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Evidence for Altruism: Toward a Pluralism of Prosocial Motives

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Abstract

Psychologists have long assumed that the motivation for all intentional action, including all action intended to benefit others, is egoistic. People benefit others because, ultimately, to do so benefits themselves. The empathy-altruism hypothesis challenges this assumption. It claims that empathic emotion evokes truly altruistic motivation, motivation with an ultimate goal of benefiting not the self but the person for whom empathy is felt. Logical and psychological distinctions between egoism and altruism are reviewed, providing a conceptual framework for empirical tests for the existence of altruism. Results of empirical tests to date are summarized; these results provide impressive support for the empathy-altruism hypothesis. We conclude that the popular and parsimonious explanation of prosocial motivation in terms of universal egoism must give way to a pluralistic explanation that includes altruism as well as egoism. Implications of such a pluralism are briefly noted, not only for our understanding of prosocial motivation but also for our understanding of human nature and of the emotion-motivation link.

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... Volunteering has long been one of the driving principles and active forms of community engagement aimed at enhancing people's quality of life [1,2]. Volunteering and philanthropy are two distinct ideas, yet they both enable us to comprehend the need for well-being among our fellow humans, as well as its impact on happiness and interdependence among members of society. ...
... Additionally, independent of age, education, or money, only social responsibility had a substantial influence on persons' willingness to donate blood [9,12,14]. As a result, the urge to give blood is related with a mix of self-assurance and self-esteem motives, as well as a high level of altruistic motivation [2,45,46]. Ferguson, Farrell and Lawrence [32] claim that attitudes and views centered on personal rather than social value predicted future blood donations. When blood donors were subjected to messages of generosity and compassion rather than selflessness and self-sacrifice, they were more likely to donate blood. ...
... Volunteerism incorporates the principles of prosocial behavior and altruism, with prosocial behavior relating to engagement and goal setting and altruism to the motivation to participate. Numerous studies argue that volunteering is connected to altruistic personality and traits such as self-esteem, generosity, extroversion, and a strong sense of obligation to others [2,56,57]. Most definitions of altruism have emphasized the value of free choice while focusing on helping "others" without pecuniary benefit. ...
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Human blood is one of the most valuable and irreplaceable goods in modern medicine. Although its necessity increases daily, one of the most significant challenges we have to overcome is a scarcity of willing blood donors. Volunteer motives and attitudes have been studied for decades, but it is now considered vital to grasp the many aspects that will increase the effectiveness of attracting new blood donors. This study focuses on the impact of emotional arousal produced by advertising messages, as well as the determining role of altruistic and egoistic incentives in deciding behavior. We also incorporated the element of personality to investigate how personality traits influence behavioral intention to donate blood. To this end, a quantitative non-experimental correlational 2 × 2 experimental design (positive vs. negative emotional appeal; altruistic vs. egoistic message) was implemented with the participation of 462 respondents who were shown a total of 12 advertisements (ads) promoting blood donation. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, with a focus on the direct impacts on donation intentions, the role of emotional arousals and attitude towards the ads as mediators and the moderating effect of the message. The empirical results of our hypotheses revealed that only Honesty-Humility had a strong direct impact on behavioral intention to donate, while Emotionality and Agreeableness did not have any direct effect. On the other hand, attitudes towards advertisements significantly and directly influenced positive and negative emotional arousals, respectively. Furthermore, if we consider these two variables alone, they can be found to exert a direct impact on BI. Mediation analysis showed that attitudes towards the advertisements and emotional arousals partially mediated the relation between Honesty-Humility and Behavioral Intention, thus confirming partial mediation. With respect to Emotionality and Agreeableness, mediation was found to be full since these factors only affected BI through a mediated path, which confirmed full mediation. Furthermore, the moderation analysis highlighted that the type of message (altruistic vs. egoistic) significantly moderated the relationship between both emotional arousals and BI. In particular, positive emotional arousal's influence is strengthened when it is aligned with altruistic messages, while negative emotional arousal's influence is weakened if it follows an altruistic message. These findings illustrate that using positive emotions will be more beneficial for increasing people's donation intentions than bringing negative ones, which implies that message framing has a hidden impact on donation decisions.
... emotional states (Decety and Jackson 2004) and, in the context of suffering or misfortune, comprises feelings of sympathy and compassion for the victims (Batson and Shaw 1991). ...
... Empathy has a cognitive component, that involves taking the other's perspective (Stotland 1969), an emotional component, sometimes referred to as "affective empathy" (Zahn-Waxler, et al. 1992), and a prosocial component that refers to the motivation to alleviate another's suffering (Batson and Shaw 1991;De Waal 2008). This final component lends empathy a crucial role in preserving social cohesion and facilitating positive interpersonal and even intergroup relations (e.g., Pliskin et al. 2014). ...
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... Altruism: Acts of selflessness and sacrifice associated with love are common features that occur in most relationships among individuals (Batson et al, 1991) . ...
... Emotional compatibility analysis is used together with predictive analytic so that dating sites can be improved and make a profit due to more customers. Through matching people with complementary emotions, these sites increase chances of success at long-term relationships (Batson et al, 1991;Fiore et al, 2008). This makes users more willing to form relationships with people whose emotions they understand and communicate well with other people. ...
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This framework considers complex emotions that can be analysed by various current technological techniques, measures, and resources available nowadays. The author postulates an evolving feedback mechanism between man’s psyche and technology development which defines man’s psychological condition as well. The dimensions of the dynamic feedback loop comprise of affective communication via technology, recognition of emotions through technology, and moderation of emotions using technology. Thought the exploration of love other possibilities for theoretical frames of system development, and systems’ needs for other emotions. Using emotion recognition technology (e.g., facial expression analysis) and sentiment analysis, these devices can recognise the users’ emotions, thereby making it possible for designers to develop user-centred designs. What makes emotional technologies exist is the requirement of combining the technologies which are highly precise and can understand the complicated traits of life. Finally, the importance of emotional technologies advancements is discussed as t is now essential to unify these technologies to reach unprecedented accuracies and studying the highest complexity of life phenomena.
... Altruism refers to voluntarily completing an activity for others' sake without anticipating a reward (Rushton, 1980;Teng et al., 2015). The concept is grounded in a worldview wherein every person is obligated to aid others as a source of happiness and to facilitate societal functioning (Batson and Shaw, 1991;Wearing et al., 2019). Altruism also entails innate concerns about others' welfare, which compels people to act without expecting anything in return (e.g. ...
