Altruism: What Is It? Really Exists?

Altruism is one of the most important values ​​governing social interaction. It is believed to be closely linked to solidarity and to helping others. As children, in fact, survival is conditioned by the altruism of the parents.

Contrary to popular belief, altruism is not entirely without reason or motivation. It is not an emanation of the pure and absolute goodness of the human being.

There are many psychological studies and researches conducted with the aim of clarifying exactly altruism, to what the apparently altruistic and disinterested behaviors are due and in what conditions they emerge.

Selflessness or helping behavior

In psychology, the two terms “altruism” and “helping behavior” are used. The second was coined by a research group that focuses its studies on behaviors that are objectively helpful to third parties, regardless of why you want to help them.

Many seemingly generous and charitable gestures are nothing more than the result of behaviors dictated by panic or euphoria. Such emotions push the individual to perform actions that have little to do with a purely altruistic act, although the other person benefits from it.

It follows that although all altruistic behavior is also helping behavior, not all helping behaviors are necessarily altruistic.

Empathy and altruism

The debate about the existence of altruistic motivation arises, in a way, from the emotion that we believe must accompany altruism. Altruism could be associated with the emotion that causes it. And this emotion, as Martin Hoffman (1975) has established, could be empathy.

The same author defines empathy as an affective response appropriate to the situation of another person other than us. This affective response could later be translated into helping behavior.

Hafield, Cacioppo and Rapson (1993) talk about emotional contagion and how it is a fundamental component of empathic processes and altruism. Emotional contagion has two basic mechanisms:

• Regulators in non-verbal interaction: our interactions tend to synchronize and unconscious imitation of the voice, movements, postures and expressions of our interlocutors.

• Facial Feedback : Different expressions can cause variations in the emotional experience. It is a long-studied topic, and the following sentence perfectly illustrates the riddle of our emotions: Do we cry because we are sad or are we sad because we cry?

When we relate to someone who is sick, our facial expression most likely adapts to their mood, that is, a synchronization occurs. In this sense, a facial feedback will be produced, whereby our emotional state will adopt the one most congruent with that of the interlocutor.

Inherent altruism: the compassion hypothesis

Batson (1979) equates altruism with compassion, and argues that the altruistic act proceeds in several stages. The author states that altruistic motivation is an end in itself and offers no benefit.

When the subject feels an altruistic motivation, a hedonic calculation takes place, which tends to evaluate the consequences of the action. But this always happens after having felt this pro-social motivation.

For Batson, altruism – which he calls compassion – is intrinsic, as helping behavior is inherently satisfying: it seeks only the interest of others.

Extrinsic altruism: helping with perks

Other authors, however, argue that altruism is extrinsic, i.e. unsatisfactory in itself. The satisfaction would not come exclusively from having helped the other, but from producing ancillary benefits or avoiding certain costs. Such consideration would be made without the need to feel compassion first.

Reinforcement search theory

Cialdini, Baumann and Kenrick (1981) argue that altruistic motivation is nothing more than a form of selfish motivation, even if hidden.

Through it, no material benefits would be pursued – since this would be explicitly selfish behavior and there would be no doubt about it -. However, through the selfless act, certain symbolic reinforcements would be sought.

Among them are prestige, a better self-image, or the personal satisfaction of fulfilling one’s values. Failing to help, in turn, can also lead to symbolic punishment, such as social disapproval or remorse.

In that sense, when you help someone to avoid feeling guilty later, or when you find satisfaction in helping someone because it fulfills your moral values, it would not be intrinsic altruism. In fact, it’s more like the motivation for realization than that kind of altruism.

Vicar stress theory

Piliavin, Dovidio and Gartner (1991) argue that helping behavior is intended to alleviate one’s own suffering, and not that of the other. This means that one intends to relieve one’s emotional distress through the altruistic act.

Observing the need in the other produces an aversive empathic process, as we see the other suffering. Therefore, strong negative emotions arise towards the same object.

Sometimes it is possible to avoid the situation by running away, but other times not. And that’s how we decide to help, to free ourselves from discomfort.

Uniqueness theory

Finally, Cialdini and Neuberg (1997) study helping behavior within the processes of uniqueness. There are studies that show that self-identity is dynamic and malleable, that is, it changes over the course of life.

On the other hand, the evolutionary current supports cognitive and biological similarity between humans. Therefore, we would not help others as altruists, but because the limits of our identities would merge and confuse with those of others; we are morphologically similar beings.

We feel similarly and live similarly. This would mean that we help the other to the extent that we confuse him with ourselves.

Is it wrong to help out of self-interest?

Depending on the circumstances, either of the above processes will have a greater impact on our conduct. The answer to the question “does altruism exist?”, Therefore, is not unique.

Not all helping behaviors are altruistic. In fact, it would seem that only a few are able to overcome the filter of socialization, hedonic calculation or the search for reinforcement in order to be defined as purely altruistic behaviors.

In this sense, there is nothing wrong with a helping behavior seeking more than helping the other. Similarly, although an altruistic act may seek to gain the approval of a group, for example, in truth there is always a third person, or even a group, to be helped.

Therefore, without falling into the innocent idea that intrinsic altruism pervades all helping behaviors, or at least most of them, it would be unwise to refuse someone’s help because it responds to a personal interest. When receiving help, in most cases the underlying motivation is completely indifferent.