Helping Behavior Appears on the Surface to Be at Odds

question 75

Multiple Choice

Helping behavior appears on the surface to be at odds with evolution: helping someone else,such as giving food,might endanger one's own survival.Which of the following statements best clarifies this issue?

• A) Helping another person only makes sense if an individual knows that the other person will help you in the future, thus increasing the likelihood of mutual survival.
• B) Helping behavior is influenced by cultural factors like socialization but not by genetic factors.
• C) The actions of an individual are not so much designed to ensure that the individual will survive as to ensure that the genes of that individual will survive.
• D) Helping the opposite sex makes sense if it enhances the chances of mating.

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Definitions:

Excludable

A characteristic of a good or service that allows its owner to prevent others from using it without permission.

Nonrival

A characteristic of a good whereby one person's consumption does not diminish the availability of the good for consumption by others.

Marginal Social Cost

The additional cost incurred by society as a whole due to the production of one extra unit of a good or service.

Socially Optimal

A state or outcome in which the total benefits to society are maximized, taking into account all costs and benefits, both private and external.