Selfish In Psychology

"If people sometimes act for others, it is only because they think that it is in their own best interests to do so (David MacKinnon)”. I would say all actions is motivated by self-interest because self-interest, constantly have people striving to think of new ways to achieve their ambitions and protect their interests. The only possible way to get someone to not spend their lives as a devious deceitful person with power would be to persuade them that striving for more power and pleasure to enjoy an eternity in heaven. However, self-interest acts do not always require us to live in order to achieve our goals. One can just as much die to hurt people as easy as they can die to save people. For example, terrorism they are willing to die to kill.

Psychological Egoism is the position that the ultimate motive of all actions is selfish. It is not the position that everyone should be motivated by selfish desires, but rather that they are motivated by selfish desires. This is supposed to be a psychological fact of human motivations. Joel Feinberg presents a multitude of arguments against psychological egoistic hedonism.

Amato, Paul R., and Bruce Keith. "Parental Divorce and the Well-Being of Children: A Meta-Analysis." Journal of Marriage and the Family 110.1 (1991): 26-46. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

Philosophers have debated for centuries the question “Are humans are selfish or selfless?” There are two main arguments for debating human nature, ethical egoists and ethical altruists. Ethical egoists believe that “even though we can act in others’ interests because we are concerned for others, we ought always to act in our own interest” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 460). Ethical altruists believe quite the opposite; ethical altruism is the belief that “people ought to act with each other’s interests in mind” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 461). In discussing the four theories, psychological egoism, psychological altruism, ethical egoism, and ethical altruism, with my husband, there was not a clear dividing line for whether humans are selfish or selfless in nature. After much debate, we concluded that humans are born ethical egoists; however, ethical altruists are made through proper training, care, and nurture.

“Teen Health and Wellness” expresses that the result on children ages six to eight is most profound. It says they are old enough to realize what is happening but do not have adequate skills to deal with the disruption. It asserts that they often feel a sense of responsibility, experience tremendous grief, and have a pervasive sadness and yearning for the departed parent. According to this article, adolescents' reactions to divorce include anger, a desire for a stable home, and a need for clear boundaries between them and their parents, especially around such issues as sexuality, dating, and household responsibilities. “Dysfunctional Family” testifies that teens that already have to deal with their maturing bodies and minds, divorce is just an added burden (Dysfunctional Family).

Divorce is comparable to an epidemic since it has been filtering through many societies at an increasingly alarming rate. According to the most current statistic, there are more than 2.1 million marriages in the United States (“Children of Divorced Parents”). Out of those, almost half end in divorce. Divorce nowadays is extremely common. In fact, in America there is one divorce every thirty-six seconds (National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends”). Each year over a million American children suffer from the divorce of their parents (Amato 24-26). Even though it might be shown to benefit some individuals in their own personal case, for the majority it causes a decrease in an individual’s life and puts many people “on a downward trajectory from which they might never fully recover” (Amato). Over long term, the United States divorce rate has been on a rise since 1980, which means more children being affected (Macionis). These children that are affected are faced by emotions of anger, confusion and even fear. These emotions affect their academic performance, social interactions, behavior, self-esteem and other negative effects. This literature review is important in calling attention on the current research studying impacts of divorce on children. The topic of divorce is a wide-ranging topic. However, this particular literature review focuses only on the effects that divorce has on children. The data presented in this paper is collected from