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Purpose This study adopts the stimulus–organism–response model to examine relationships between the retail environment and customers’ emotions (i.e. pleasure and arousal), prestige sensitivity and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions towards two luxury retailers: Luxury Brand A and Luxury Brand B. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from a sample of 135 Chinese customers who had purchased Luxury Brand A and 130 Chinese customers who had purchased Luxury Brand B directly from each retailer. The relationships between these two retailers were compared via partial least squares–Henseler’s multi-group analysis (MGA). Findings Findings indicated that pleasure and arousal did not play mediating roles between the retail environment and WOM intention for either customer group. Prestige sensitivity did not moderate customers’ emotions about Luxury Brand A or Luxury Brand B. Altruism served as a moderator between emotions (i.e. pleasure/arousal) and WOM intention regarding Luxury Brand B but was not a significant moderator for Luxury Brand A. Additionally, MGA suggested non-significant differences between Luxury Brands A and B. Implications for the luxury retail literature and luxury marketers are provided accordingly. Originality/value This study is one of the earliest to examine the moderating roles of price sensitivity and altruism on associations between the retail environment and customers’ emotions, prestige sensitivity, and WOM intentions in a luxury retail context. An MGA of customers for Luxury Brand A and Luxury Brand B was innovatively performed to evaluate the proposed framework.
... Like automatic imitation, empathy is also assumed to be mediated by embodied simulations (Bernhardt and Singer, 2012;Decety and Jackson, 2006;Lamm et al., 2011;Lamm and Majdandžić, 2015;Preston and de Waal, 2003;Rütgen et al., 2015a;Rütgen et al., 2015b), and therefore a state of being bodily tuned in to others in the motor domain may also facilitate such simulation in the affective domain. Furthermore, prosocial behavior can be driven by increases in empathy, although it is not a necessary nor a sufficient precondition (Batson et al., 1997;Batson and Shaw, 1991;Cialdini et al., 1987). While several correlational studies have shown a link between dispositional empathy and spontaneous imitation (Chartrand and Bargh, 1999;Müller et al., 2013), there has only been one experimental study demonstrating that being imitated facilitates subsequent empathic responses (De Coster et al., 2013). ...
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Being imitated has profound effects on social affect and behavior, but it is still unclear how it produces these effects. According to one view the effects are grounded in covert movement simulations and therefore require the movements of the individuals to be bodily congruent. Yet, imitation could also have its positive effects because of the rewarding experience of perceiving temporal contingencies between one's own and others' movements, implying that these effects would also occur if the imitator's movements are temporally contingent, but not bodily congruent. In two experiments, we assessed whether bodily congruency is necessary for increasing empathy and prosocial behavior, or whether temporal contingency alone can also produce such effects. Participants made spontaneous joystick movements while engaging in a feigned webcam interaction with two confederates, one of whom made imitative movements, while the other (the control actor) made unrelated movements. In two experimental groups, we varied whether the imitator made bodily congruent or temporally contingent movements. Participants reported more affiliation to the congruent actor compared to the control actor, and conformed more to this actor's judgments. Besides, participants showed a higher skin conductance response (SCR) when perceiving the congruent actor in pain, and favored this actor in prosocial behavior, with increase in SCR predicting whether the imitator was favored. Imitation that was merely temporally contingent did not evoke such effects. Together, these findings suggest that the social effects of imitation seem grounded in motor and affective resonance processes, and that they can be selectively targeted at specific interaction partners.
... Altruistic behavior refers to actions taken without self-serving motives that provide help and benefits to others (Shaw, 1991), also known as prosocial behavior. As a positive behavioral quality, altruism can enhance one's sense of meaning and happiness in life (Moynihan et al., 2015;Van Tongeren et al., 2016). ...
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Background With the rapid development of the Internet and the widespread use of social media, online public opinion has profoundly impacted the psychology and behavior of college students. College students are in a crucial stage of psychological development and self-awareness, making them highly sensitive to online information and easily influenced by online public opinion. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional design to explore the psychological adaptation and behavioral responses of college students to online public opinion. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 2,294 college students across four universities in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, using an online questionnaire administered via Questionnaire Star. The study utilized three well-established scales: the Belief in a Just World (BJW) Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Internet Altruistic Behavior (IAB) Scale. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0, encompassing descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. Any responses with missing or inconsistent data were excluded from the analysis, ensuring a final effective response rate of 95.7%. Results Among the 2,294 participants, 60.1% were female, 56.8% were from rural areas, and 57.4% were non-only children. Univariate analysis showed significant relationships between BJW scores and gender, family economic status, parents’ attitudes, relationships with classmates, and emotional responses to negative online content (p < 0.001). CD-RISC scores were significantly related to only child status, family economic status, parents’ attitudes, relationships with classmates, and emotional responses to negative online content (p < 0.05). IAB scores were significantly related to gender, grade level, family economic status, parents’ attitudes, relationships with classmates, and emotional responses to negative online content (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed significant associations among BJW, CD-RISC, and IAB. Multiple regression analysis identified key predictors for each scale, including gender, parents’ attitudes, relationships with classmates, emotional responses to negative online content, and various other factors (p < 0.001). Conclusion In the context of online public opinion, targeted interventions by families and schools are needed to regulate the psychological and behavioral states of college students, promoting good mental health and positive behavior in the complex online environment.
... Theoretical accounts posit close links between concerns for environment and society 32 , because proenvironmental actions require individuals to weigh their selfish interests against the preservation of natural resources; the latter incurs no direct benefits for the individual but mainly for others, in particular future generations. In line with this assumption, proenvironmental behavior is correlated with compassion, which is thought to be related also to prosocial behavior [33][34][35] . Given the evidence that mindfulness training enhances empathy and compassion 36,37 , and that their neural substrates have been shown to be causally linked to proenvironmental 38 and prosocial behavior [39][40][41] , mindfulness training may therefore influence also prosociality and proenvironmental behavior mediated via its effects on compassion. ...
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Theoretical accounts posit that mindfulness promotes proenvironmental behavior. While this claim is supported by correlational findings, past intervention studies provided no evidence that enhancing mindfulness increases self-report measures of proenvironmental behavior. Here, we tested whether a 31-day mindfulness intervention strengthens preferences for proenvironmental outcomes with decision tasks involving real conflict between participants’ selfish interests and beneficial consequences for the environment. To unravel the psychological mechanisms underlying the impact of mindfulness on proenvironmental behavior, we assessed the impact of mindfulness training on prosociality and future orientation. Contrary to our hypotheses, the mindfulness intervention reduced instead of increased preferences for proenvironmental and prosocial outcomes, whereas no effects were observed on future orientation. Baseline preferences for proenvironmental and prosocial outcomes (and the intervention effects on them) were correlated, providing empirical evidence for a link between proenvironmental behavior and prosociality. Together, the current data suggest that the relationship between mindfulness and proenvironmental behavior as well as prosociality may be more complicated than assumed in the literature. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-024-79137-0.
