Helping Behavior

T.I. was on probation stemming from a 1998 conviction for violating a state controlled substances act and for giving false information. After being released on probation, he earned a litany of probation violations in several counties around Georgia for offenses ranging from possession of a firearm to possession of marijuana. (Wikipedia.com)

On October 13, 2007, federal authorities arrested T.I. four hours before the BET Hip-Hop Awards. He was charged with two felonies — possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. (Wikipedia.com)

When you add to the list threatening a man outside a strip club, assaulting a female sheriff deputy, and failing to complete required community service hours,  it’s clear that T.I.’s resume is lackluster at best.  

Thus, this November’s headline, “T.I. Serves Thanksgiving Dinner to Atlanta Needy” sounds like a flat-out lie. Yet coupled with lyrics from T.I.’s latest album, Paper Trail, listeners learn more of the truth.

I've been travelin
on this road to long
Just trying to find
my way back home
The old me
is dead and gone
dead and gone.

says T.I. in “Dead and Gone.” So what’s with the huge turnaround? There are several explanations social psychologists use for helping behavior.

Could T.I. be engaging in egoistic helping, in which the helper wants something in return for his help? If this is so, T.I. would be helping in order to increase his own welfare. Perhaps he is trying to bolster his image among the philanthropic populace in order to increase record sales.
Or could it be altruistic helping, in which the helper expects nothing in return and merely wants to increase others’ welfare? If this is the case, T.I. might feel empathy, an emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person, for the needy. Perhaps he sees his past self in the poor and feels their distress as his own. According to the empathy-altruism hypothesis, empathy motivates should motivate him to reduce other people’s distress.
With lines like,

That part of me left yesterday
the heart of me is strong today
No regrets I’m blessed to say
the old me’s dead and gone away

I like to think altruism is at work here.

Later in the song he states:

Now I get it now I take
time to think,
before I make mistakes
just for my family’s sake

This could be evidence of kin selection, the evolutionary tendency to help people who have our genes. Evolutionary psychologists would contend that T.I. feels motivated to help his family since he wants his family’s genes to be passed on to future generations.

Now, due to his strong social influence among the urban population, hopefully T.I. will be able to encourage helping behavior among others who view him as a role model. After all, in the “who says what to whom” model of persuasion, the source of the message is “instrumental.”