Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsExamplesTypesExplaining AltruismIs Being Altruistic Good?Fostering AltruismPotential Pitfalls of Altruism

Table of ContentsView All

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Table of Contents

Examples

Types

Explaining Altruism

Is Being Altruistic Good?

Fostering Altruism

Potential Pitfalls of Altruism

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Altruism is the unselfish concern for other people—doing things simply out of a desire to help, not because you feel obligated to out of duty, loyalty, or religious reasons. It involves acting out of concern for the well-being of other people.

In some cases, these acts of altruism lead people to jeopardize themselves to help others. Such behaviors are often performed unselfishly and without any expectations of reward. Other instances, known as reciprocal altruism, involve taking actions to help others with the expectation that they will offer help in return.

How to Stop Being Selfish

Examples of Altruism

Everyday life is filled with small acts of altruism, from holding the door for strangers to giving money to people in need. News stories often focus on grander cases of altruism, such as a man who dives into an icy river to rescue a drowning stranger or a donor who gives thousands of dollars to a local charity.

Some examples of altruism include:

Types of Altruism

Psychologists have identified several different types of altruistic behavior. These include:

What Causes Altruism?

While we may be familiar with altruism,social psychologistsare interested in understandingwhyit occurs.What inspires these acts of kindness? What motivates people to risk their own lives to save a complete stranger?

Altruism is one aspect of what is known asprosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior refers to any action that benefits other people, no matter what the motive or how the giver benefits from the action.

While all altruistic acts are prosocial, not all prosocial behaviors are completely altruistic. We might help others for a variety of reasons such as guilt, obligation, duty, or even for rewards.

We’re not sure why altruism exists, but psychologists have suggested a number of different explanations.

Evolution

Kin selection is an evolutionary theory that proposes that people are more likely to help those who are blood relatives because it will increase the odds of gene transmission to future generations, thus ensuring the continuation of shared genes.The more closely the individuals are related, the more likely people are to help.

Prosocial behaviors such as altruism, cooperativeness, and empathy may also have a genetic basis.

Brain-Based Rewards

Altruism activates reward centers in thebrain. Neurobiologists have found that when a person behaves altruistically, the pleasure centers of their brain become more active.

Environment

Interactions and relationships with others have a major influence on altruistic behavior, and socialization may have a significant impact on altruistic actions in young children.

In one study, children who observed simple reciprocal acts of altruism were far more likely to exhibit altruistic actions. On the other hand, friendly but non-altruistic actions did not inspire the same results.

Modeling altruistic actions can be an important way to foster prosocial and compassionate actions in children.

Observing prosocial behavior seems to lead to helping behavior among adults as well (though the extent to which this occurs varies based on factors like gender, culture, and individual context).

Social Norms

Society’s rules, norms, and expectations can also influence whether or not people engage in altruistic behavior. Thenorm of reciprocity, for example, is a social expectation in which we feel pressured to help others if they have already done something for us.

For example, if your friend loaned you money for lunch a few weeks ago, you’ll probably feel compelled to reciprocate when they ask you if they can borrow $100. They did something for you, now you feel obligated to do something in return.

Incentives

While the definition of altruism involves doing for others without reward, there may still be cognitive incentives that are not obvious. For example, we might help others to relieve our own distress or because being kind to others upholds our view of ourselves as kind people.Other cognitive explanations include:

Why Being Good to Others Also Benefits You

While altruism can have some drawbacks when taken to extremes, it is a positive force that can benefit both you and others. Altruism has a wide range of benefits, like:

In addition to these benefits, engaging in altruism can also help improvesocial connectionsand relationships, which can ultimately play a part in improving health and wellness.

There can be some possible drawbacks and difficulties to altruism, like:

Despite these potential problems, altruism is generally a positive force in the world, and it’s a skill worth developing.

Can People Learn to Be Heroes?

8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cortes Barragan R, Dweck CS.Rethinking natural altruism: Simple reciprocal interactions trigger children’s benevolence.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014;111(48):17071-4. doi:10.1073/pnas.1419408111Sisco MR, Weber EU.Examining charitable giving in real-world online donations.Nat Commun. 2019;10(1):3968. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11852-zReuter M, Frenzel C, Walter NT, Markett S, Montag C.Investigating the genetic basis of altruism: The role of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(5):662-668. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq083Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T.Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014;9(6):873-9. doi:10.1093/scan/nst060Jung H, Seo E, Han E, Henderson MD, Patall EA.Prosocial modeling: A meta-analytic review and synthesis.Psychol Bull. 2020;146(8):635-663. doi:10.1037/bul0000235Poulin MJ, Brown SL, Dillard AJ, Smith DM.Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality.Am J Public Health. 2013;103(9):1649–55. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300876Post SG.It’s good to be good: 2011 fifth annual scientific report on health, happiness and helping others.IJPCM. 2011;1(4):814-829. doi:10.5750/ijpcm.v1i4.154Thomas AG, Jonason PK, Blackburn JD, et al.Mate preference priorities in the East and West: A cross‐cultural test of the mate preference priority model.J Pers. 2020;88(3):606-620. doi:10.1111/jopy.12514