... On the other hand, the less significant effect of CPCSR on helping and tolerance behaviors may be attributed to the higher level of moral reflection and altruistic intent required for these actions [67]. Our analysis of the data revealed that these behaviors are more closely tied to individual cultural and habitual factors, which are not solely influenced by corporate actions. ...
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The digital era has profoundly reshaped consumer behavior, with social media and e-commerce platforms revolutionizing shopping experiences. This study integrates interviews with questionnaire survey to investigate the nuanced differences in consumer citizenship behavior (CCB) across online and offline shopping contexts, as well as the influence of consumer perceived value (CPV) and consumer perceived corporate social responsibility (CPCSR). Through the use of multiple regression and permutation tests to analyze the interplay between consumer perception and CCB, the study reveals the following: (1) CPV positively influences all four dimensions of CCB, while CPCSR significantly impacts only recommendation and feedback; (2) the influence of CPV on dimensions other than recommendation and of CPCSR on dimensions other than helping varies significantly between online and offline contexts. These results enhance our understanding of consumer behavior and offer actionable insights for businesses to build and enhance consumer connections in the digital age.
... The empathy-altruism hypothesis posits that empathic emotions evoke genuine altruistic motivation (Batson and Shaw, 1991). A key research question addressed in the present study is whether "morally" loaded cues can similarly affect social judgments. ...
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Products and artifacts with morally loaded labels (e.g., environmentally friendly) appear to influence people's perceptions and behaviors. Previous studies have shown that desktop lamps labeled “environmentally friendly” can enhance perceived color discrimination and improve certain reading activities compared to a physically identical lamp labeled “conventional.” This effect may occur because people tend to align their behavior with moral principles. The present study explored the generalizability and robustness of this label effect by asking participants to make trait judgments of photographed faces. In an experimental design, participants evaluated photos illuminated by a desktop lamp that was either labeled environmentally friendly or not labeled at all. The results revealed that participants assigned more positive traits to individuals in the photographs when the lamp was labeled “environmentally friendly,” particularly those with high altruistic values. The pattern was reversed for participants with low altruistic values. Moreover, participants rated the light from the lamp labeled “environmentally friendly” as more comfortable and claimed that the light increased (perceived) visibility. In conclusion, the source of the light—whether from an environmentally friendly or conventional lamp—affects both the evaluation of the light itself and the judgments made about other individuals. This study explores theoretical explanations for these label effects and discusses their potential implications for pro-environmental interventions.
... Individualism may appear to isolate dedication or altruism, but altruism serves as a dependable route for transcending egoism. While not everyone may consistently act altruistically, opting for this path is often less stressful than perceived [99]. From this perspective, we observe the misfortunes of others while unconsciously downplaying our own challenges. ...
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Contemporary scholars have separated artificial intelligence (AI) from utilitarianism, which represents instrumental rationality, and have shifted toward the Responsibility and Virtue Ethics of practical rationality. The Strong and Weak Accountability AI embodies abstract freedom and presupposes human nature; however, the collective policies formed by it often conflict with individuality, being either unchangeable or ineffective in shaping individuality. Without addressing inherited structural drawbacks or challenging oppressive social norms, it is difficult to expect a Virtue AI to promote an established good life. This article proposes AI, through the instrumental rationality embodied in utilitarianism, broadens the conditions for understanding moral purposes. AI should be viewed as a tool, rather than the ultimate solution. Prioritizing history does not lie in contemplating the potential crisis posed by machines manipulating agents, but rather in highlighting the reality of whether AI’s specific feedback to humans is open, transparent, and consonant with human rights. Utilitarianism AI presents morally open structures that are manifested through social adjustments, the physical realm of emotional conflicts, and the physiological foundations underpinning self-motivation.
... Humans are intuitively prosocial and altruistic (Batson & Shaw, 1991;Zaki & Mitchell, 2013). Yet they are often unmoved by widespread problems, a fact that has perplexed psychologists for decades (Slovic, 2010;Slovic et al., 2007;Small et al., 2007). ...
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Across 15 studies (N = 2,636), people who considered the prevalence of a problem (e.g., 4.2 million people drive drunk each month) inferred it caused less harm, a phenomenon we dub the big problem paradox. People believed dire problems—ranging from poverty to drunk driving—were less problematic upon learning the number of people they affect (Studies 1–2). Prevalence information caused medical experts to infer medication nonadherence was less dangerous, just as it led women to underestimate their true risk of contracting cancer. The big problem paradox results from an optimistic view of the world. When people believe the world is good, they assume widespread problems have been addressed and, thus, cause less harm (Studies 3–4). The big problem paradox has key implications for motivation and helping behavior (Studies 5–6). Learning the prevalence of medical conditions (i.e., chest pain, suicidal ideation) led people to think a symptomatic individual was less sick and, as a result, to help less—in violation of clinical guidelines. The finding that scale warps judgments and de-motivates action is of particular relevance in the globalized 21st century.
... Altruism, as the last concept incorporated in the study, is also an essential value in the Indonesian culture. Despite having different definition by subfield, we generally view altruism as "a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing another's welfare" (Batson & Shaw, 1991). It also relates to high levels of selflessness in people, where they would be more willing to help others in times of need. ...
... Research conducted by Zaki (2019) has shown that persons who possess a greater degree of empathetic concern are more inclined to participate in acts of assistance, thereby demonstrating the significant influence of empathy in social interactions. Experimental findings have demonstrated a causal link between empathy and altruism, as seen by greater prosocial behaviors resulting from manipulations of empathetic experiences (Batson & Shaw, 2019). These findings confirm the significance of developing empathy in order to promote a society that is more cooperative and compassionate, both in theory and in practice. ...
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This study investigates the impact of different personality qualities, namely Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and empathy, on prosocial behavior in a sample of 322 adults. The study employed a quantitative research methodology to examine personality traits and prosocial behavior using self-reported measures. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were then conducted to determine the predictive potential of these traits. The examination of levels of prosocial conduct indicated that a majority of individuals displayed elevated tendencies towards engaging in prosocial actions. Similarly, the distribution of personality traits exhibited elevated scores mostly in the dimensions of Conscientiousness and Openness. Correlation research revealed notable positive associations between prosocial conduct and the majority of personality qualities, with empathy being the most prominent factor. Importantly, there was no significant correlation observed between Neuroticism and prosocial conduct. The results of the multiple regression analysis highlighted the importance of empathy in predicting prosocial conduct, transcending the impact of other personality qualities. The regression model explained a significant amount of the variation in prosocial behavior, demonstrating the powerful ability of empathy in conjunction with specific personality traits to make accurate predictions. The study emphasizes the crucial role of empathy in cultivating prosocial behaviors, indicating that interventions targeting the improvement of empathetic abilities could be successful in encouraging prosocial activities in different situations.
