Injury Vs Altruism

People don’t help others people unless it benefits them. An example of this is in the article “The Dying Girl That No One Helped”, when 38 or more people saw the girl dying but not a single person stopped and went outside to help. No one even picked up a phone and called the police until she was already dead. Lieutenant Jacobs said that most people “just don’t want to get involved”(Wainwright). An example that most people can relate to in their life is when something happens, such as a fight, or any other type of argument between people. Most of the time no one will help to break up the fight, they would rather stand by and watch. These examples show that people don’t want to get involved in something that doesn’t benefit them to help. People will only help when it benefits them to help, or hurts them to not help.

Altruism is a concept in which the individual sacrifices regard for themselves in the interest of another. The ethics of altruism state that a person should act in a matter where their self-sacrifice yields the greater well being on the whole. To put that statement in the form of a fundamental principle of rightness, an action is right if and only if (and because) the action brings a net-gain of well being to anyone except the individual performing the action. The altruistic mentality of an individual according to this moral theory means that any action that they undertake should be in the interest of others rather than themselves. The ethics of this concept also state that relationships of greater value to the individual carrying out an action should come second in priority to those they have with strangers since the close relationship has a much more meaningful connection to a person’s life. In these situations, the only morally correct way of acting is in the way that defeats the well being of the agent of an action for the sake of others.

Bartel (1976) defines prosocial behaviour as ‘behaviour that intentionally helps or benefits another person’. Batson (1987) defines altruism as ‘helping another person for no reward, and even at some cost to oneself.’ This definition of altruism seemingly depicts the behaviour as selfless, however there is a wealth of research which suggests that this is not the case.

Altruism, also known as selflessness, is one of the most puzzling topics in the public domain today. The main issue from the perspective of many scholars is how altruism can be effective. Even though many people get involved in lifelong altruism, only a few of them emerge to be effective in it. What could be the reason behind this? And what makes altruism such a common issue that everyone needs to engage in it? The producer, Peter Singer, puts on important points that give more light on the urgency of the altruism to the younger generation and how to make it effective in the long run.

Altruism is defined as the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others. Why would someone think that certain actions are moral? There are two answers. First, altruism is naturally positive but on the contrary there are situations that decisions are made with morally bad tendencies and motivations, in circumstantial selfishness. Secondly, altruism is good because of its affirmative effects. The outcome of altruism does not only effect the person to whom the altruism is intended for, but it has its indirect ramification on society. There is truth to both of these answers. We all have experiences of acting out of an impartial concern for the health of a friend or loved one. These experiences that we have had seem to be an unambiguous instance of moral virtue. It seems likely that if our society had more acts of altruism, our world would be a better place to live than if there were no altruism at all.

Altruism is an unselfish act, done for the benefit or welfare of others with without any motive of gain or reward for it. In short an act done with the sole purpose of helping others and asking nothing in return.

Altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well being of others without personal gains or

1. John Darley and Bibb Latané were interested in prosocial behavior, or behavior that produces positive social consequences, and they examined factors that contributed to the decision to assist in an emergency situation. They termed the behavior of helping others “bystander intervention.”

Altruism, in which one selflessly devotes to the welfare of another without expecting anything in return, often elicits an inexplicable and intangible surge of joy, in which one gains a sense of purpose. For example, I have observed the therapists at PRANA, whom altruistically devote up to an hour, when initially only allotted a half-hour time slot, programming individualized treatments for each patient. In their hour- long treatments, they create a non-fraternizing relationship with their patients that is fully functional on trust, empathy, and generosity. Devoting that extra time to each patient gives not only the

Gender norms stipulate different traits and forms of helping behavior. The male sex is more likely to participate in helping behavior that entitles an act of chivalry and heroism, whereas, the female sex indulges in a more nurturing, long- term commitment of helping behavior (as cited in Aronson, Wilson, Akert, & Sommers, 2015). In a social context, men are more likely to attribute to assisting behavior if it draws a lot of attention and constitutes into a large crowd of astounded people. This phenomenon has to do with men’s desire to impress other women and persons. Women, on the other hand, are much more likely to perform abetting tasks of much less amplitude, however, these tasks are a deeper commitment that is long- term. Women’s gender role norm is based on the idea that they offer more support to friends, family, and volunteer work; they surrender themselves and their time to socially support others but in less evident helping tactics.

Altruism is a subcategory of helping behaviour, and refers to an act that is motivated by the desire to benefit another rather than oneself (Batson & Coke, 1981; Berkowitz, 1970, cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2005). The main issue with determining whether a helping act is truly altruistic is one of motivation; if we cannot determine whether an act stems from a desire to benefit others or some kind of ulterior motive, altruism is difficult to demonstrate (Rushton & Sorrentino, 1981, cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2005). This essay will firstly discuss the Empathy-Altruism hypothesis, which rejects the claim that no behaviour is ‘really’ altruistic and will go on to discuss opposing theories of egoism such as negative state relief, reciprocity and

Nonetheless, multiple studies corroborate the belief that humans are munificent, often working hard on behalf of others, and, under the right conditions, even harder than they work for themselves (Li & Lee 2010). However, this concept of willing to work harder for the benefit of someone else other than oneself brings to light an interesting point. In Li’s study, the participant chooses to expend more effort to help someone else over himself, only when told a social cost would be incurred for not helping her. This observation is peculiar since intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are considered the main factors that affect prosocial behavior (Zaki, J., & Mitchell, J. P. (2011)). In this case, social opinion influenced the participant in Li's study more than the other two

Past research has shown that bystander behavior is associated with the processes of not helping; therefore, understanding what factors trigger prosocial behavior may be beneficial in minimizing the bystander effect (Latané & Darley, 1968). The model of helping (notice the event, interpret the need for help, and take personal responsibility) clarifies the stages of cognitive processing that impacts an individual’s decision to intervene (Latané & Darley, 1968). If the bystander fails to notice the event, he will fail to interpret the need for help as well as fail to take responsibility to offer help (Latané & Darley, 1968). Moreover, the arousal: cost-reward model explains how emotional arousal plays an important role in shaping prosocial behavior

Evolutionary psychologists like Rushton (1991) argue how altruism is part of evolution that originates from genetic purposes. Most studies show that people would rather help a relative or a friend that they have known for a long time instead of someone they are not related or don’t have a connection too. It is understandable that helping a relative or someone we have known for a while could be a normal thing and bring us benefit in some way, but it is hard to explain when people and animals show compassion for complete strangers. This apparent altruistic behavior suggests that real altruism does exist. To study this opinion some tried to look at the emotions and cognitive things that were happening to the person before they were helping this person.

First, it is important to understand what altruism is. Altruism is any act carried out by an individual in order to benefit another individual. [1, 2] At first glance,