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cortes Barragan R, Dweck CS.Rethinking natural altruism: Simple reciprocal interactions trigger children’s benevolence.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014;111(48):17071-4. doi:10.1073/pnas.1419408111Sisco MR, Weber EU.Examining charitable giving in real-world online donations.Nat Commun. 2019;10(1):3968. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11852-zReuter M, Frenzel C, Walter NT, Markett S, Montag C.Investigating the genetic basis of altruism: The role of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(5):662-668. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq083Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T.Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014;9(6):873-9. doi:10.1093/scan/nst060Jung H, Seo E, Han E, Henderson MD, Patall EA.Prosocial modeling: A meta-analytic review and synthesis.Psychol Bull. 2020;146(8):635-663. doi:10.1037/bul0000235Poulin MJ, Brown SL, Dillard AJ, Smith DM.Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality.Am J Public Health. 2013;103(9):1649–55. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300876Post SG.It’s good to be good: 2011 fifth annual scientific report on health, happiness and helping others.IJPCM. 2011;1(4):814-829. doi:10.5750/ijpcm.v1i4.154Thomas AG, Jonason PK, Blackburn JD, et al.Mate preference priorities in the East and West: A cross‐cultural test of the mate preference priority model.J Pers. 2020;88(3):606-620. doi:10.1111/jopy.12514

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cortes Barragan R, Dweck CS.Rethinking natural altruism: Simple reciprocal interactions trigger children’s benevolence.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014;111(48):17071-4. doi:10.1073/pnas.1419408111Sisco MR, Weber EU.Examining charitable giving in real-world online donations.Nat Commun. 2019;10(1):3968. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11852-zReuter M, Frenzel C, Walter NT, Markett S, Montag C.Investigating the genetic basis of altruism: The role of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(5):662-668. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq083Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T.Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014;9(6):873-9. doi:10.1093/scan/nst060Jung H, Seo E, Han E, Henderson MD, Patall EA.Prosocial modeling: A meta-analytic review and synthesis.Psychol Bull. 2020;146(8):635-663. doi:10.1037/bul0000235Poulin MJ, Brown SL, Dillard AJ, Smith DM.Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality.Am J Public Health. 2013;103(9):1649–55. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300876Post SG.It’s good to be good: 2011 fifth annual scientific report on health, happiness and helping others.IJPCM. 2011;1(4):814-829. doi:10.5750/ijpcm.v1i4.154Thomas AG, Jonason PK, Blackburn JD, et al.Mate preference priorities in the East and West: A cross‐cultural test of the mate preference priority model.J Pers. 2020;88(3):606-620. doi:10.1111/jopy.12514

Cortes Barragan R, Dweck CS.Rethinking natural altruism: Simple reciprocal interactions trigger children’s benevolence.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014;111(48):17071-4. doi:10.1073/pnas.1419408111

Sisco MR, Weber EU.Examining charitable giving in real-world online donations.Nat Commun. 2019;10(1):3968. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11852-z

Reuter M, Frenzel C, Walter NT, Markett S, Montag C.Investigating the genetic basis of altruism: The role of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(5):662-668. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq083

Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T.Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014;9(6):873-9. doi:10.1093/scan/nst060

Jung H, Seo E, Han E, Henderson MD, Patall EA.Prosocial modeling: A meta-analytic review and synthesis.Psychol Bull. 2020;146(8):635-663. doi:10.1037/bul0000235

Poulin MJ, Brown SL, Dillard AJ, Smith DM.Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality.Am J Public Health. 2013;103(9):1649–55. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300876

Post SG.It’s good to be good: 2011 fifth annual scientific report on health, happiness and helping others.IJPCM. 2011;1(4):814-829. doi:10.5750/ijpcm.v1i4.154

Thomas AG, Jonason PK, Blackburn JD, et al.Mate preference priorities in the East and West: A cross‐cultural test of the mate preference priority model.J Pers. 2020;88(3):606-620. doi:10.1111/jopy.12514

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