... Indeed, research has widely demonstrated that empathy towards outgroup members is associated with helping behaviour towards the whole outgroup (Batson et al., 1997). For example, empathy towards refugees and migrants is associated with prosocial behaviour towards them (Cameron et al., 2019) and a desire to promote social justice and equality (Batson & Shaw, 1991;Eisenberg & Miller, 1987;Staub, 1978). Therefore, in the current research we tested whether empathy mediates associations between intergroup contact and help towards Ukrainian refugees. ...
Article
The escalation of the Russian–Ukrainian conflict has forced many Ukrainian people to leave their country seeking safety and support. To date, more than 6 million of refugees have crossed the borders into neighbouring countries. Nearly all European countries were involved in refugee‐hosting, including Italy. In a cross‐sectional study with Italian respondents ( N = 338), we examined direct contact with and empathy towards Ukrainians and identification with Europe as predictors of helping behaviours towards Ukrainian refugees. Specifically, based on intergroup contact theory, we expected contact to be associated with helping behaviours via increased empathy. The European identity, rooted in values such as tolerance and egalitarianism can be seen as a common ingroup that includes people from various European countries, including Ukrainians. Consequently, it should be associated with helping behaviours, and could boost the effects of contact and empathy. As hypothesised, identification with Europe boosted the direct effect of contact on helping behaviours. Instead, the indirect effect of contact on helping behaviours via empathy was significant only among respondents with low Identification with Europe. This research highlights processes related to intergroup helping behaviours and, more specifically, participation in humanitarian initiatives favouring Ukrainian refugees. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement .
... Altruism is a motivational drive aimed at enhancing the well-being of individuals other than oneself [62]. Altruistic consumers engage in online sharing of information and opinions without anticipating any form of reward [63]. ...
... One leading theoretical perspective suggests that humans are inherently selfish, but through deliberate, effortful control this tendency toward self-maximizing can be inhibited in favor of costly cooperative behaviors (Trivers, 1971;Stevens and Hauser, 2004). Alternative models propose that cooperation is intrinsically motivated (Batson and Shaw, 1991;Hoffman, 2000;Warneken and Tomasello, 2009), largely intuitive, and independent of effortful control (Rand et al., 2012;Zaki and Mitchell, 2013). Importantly, framing the question of the nature of cooperative decision making as originating from either intuitive or deliberate cognitive processes overlooks the fact that cooperation comes in many forms, and in all probability both processes are important determinants of cooperative behavior with the relative contribution varying considerably across cooperative types and contexts. ...
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The relative contribution of intuitive and reflective cognitive systems in cooperative decision making is a topic of hot debate. Research with adults suggests that intuition often favors cooperation, but these effects are contextually sensitive. Emerging evidence has shown that in many contexts children show a tendency toward intuitive cooperation, but research investigating these processes in children is sparse and has produced mixed findings. In the current study we investigated the influence of intuitive and reflective decision processes on children’s fairness behavior by manipulating decision time. We tested (N = 158) pairs of children between 4 and 10 years of age from a rural community in Canada. Children’s decisions to accept or reject allocations of candies were either made under time pressure or after a 10-s delay. We assessed the impact of decision time on children’s aversion to inequitable distributions of resources by comparing their responses to equal allocations with either disadvantageous allocations or advantageous allocations. We found that children showed a greater age-related increase in advantageous inequity aversion when decisions were made under time pressure compared to when they were made after a delay. In contrast, we did not observe a significant impact of decision time on the development of disadvantageous inequity aversion. These findings suggest that intuitive decision processes may contribute to the development of fairness concerns in middle childhood.
... This research suggests that empathy is a complex construct involving different cognitive, neurobiological and personal developmental processes. The www.nature.com/scientificreports/ said research also suggests that different types of empathy may have different functions in social and emotional life 3,65,66,74,75 . ...
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Empathy and assertiveness are two essential soft skills for any healthcare professional's competence and ethical development. It has been shown that empathy can be influenced throughout the training of a future healthcare professional, particularly during the clinical placement period. This research aims to assess fourth-year physiotherapy students' empathic and assertive development before and after clinical placement. A longitudinal observational study was conducted with fourth-year physiotherapy students during the academic year 2022/2023. A preliminary assessment of empathy and assertiveness levels was carried out before the start of the clinical placement and at the end of the placement using the Individual Reactivity Index to assess empathy and the Rathus Test to assess assertiveness. The results show a statistically significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in both the empathy subscales of perspective-taking and empathic-concern between the pre- and postassessment, as well as an inverse correlation between the empathy subscale of personal distress and assertiveness. It is concluded that students show adequate results in empathy and assertiveness. However, there is some influence of clinical practice on the development of empathy, and future intervention studies need to be considered. Furthermore, students with higher levels of assertiveness have lower levels of personal distress, suggesting that assertiveness is closely related to empathy.
... H. Davis, 2018;Hawk et al., 2011;Hoffman, 1985Hoffman, , 2008Loewenstein & Small, 2007), and we conceptualize empathy demand as the extent to which an individual wants a counterpart to experience the emotions they are feeling. Given that empathy is closely associated with helping behavior (Batson & Shaw, 1991;Batson et al., 1981;Bohns & Flynn, 2021;Coke et al., 1978), empathy demand is likely to be high in contexts where an individual wants sympathy and help from their counterpart, such as when the individual experiences an adverse event, distress, or has little control. ...
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As organizations continue to supplement and replace human management with artificial intelligence (AI), it is essential that we understand the factors that influence employees’ trust in AI management. Across one preregistered field study, where we survey 400 delivery riders in Mainland China, and three preregistered experiments (total N = 2,350), we find that AI management is perceived as less benevolent than human management. Given that benevolence is an important antecedent of trust in leaders, this perception has a negative effect on trust in AI management, even when controlling for perceived ability and integrity. Employees prefer human management to AI management in high empathy demand contexts, where individuals seek management that can empathize and experience the emotions that they are feeling, as opposed to low empathy demand contexts. These findings deepen our understanding of trust and provide important theoretical and practical insights on the implementation and adoption of AI management.
... Altruism entails the principle and actions of caring about the welfare and joy of fellow humans or animals. Altruistic actions, categorized among such behaviors and falling within the realm of prosocial behaviors, typically stem from voluntary intentions by individuals driven by the ultimate aim of enhancing the well-being of others [1]. ...
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Altruism entails the principle and actions of caring about the welfare and joy of fellow humans or animals. Previous studies have been conducted on altruism and altruism, which has been a moral question studied by psychologists for a long time. This paper shows the literature review of many specific aspects of altruism. It presents the definition and basic descriptions of altruism with altruistic behaviors of people, diverse types of altruism with specific examples in our daily life, different explanations about the motivations of people to form altruistic behaviors, current evidence conducted around human infants to support the existence of pure altruism, as well as several researches on the effect of gender difference in the area. The results can inspire the practice and research of altruism. Based on these results, by better understanding altruism, we may apply altruism in our lives in a better way.
