Altruism--selfless or selfish

Altruism: selfless or selfish?

Caitlin Costello

are

all

here

on

earth

to

help

others.

What

I

can't

figure

out

is

what

the others are here for.

(1)

Whether

we

are

here

to

help

others

is

a

question

I've

often

asked

myself,

and

a

question

I

will

not

be

able

to

answer

while

I

am

still

here

on

earth.

Perhaps before I even consider that question, however, I should wonder

whether

we

even

can

be

here

to

help

others:

is

selflessness

really

possible?

Or

is

merely

doing

things

for

others

in

order

to

feel

good

about

ourselves?

If

human

altruism

exists,

how

does

our

neural

system

deal

with

it?

The issue of altruism

is complicated by

the lack of

agreement about many

aspects of it, including its very definition. The word altruism, which

comes

from

the

Italian

altrui,

was

coined

in

1851

by

August

Comte

to

refer

to

benevolence

(2)

.

Although

not

everyone

agrees

today

on

what

precisely

altruism entails, the most basic definition is seeking the welfare of

others

(1)

. This definition is often extended, however, to include the

necessity

of

some

personal

sacrifice

on

the

part

of

the

altruist;

Edward

O. Wilson defined altruism as

the benefit of others

(1)

,

(3)

. There is also an idea of reciprocal

altruism, which is self- sacrificing behavior with the expectation that

the

favor

will

be

returned

eventually

(4)

.

If

this

behavior

is

motivated

by the desire for future reward, it does not really fit the generally

accepted definitions of altruism.

In nonhuman animals, altruism is mainly seen in the form of one animal

sacrificing or risking its life to save another. Studies of animals by

researchers such as Hamilton, who worked with bees who sacrifice

themselves to allow the queen to produce offspring with their genetic

makeup, have led to an evolutionary explanation of altruism

(4)

. One

account

of

altruism

in

the

animal

kingdom

is

kin

selection-that

an

animal

will

sacrifice

its

own

life

only

if

as

a

result,

its

genes

have

a

greater

chance of being passed on

(4)

. Kin selection relates to evolutionary

advantage according to Hamilton's rule, C/B < b. The ratio of the cost,

C (which is the expected loss in reproductive success for the doer) to

the benefit for the recipient, B (the gain in reproductive success for

the must be less than the probability that the recipient has the same

allele, for the altruist gene to survive

(5)

.

Human altruism is much more nuanced than simply risking one's life for

another,

and

cannot

be

accounted

for

by

a

simple

application

of

Hamilton's

rule. Many self- sacrificial acts that people perform for each other do

not

involve

a

direct

risk

to

their

life,

and

may

also

involve

some

benefit

to

the

actor.

Additionally,

if

the

recipient

of

the

act

is

not

a

relative,

Hamilton's rule doe not apply. In fact, there is some question as to

whether human altruism actually exists, or whether what we think of as

altruism

is

actually

just

self

interest

(3)

.

Many

allow

for

altruistic acts to include benefits to the actor as long as they are the

result

of

behavior

by

the

recipient

of

the

altruistic

act,

or

others,

and

as long as the actor has no control over receiving these benefits

(6)

.

Others argue that all supposed altruism is really motivated by the

benefits

to

the

person

performing

the

act.

These

include

material

gains,

such as a tax deduction for a charitable contribution, a rise in

self-esteem

for

having

done

something

good,

and

a

sense

of

security

that

sometime the favor will be returned by the recipient

(3)

. Although not

everyone

agrees

that

altruism

can

be

completely

pure,

the

definitions

of

altruism accepted by those interested in studying it seem to allow for

benefit to the donor,

as long as

the act of

self- sacrifice performed

for

someone else, with benefit to the actor not being a significant

motivation.

With human altruism, there is the complication of compassion, which

sometimes

is

confused

with

altruism.

Compassion

refers

to

an

emotion,

and

altruism to an action; although they are connected, one can act

altruistically

without

sharing

in

the

feelings

of

others,

and

one

can

feel

compassion

without

taking

altruistic

action

(7)

.

Arguments

are

sometimes

made against calculation theories of altruism based on the decision to

perform an altruistic act, for example jumping into the water to save a

drowning

child,

is

not

made

based

on

a

calculation

of

genetic

inheritance,

but

rather

emotions

and

feelings

of

the

right

thing

to

do

(7)

.

Compassion

and altruism both seem to be playing a role in making this decision, and

the neurological mechanisms that might play into each of these are hard

to separate from each other in evaluating such acts.

The mixing of empathy with altruistic behavior may contribute to an

unclear

picture

of

sex

differences

in

altruism.

A

study

of

573

twin

pairs

found

females

to

be

significantly

more

altruistic

than

males

(8)

.

Several

other studies, however, have failed to show such a definitive effect. A

study by Dougherty (1983) found that subjects of both genders were more

likely to help people who were acting in

Colaizzi et al. (1984) found that the display of altruism was affected

more by the gender of the recipient of the altruistic act than of the

subject performing the altruistic act; people were more likely to help