In contrast, causes of divorce such as substance abuse, violence, and other mental health disorders (Breslau, Miller, Jin, Sampson, Alonso, Andrade, Bromet, de Girolamo, Demyttenaere, Fayyad, Fukao, Ga˘ la˘on, Gureje, He, Hinkov, Hu, Kovess-Masfety, Matschinger, Medina-Mora, Ormel, Posada-Villa, Sagar, Scott, & Kessler, 2011) can be inherited from the parent, causing the child to still express those traits, but through genetics rather than social learning. In this situation, neither cause of behavioral problems consists of the divorce itself, rather parents who express those traits first. Too often children and parents alike blame the situation (the separation, divorce, remarriage, single parenthood, etc.) rather than what’s been right in front of them for so long. If people would start considering these factors early on, they might hesitate on marrying or having kids if they know that they won’t be able to handle it. Children shouldn’t have to be raised in an environment that is negative to their health, and they certainly shouldn’t have to take the blunt end of the situation because they were simply born into it, because it affects their behavior throughout their lifetime. It is particularly imperative in adolescence to have control over that

What’s the real definition of selfishness? Does it always define unthinking? Niggardly? In Society, it’s a horrible word to be called. Also, be neglected if a person shows any hint of it; the status of the word is pure negativity now in this generation. We were taught as a child that it’s an unacceptable personality trait and should never be that type of person. It’s clear to us how our ideas are different or supported by different views on a single word. Remember one word does not always match to a single definition. Selfishness can be positive. Writing changes innumerable throughout time. Although, the definition is plain out straightforward to the point, what it’s supposed to mean with synonyms. The common thought of selfishness is a person

Psychological egoism is the view that everyone always acts selfishly. It describes human nature as being wholly self-centered and self-motivated. Psychological egoism is different from ethical egoism in their “direction of fit” to the world. Psychological ego-ism is a factual theory. It aims to fit the world. In the world is not how psychological ego-ism says it is because someone acts unselfishly, then something is wrong with psycho-logical egoism. In my opinion this argument is completely wrong and unsound.

A martyr is someone who puts everybody else’s well-being before their own. Whilst this sounds

These include academic deterioration, antisocial and delinquent behaviors, anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression. Early promiscuity, relationship difficulties, and illicit drug use are also noted. Other studies correlate resiliency in adulthood as one product of living in a conflictual family system”(Rich et al., 2007 p.164). The effects of divorce vary depending on the situation and the child. “Hess and Camara found that many children of divorce suffer severe emotional consequences such as depression, anger, anxiety, and withdrawal, any of which, if prolonged, can have a negative impact on the child’s overall emotional development. It is also reported adjustment problems in the area of cognitive, emotional, and social development among children of divorce as well. In addition, parental separation has been found to be particularly stressful for adolescents”(Bornstein and Walters, 1988 p.248).

“ME ME ME” “How does this help me?” “Wait what do I get out of this” “Of course I deserve it” “I want it” “I need it” “Just give it to me,” said Erin Ronald. This quote describes selfishness because it is the contrary of generosity and solidarity, and the excess of love to oneself and the lack of group values. Knowing the world, is essential for a person’s life. Many times, we do not understand how a society works, how people work, how our life goes, how the present goes, etc. As a result of all of them, we can experience certain anguish that appears when it wants but with relatively frequency, such as: Why do I do what I do? Am I happy? Who I am? For all of these I have proposed to write this philosophical paper about what I believe the causes are and what might help to accommodate the selfishness we are facing now in New York City. Survival, cultural and parental influence, and manners are the causes why people in this city are selfish. It would be difficult to change our society with this paper, but I believe that this reflection is the best method to redirect a life from all areas and ages.

Selfishness. A personality trait that only bad people have. Incorrect. Selfishness is part of the nature of every living human being. Despite what all humans may believe selfishness is a part of all of us and is the driving force behind everything we do. In order to survive humans must be selfish and think of their own needs above other peoples. We must be selfish to our surrounding environment by using the resources essential to humans that our environment bears. Strangely enough it is often considered an insult to be called selfish.

Most of us assume that selfishness is both wrong and unhealthy. But is this true?

Divorce can significantly result in, "higher rates of school dropout, teenage pregnancy, [and] juvenile delinquency" (Berlin, CYBRARY). Children habitually imitate their parents' behavior and following a major life change such as divorce, they may attempt to release their withdrawn emotions through anger and participating in illegal activity.