... Empathy stands out as a classic other-oriented motivation in determining altruistic behaviors, as evidenced by prior research [11,54]. Scholars often differentiate between empathy and sympathy, highlighting empathy's emphasis on transpersonal thinking and identification with the other person, while sympathy involves concern from a third-party perspective [55]. ...
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Identified as an increasingly pivotal aspect, the benevolent extra-role characteristic of community citizenship behavior contributes to destination development efficiency and social cohesion. Based on the egoistic–altruistic motivation framework, this study investigated three motivations that propel residents to exercise community citizenship behaviors in a positive social contact context, namely self-focused, other-focused, and place-focused motivation. A conceptual model combined with positive contact, personal benefit, sympathetic understanding, place identity, and community citizenship behavior was developed and tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) through data from 366 residents in Kaifeng, China. The findings showed that of the three motivations for community citizenship behaviors, place identity contributed the most, and personal benefits failed to predict community citizenship behaviors. Furthermore, sympathetic understanding with tourists was most fostered by residents from the perception of positive contact with tourists. These findings offer a novel theoretical framework for scholarly investigation and provide practical insights for tourism managers regarding strategies to influence residents’ community citizenship behavior.
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This research examines how exposure to different motives of scientists affects the impact of scientific consensus on public attitudes toward cultured meat. While scientific consensus on the safety of cultured meat generally increased positive attitudes toward it, this effect depended on information about scientists’ motives. Exposure to information about scientists’ financial motives weakened the positive effect of scientific consensus because it undermined trust in scientists. Information about scientists’ prosocial motives did not influence the scientific consensus effect. These findings suggest that perceived motives can shift trust in experts, thereby affecting the influence of experts on public attitudes.
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Purpose This study aims to explore how the three dimensions of karma – karmic duty orientation, indifference to rewards and equanimity – influence empathy and moral obligation, with implications for social economics. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted on a valid sample of 401 university students in Vietnam, using hierarchical regression to test formulated hypotheses. Findings The analysis reveals that karmic duty orientation and indifference to rewards significantly enhance empathy and moral obligation, indicating that individuals with a strong sense of moral duty and intrinsic motivation are more likely to engage in ethical and pro-social behaviors. Equanimity was not found to impact empathy or moral obligation significantly. Practical implications Organizations and policymakers should focus on cultivating moral duties, intrinsic motivations and resilience in ethical behavior to promote social responsibility and sustainability and ensure long-term social and economic stability. Originality/value This study contributes to social economics by integrating ethical dimensions of karma into the analysis of moral behavior, offering a fresh perspective that challenges traditional economic models centered on self-interest. The research provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how moral principles influence economic decisions and social outcomes.
Chapter
In this era of technological advancement, the once-clear distinction between human intelligence and artificial intelligence is becoming blurred. From Google's search engine to Alexa, artificial intelligence has captured many aspects of our lives. With the involvement of robots and artificial intelligence in our lives, one needs to ponder upon the implications of human-robot interactions and understand artificial intelligence better as robots are becoming a significant part of our living and working alongside humans, especially in the health care domain. This gaining dependability of humans on robots poses a question: can such a ‘care Bot' really care without having genuine emotions? Can we distinguish between robots and humans? Can human interaction with robots be the same as human-human interaction? The concept that weaves humans together is the concept of 'trust'; does this concept prevail in human-robot relationships? Can the active participation of robots in society make them social robots? Can we call them social robots?
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Purpose This study explores how egoism and altruism as knowledge sharing motivations influence consumers’ electronic word of mouth (eWOM) intentions on food platforms. It also investigates the interaction effect of egoism and altruism on eWOM intentions through attitude toward use (ATU). Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with 523 consumers who posted reviews on Taiwan’s two leading food platforms. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to examine the relationships between knowledge sharing motivations, ATU, and eWOM intentions. Findings Egoism and altruism influence eWOM intentions through ATU, with altruism having a more substantial impact. Their interaction further enhances the positive relationship between ATU and eWOM intentions. Originality/value This study fills the empirical gap by demonstrating the interaction effect of egoism and altruism on eWOM intentions. It highlights the role of intrinsic motivations in shaping consumer behavior on digital platforms and offers insights for businesses aiming to foster consumer engagement.
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Aim of the study: Present research aimed to find out the relationship between moral perfectionism (self-oriented moral perfectionism & socially prescribed moral perfectionism), moral judgment, altruism and forgiveness in young adults. It was hypothesized that socially prescribed and self-oriented moral perfectionism would positively predict moral judgment, altruism and forgiveness. Mediating role of moral judgment between moral perfectionism, altruism and forgiveness was also hypothesized. Methodology: Cross sectional research design was used in this research. Probability random sampling strategy was used to approach a sample of 200 (Men=100, Women=100) young adults with the age range of 20-25 years old (M=21.53, SD=1.31). To measure moral perfectionism, moral perfectionism scale, and adapted version of parental expectation scale of Frost multidimensional perfectionism scale were used. Further, moralization of everyday life scale, Forgiveness scale and adapted self-report altruism scale were used to measure moral judgment, forgiveness and altruism. Findings: Structural equation modeling through AMOS indicated SOMP as a negative predictor of forgiveness and SPMP a positive predictor of altruism and forgiveness whereas no prediction was found for moral judgment. Further, Moral judgment didn’t predict altruism and forgiveness. Conclusion: overall the study highlights the significance of both self-oriented and socially prescribed moral perfectionism in shaping moral behaviors. It suggests that personal and social standards together provide a deeper understanding of moral actions, particularly in terms of altruism and forgiveness. The implications of the study are discussed with its application in counseling, educational, social and moral psychology.
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Purpose This study proposes and tests a model to analyse whether achievement, social and immersion motivational affordances embedded in gamified review platforms motivate consumers to altruistically create content in the post-consumption stage. Design/methodology/approach We used data from a sample of 343 reviewers and employed SmartPLS to test the research model. Findings Findings revealed that, while achievement affordances (i.e. points, levels and badges) have no significant effect, immersion affordances (i.e. avatars) and more especially, social affordances (i.e. receiving helpful votes from readers and having followers) are key for review platforms, as they drive consumers to develop pure, reciprocal and competitive forms of altruism, which, in turn, motivate them to create content. Research limitations/implications This study examines the antecedents and consequences of altruistic purpose in the context of gamified review platforms by proposing research questions aimed at eliciting the effects of achievement, social and immersion affordances on altruism, and by providing the first empirical evidence for these paths. Practical implications This study provides practical guidance on how review platforms can implement social and immersion affordances to foster altruism and, ultimately, promote user-generated content in the form of comments, photos and videos. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first to develop a model to predict whether gamification affordances promote forms of altruism that result in user-generated content. The findings will improve practitioners’ strategies by focussing on social and immersion motivational affordances.
