Prosocial Behavior

with the intention of benefiting others (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Eisenberg & Fabe reveal that this meaning and classification, carefully avoids potential benefits to the individual that is executing means of prosocial behavior. Time and time again, it is often accompanied with a psychological and social reward for copious individuals or even a group of people. This, in terms, causes a means of altruism to develop, that is revealed by ones prosocial behavior with an added benefit of motivation and sometimes through the means of receiving or expecting ‘no reward’(Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Throughout the murder of Kitty Genovese, the act of prosocial behavior revealed along

Why should students help pick up fellow classmate's books that he or she dropped? Why should people give to the homeless? Why should humans become organ donors? Altruism is defined as a person's ability to go out of their way to enhance the welfare of someone else without anything in return. But it's not the "what" of altruism that is intriguing, it's the "why" that is truly fascinating. Scientist and researches may never pinpoint what makes humans exhibit altruistic behavior, but there is one thing that scientist and researches are sure about. Altruism plays an important role in running society, and the world can use more of it.

Altruism, despite the fact that a human conduct, needs extraordinary expressions to convey what needs be on all levels of unselfishness, for example, love and regard, since benevolence is regularly mistaken for any benevolent conduct made by living animals, and we should not utilize this general term to depict specific practices and behaviours.

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.

Further evidence against selfless altruism comes from the evidence that individual attributes appear to effect prosocial and altruistic behaviour being displayed. Ruggiero et al (1981) found that taller, heavier and physically stronger people are more likely to put themselves in harm’s way to help others in an emergency. This would suggest that an individual has first considered the cost to themselves of helping,

Another example of how altruism can be viewed in today’s society can be seen in the works of Mother Teresa and her plethora of altruistic acts throughout the globe. Although her focus was in India where she persued her novitiate (training), her organization has opened over 500 centers around the world helping the dying and the destitute (Moore 2002, pg. x). She took in the “untouchables” of society and gave them care and made sure that they were comfortable. Mother Teresa is often used as the benchmark when determining whether a selfless act is truly altruistic.

An illustration of altruism was when Max put Freak on his shoulders. Numerous times in the book Freak the Mighty, Max puts Freak on his shoulders and they get-up-and-go on “adventures”. The two would fight bullies with Maxes size and Freaks non-floccinaucinihilipilification brain and reacquire abducted purses. Max was so adjoined with Freak, Freak salvaged Max's life. What happens was Max was kidnapped by Killer Kane and Mr.Kane was choking Loretta and Max started screaming “I saw you do it, I saw you kill her” and Mr.Kane gazed at Max like a reconnaissance. Then Freak came in with his water pistol and said it was acid and it will burn you. Killer Kane said “No that's a lie” but Freak squirted the acid in his eyes and Max and ran for it. So

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.

Abigail Marsh: Why some people are more altruistic than others | TED Talk | TED.com:

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

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

In the anthropology department, at the end of the day, we’re trying to understand humans. One of the major puzzles in human evolution is the origin of altruism. Helping someone that we don't know at all is often considered one of the most extreme forms of altruism. Yet it happens frequently. The assumption is that helping strangers must be altruism because there’s no way for them to pay you back, and that this makes us unique because no other animals would be able to do this. So then there are a lot of hypotheses saying it must be culture, it must be social norms, it must be language that makes this possible.

Although theories that suggest the non-existence of true altruism may be persuasive, it does not explain the reasons for selfless deeds done by famous figures for their love and services to people such as Mother Teresa. Batson (1991) suggested a hypothesis and feels that some people are genuinely concerned about other people’s welfare. According to his empathy-altruism hypothesis, empathic concerns produce altruism motivation and relieving their sufferings is the main priority. This hypothesis is supported by several experiments where participants are typically given an opportunity to help those in need for whom they have been led to different levels of empathic concerns.

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,