too much, and he is always happy to help him in his time of need. What a pure and simple way to teach our children about helping behavior at such an early age. Children are sponges and they soak up what we teach them.

Reference

Lopez, S. J., Pedrotti, J. T., & Snyder, C. R. (2019). Prosocial Behavior-Empathy and Egotism. In Positive Psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths (4th ed., pp. 308-310). Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington, DC, Melbourne: SAGE.

Finding Nemo official site presented by Disney movies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://movies.disney.com/finding-nemo (Links to an external site.)

IMDbTV. (2007, May 10). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1021817/?ref_=tt_eps_rhs_1 (Links to an external site.)

 Kim, E. K. (2014, November 20). 5-Year-Old boy opens his heart, and wallet, to help those in need. Retrieved April 07, 2021, from https://www.today.com/news/5-year-old-boy-opens-his-heart-wallet-help-those-1D80302057 (Links to an external site.)

Collins, W. (2014, April 10). 10 things Shel SILVERSTEIN'S the Giving Tree taught us (besides giving, that is). Retrieved April 07, 2021, from https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/10-things-shel-silversteins-the-giving-tree-taught-us-besides-giving-that-is/