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Abstact This work examines the relationship between mind and social order. It raises such questions as: What is mind? What is social order? Is there any relationship between mind and social order? If there is, what is the nature of that relationship? The work therefore, discusses various mental idiosyncracies and show the ways in which they impart on social order. It shows that the nature of the social order prevalent in a place is a direct reflection of the nature of the mental idiosyncracies that the people in the place posses.
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Nuanced portrayals of stigmatized groups in media have been shown to reduce prejudice. In an online experiment (N = 749), we tested whether a feature film depicting incarcerated peoples’ experiences in the criminal justice system can increase a) empathic accuracy and compassion toward people who have been incarcerated and b) support for criminal justice reform. We measured baseline empathic accuracy via a well-validated task, where participants infer the emotions of people sharing stories about difficult life events. All storytellers were formerly incarcerated and students. However, in half the videos we labeled them as “formerly incarcerated” and in the remaining half as “college student.” We then surveyed people’s baseline attitudes toward criminal justice reform. Next, we assigned participants to watch one of three films. The intervention film chronicled the true stories of Black men on death row. Two docudramas of similar length served as control films. Finally, participants completed the empathic accuracy task and survey again and were given the opportunity to sign a petition. Compared to those who watched a control film, participants who watched the intervention film more accurately inferred the emotions of storytellers labeled “formerly incarcerated,” and increased their support for criminal justice reform. These effects held for conservative and liberal participants alike. However, the film had no effect on feelings of compassion. Together, these results demonstrate the power of narrative interventions to not only increase empathic accuracy for members of a severely stigmatized group, but to increase support for reforms designed to improve their lives.
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Underpinned by intersectionality theory, this study deciphered female Muslims’ tourism experiences associated with gendered practice of familial caretaking, which was amplified by Islamic cultural practices of huqooq-ul-ibaad representing collectivist welfare; males’ qawamum role as financial maintainer socialising females into caretaker and virtue ethics of akhlaaq reinforcing feminist care ethics. Religion influences ambivalent discourse of caretaking and tourism, involving positive and negative experiences of separateness and togetherness with family. Traditionally, familial caretaking is prioritised over tourism, while contemporary familial caretaking is executed through tourism (i.e., regular caretaking, tourism as form of familial care). Contemporary female Muslims are empowered through tourism to focus on self-care and gender equality in caretaking, which also emphasised alternative Islamic perspectives (e.g. Rabbatul-bait positioning as queen of the house unlike subordination). This study unveiled cultural similarities and differences in female Muslims from a religious-minority context. Tourism stakeholders are encouraged to accommodate cultural diversities and address caretaking constraints.
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This mixed-methods study explored the impact of cinematic virtual reality (CVR) on seventh-grade students (n = 66) in a school library. The research was comprised of two phases, integrating data from questionnaires and student/teacher interviews. The study focused on The Displaced, a documentary about child refugees, presented in two formats: two-dimensionally (2D) on Chromebooks and in CVR through Oculus Go headsets. Students reported the immersion, agency, and presence experienced in CVR increased engagement and comprehension, while fostering empathy and desires for altruistic behavior. Teachers recognized CVR's potential as an effective instructional tool and planned to integrate it in future instruction.
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Charitable organizations are increasingly soliciting donors to engage in word-of-mouth (WOM) as a strategy to foster future contributions. While some organizations encourage donors to share WOM that focuses on their own donations (donor-focused WOM; e.g., “I just donated to the kids of @StJude. Join me in saving children’s lives.”), others prompt donors to share WOM that focuses on the organization itself (charity-focused WOM; e.g., “Smile Train gives children with clefts the #PowerOfASmile.”). Contrary to the common belief that people mostly want to talk about themselves, the current research demonstrates that donor-focused WOM backfires, such that donors are less likely to share donor- than charity-focused WOM. This effect is driven by their belief that donor-focused WOM is less altruistic and is therefore less efficacious in persuading others to contribute to the same cause. In addition to sharing, the type of WOM solicited exerts far-reaching impact, with donor-focused WOM attracting fewer new donors in comparison to charity-focused WOM. Together, the current research improves the understanding of WOM type, its effect, and the underlying processes.
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This chapter presents a nuanced exploration of human nature and the complexities of morality within the framework of spiritual Jewish criminology, blending ancient wisdom with contemporary insights. It delves into the inherent tension between good and evil, drawing from diverse philosophical and religious perspectives. Through a metaphorical pyramid model, it elucidates the journey from egocentricity and materialism toward alterocentricity and spirituality, emphasizing the transformative power of ethical choices. The discussion navigates theological concepts such as free will, highlighting the role of upbringing and education in shaping moral character. Evil is portrayed as a catalyst for spiritual growth, existing in relation to the absence of good and underscored by human choice. This chapter highlights the responsibility of individuals in moral decision-making, advocating for repentance and personal accountability. By synthesizing Jewish religious teachings with criminological insights, the chapter offers a holistic paradigm for understanding criminality and suggests pathways toward individual transformation and societal harmony.
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La Teoría de los Fundamentos Morales (MFT) de Haidt y cols. es posiblemente la teoría de Psicología Moral que más impacto académico ha tenido en este siglo. Dicha teoría plantea un modelo para la moral humana compuesto de cinco grandes categorías o fundamentos morales, Cuidado/Daño, Justicia/engaño, Lealtad/Traición, Autoridad/Subversión y Pureza/Degradación. Según la MFT, cada fundamento moral constituiría un conjunto de intuiciones morales que ya estarían presentes de forma muy rudimentaria desde el nacimiento, pero que se desarrollarían dialécticamente con la estructura moral del grupo en el cual el individuo evoluciona desde la infancia. Este proceso llevaría a la emergencia y evolución de configuraciones morales específicas para cada grupo, llamadas matrices morales, que serían compartidas por sus miembros, y que serían significativamente diferentes a las configuraciones morales de otros grupos, lo cual facilitaría la aparición de ciertos conflictos o prejuicios intergrupales. Por ejemplo, para la MFT, mientras que los liberales mostrarían una matriz moral compuesta principalmente por los fundamentos de Cuidado/Daño y Justicia/Engaño, los conservadores mostrarían una matriz moral en la que los cinco fundamentos tendrían la misma importancia. Las hipótesis realizadas por la MFT acerca de las diferencias entre liberales y conservadores han sido objeto de gran interés por la comunidad académica, y ha producido una gran cantidad de evidencia empírica a su favor, tanto dentro como fuera de EEUU. El éxito de la MFT también ha traído consigo numerosas críticas, dirigidas tanto a la validez de sus hipótesis, como también a sus propios presupuestos teóricos. No obstante, y pese a la visibilidad que ha adquirido la MFT, tanto respecto a la evidencia empírica recogida en su marco, como en el número de críticas recibidas, no ha habido ningún estudio que haya tratado de comprobar los presupuestos de la MFT utilizando análisis alternativos de los datos generados por sus autores. Por ejemplo, pese 13 a que las críticas de índole metodológica referidas a la fiabilidad de la MFQ30 (alfas, índices de ajuste, número de factores del modelo) han sido numerosas, la conveniencia de utilizar el análisis factorial en el seno de un modelo categorial para comprobar que las personas se agrupan en torno a configuraciones específicas, no ha sido puesto en duda, a día de hoy, por ningún investigador. Por ello, el objetivo de esta tesis ha sido doble. En primer lugar, se ha tratado de comprobar desde una perspectiva metodológica rigurosa los presupuestos de la MFT. Si la MFT presupone la emergencia de grupos morales específicos, es necesario utilizar una metodología de clase latente y/o perfil latente para comprobar si dicha emergencia se produce. En segundo lugar, esta tesis ha tratado de acumular evidencias de validez de una estructura latente alternativa a la de las cinco categorías de la MFT, que tenga sustantividad teórica, y que resuelva algunas de las críticas más importantes recibidas por la MFT. Estos objetivos se han llevado a cabo con éxito a través de ocho estudios empíricos, en los cuales, se ha acumulado evidencia a favor de dos conclusiones fundamentales: (1) Las matrices morales, tal y como las plantea la MFT, posiblemente no existen. (2) Las personas no se agrupan en configuraciones morales específicas, ni en torno a una serie de categorías morales concretas, sino que parecen ordenarse en dos dimensiones morales generales, Moralismo General y Orientación Moral, que superan la distinción categorial planteada por la MFT.
Article
Purpose Prior research on user-generated content (UGC) contributions has primarily focused on self-centered or other-centered motives, paying limited attention to the concept of enlightened self-interest, in which both motives coexist in a single organism. Additionally, the factors influencing enlightened self-interest and their effects in different circumstances are yet to be explored. Drawing on theoretical lenses rooted in the switching barriers perspective and stimulus–organism–response framework, this study posits that dedication-based switching barriers (community–member relationship quality, member–member relationship quality, and content attractiveness) positively relate to enlightened self-interest, whereas constraint-based switching barriers (switching costs) moderate the relationship between dedication-based switching barriers and enlightened self-interest in social media communities (SMCs). Members' enlightened self-interest in turn influences both the creation and co-creation of UGC. Design/methodology/approach This study comprised two quantitative studies: an online survey-based study (Study 1) and an online scenario-based experiment (Study 2). Study 1 surveyed 613 respondents, while Study 2 included 749 participants. Both studies employed structural equation modeling and bootstrapping techniques for analysis. Findings The findings indicate that dedication-based switching barriers positively affect users' enlightened self-interest, which in turn is positively associated with UGC creation and co-creation. Switching costs moderate the relationship between relationship quality (community–member and member–member) and enlightened self-interest. Originality/value This study complements the current understanding of how the association between dedication- and constraint-based switching barriers and users' enlightened self-interests influence user-generated contributions.
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Çalışmanın amacı, kurumlarda işyeri nezaketsizliğine maruz kalmanın, çalışanların işte kendilerini yetiştirmeleri üzerindeki etkilerini tespit etmektir. Bu bağlamda işyeri nezaketsizliğinin, çalışanların yaptıkları işte kendilerini yetiştirmeleri üzerindeki etkisi ortaya konularak, bu ilişkide psikolojik sahiplenmenin ve örgütsel özdeşleşmenin nasıl bir role sahip oldukları belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışmada, çalışanların işlerinde kendilerini yetiştirme çabalarına yönelik maruz kaldıkları nezaketsiz davranışların etkisine bakılmıştır. Bununla beraber, işletmelerde psikolojik sahiplenmenin düzenleyici rolü çerçevesinde, işyeri nezaketsizliği, örgütsel özdeşleşme ve işte kendini yetiştirme arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın evreni Kütahya’daki alışveriş merkezleri çalışanlarından oluşmaktadır. Çalışmanın örneklemi tesadüfi örneklem yöntemiyle belirlenmiş olup, çevrimiçi anket yöntemiyle 324 çalışandan verilerin toplanması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde SPSS 23 ve AMOS 24’ten yararlanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında güvenilirlik, faktör, korelasyon ve regresyon analizleri uygulanmıştır. Regresyon analizi sonucunda işyerinde maruz kalınan nezaketsiz davranışların, çalışanların işte kendilerini yetiştirmeleri üzerinde olumsuz ve anlamlı bir etkisi bulunduğu belirlenmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra, bu ilişkide örgütsel özdeşleşmenin aracı etkisi, psikolojik sahiplenmenin ise düzenleyici bir rolü olduğu bulgularına da erişilmiştir.
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Çalışmanın amacı, kurumlarda işyeri nezaketsizliğine maruz kalmanın, çalışanların işte kendilerini yetiştirmeleri üzerindeki etkilerini tespit etmektir. Bu bağlamda işyeri nezaketsizliğinin, çalışanların yaptıkları işte kendilerini yetiştirmeleri üzerindeki etkisi ortaya konularak, bu ilişkide psikolojik sahiplenmenin ve örgütsel özdeşleşmenin nasıl bir role sahip oldukları belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışmada, çalışanların işlerinde kendilerini yetiştirme çabalarına yönelik maruz kaldıkları nezaketsiz davranışların etkisine bakılmıştır. Bununla beraber, işletmelerde psikolojik sahiplenmenin düzenleyici rolü çerçevesinde, işyeri nezaketsizliği, örgütsel özdeşleşme ve işte kendini yetiştirme arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın evreni Kütahya’daki alışveriş merkezleri çalışanlarından oluşmaktadır. Çalışmanın örneklemi tesadüfi örneklem yöntemiyle belirlenmiş olup, çevrimiçi anket yöntemiyle 324 çalışandan verilerin toplanması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde SPSS 23 ve AMOS 24’ten yararlanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında güvenilirlik, faktör, korelasyon ve regresyon analizleri uygulanmıştır. Regresyon analizi sonucunda işyerinde maruz kalınan nezaketsiz davranışların, çalışanların işte kendilerini yetiştirmeleri üzerinde olumsuz ve anlamlı bir etkisi bulunduğu belirlenmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra, bu ilişkide örgütsel özdeşleşmenin aracı etkisi, psikolojik sahiplenmenin ise düzenleyici bir rolü olduğu bulgularına da erişilmiştir.
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Previous studies have explored the relationship between humility and subjective well-being, but have given limited attention to the correlation between cognitive aspect of humility, known as intellectual humility, and subjective well-being. Understanding the underlying mechanisms that drive this relationship is essential. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between humility, intellectual humility, and subjective well-being, with a focus on whether altruistic attitudes and prosocialness mediated the relationship. An online questionnaire was administered to a total of 231 participants to assess their levels for these variables. The results showed that prosocialness mediated the relationship between humility, intellectual humility, and subjective well-being. However, the hypothesized mediation effect of altruistic attitudes was not supported. In conclusion, the results indicated that high levels of humility and intellectual humility in an individual could increase prosocialness, which in turn, enhanced subjective well-being.
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Most left-behind children in rural China are raised by their grandparents, whose parenting style significantly impacts children’s development. This study examined the association between grandparents’ violent discipline and left-behind children’s school bullying. This cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 462 left-behind children aged 10 to 15 years old (Age Mean = 12.372, 49.351% girls) from four rural primary and junior high schools in Chongqing, China. There was a significant positive association between corporal punishment (β = .236, p < .001) and psychological aggression (β = .272, p < .001) of grandparents and children’s school bullying. Empathy and moral disengagement mediate the above association. Cross-gender comparisons indicated that corporal punishment had a greater positive relationship with school bullying in boys than girls (β girls = .154, p < .01; β boys = .250, p < .001). At the same time, boys’ moral disengagement was also more likely to lead to school bullying (β girls = .233, p < .001; β boys = .337, p < .001). We discuss the implications of these findings for preventing bullying in schools for children left behind.
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Antecedentes: Actualmente, la profesión militar es ardua y perseverante, llena de sacrificios basados en el deber que demanda la nación. Ello conlleva que sus miembros, en ocasiones, estén sometidos a presiones psicológicas que les podrían ocasionar problemas psicosociales, afectando a sus competencias y/o habilidades, así como a sus relaciones interpersonales. Objetivo General: Analizar los constructos psicológicos de: inteligencia emocional, empatía, resiliencia y autoestima en personal militar perteneciente al Ejército de Tierra español. De este Objetivo General, se desprenden los siguientes Objetivos Específicos: 1) Conocer si existen diferencias de medias entre nivel de inteligencia emocional, empatía, resiliencia y autoestima según: género, consumo de alcohol diario, consumo de tabaco, participación en misiones internacionales, estado civil, escala militar, número de años de servicio militar, nivel de estudios, y tiempo de finalización de la última misión internacional; 2) Explorar la relación entre inteligencia emocional, empatía, resiliencia y autoestima, en relación con la edad, número de hijos/as y número de misiones internacionales realizadas; y 3) Conocer la influencia de la resiliencia sobre la inteligencia emocional, empatía y autoestima, y cómo influye la resiliencia, empatía y autoestima sobre la inteligencia emocional. Método: La muestra estuvo compuesta por N = 739 militares pertenecientes a las tres escalas del ejército (oficiales, suboficiales y militares profesionales de tropa y marinería), de edades comprendidas entre los 18 y 66 años. Los cuestionarios utilizados fueron: a) un cuestionario elaborado ad-hoc para conocer los datos sociodemográficos; y para la medida de los constructos psicológicos: b) el Inventario de Inteligencia Emocional EQ-i-M20; c) el The Interpersonal Reactivity Index para la empatía; d) la Escala de Resiliencia The Resilience Scale; e) la Escala de Autoestima Self-Esteem Scale. Respecto a las técnicas de análisis para las diferentes variables, se llevaron a cabo: estadísticos descriptivos, prueba t de Student, correlación de Pearson, prueba ANOVA, análisis de regresión (logística, lineal simple y lineal múltiple), scatter plot, análisis clúster bietápico y análisis de efectos directos e indirectos. Resultados: Entre los resultados obtenidos, se reportó la correlación significativa entre inteligencia emocional, empatía, resiliencia y autoestima, presentando mayor nivel el personal militar que no consumía alcohol diariamente. La inteligencia emocional estaba explicada por la empatía, resiliencia y autoestima. Los análisis de mediación simple reportaron que la resiliencia mediaba sobre el factor Estado de Ánimo General de la inteligencia emocional y el componente Toma de Perspectiva de la habilidad empática. Conclusión: Los resultados obtenidos permiten postular que los constructos estudiados influyen en la mejora del bienestar en el personal militar del Ejército de Tierra español actual, por lo que es importante que se tengan en cuenta para el diseño de futuros programas de intervención en la institución militar.
Article
Are attributions of motives for prosocial behaviour modulated by the actor's wealth? We provide evidence for people attributing higher reputational motives to rich prosocial actors than poor ones across four studies. This effect persists across different kinds of prosocial behaviours, including helping (Study 1), volunteering (Study 2), and donating money (Studies 3–4). Furthermore, rich (vs. poor) prosocial actors are perceived to be less likely to be driven by altruistic motives and to have lower moral character than poor actors (Studies 2–3). Attribution of reputational motives and altruistic motives mediates the effect of target wealth on the perception of moral character (Study 2–3). Study 4 demonstrates that the judgement gap disappears when reputational benefits are implausible: voluntary privacy eliminates the wealth‐based gap in motive attributions and judgement of moral character. These findings highlight that suspicion of motives prevents people from giving credit to rich prosocial actors. The implications for understanding motive inferences and prosocial credit are also discussed.
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The present experiment investigated whether empathic concern produces an egoistic motivation to reduce one's own distress or an altruistic motivation to reduce another person's distress. Subjects (N = 120) were exposed to a person in distress and instructed either to observe the victim's reaction (personal distress) or to imagine the victim's feelings (empathic concern). In addition, half of the subjects were led to believe that their mood was temporarily fixed (i.e., unalterable), whereas the other half were led to believe that their moods were labile and, therefore, manageable. Ease of escape without helping (easy or difficult) was also manipulated. Consistent with previous work supporting the empathy-altruism model, subjects in easy escape/personal distress conditions (based on assignment to conditions and on an internal analysis) helped less than did subjects in the easy escape/empathic concern, difficult escape/personal distress, and difficult escape/empathic concern conditions. Beliefs about the lability of one's own mood did not significantly mediate the relationship between empathic concern and helping. These results suggest that, at least when helping is not personally costly, concern about another person's distress rather than about one's own emotional state, can be the primary motivation for helping.
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In several incidents, of which the Kitty Genovese tragedy is the best known and best publicized, bystanders have watched without offering assistance while other humans have suffered and even died. In the Genovese case, thirty-eight persons witnessed a woman being repeatedly stabbed; not one intervened, not one called the police.
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We live in a social arena. Yet, in our interactions with others do we ever really care about them, or is the real target of our concern always, exclusively ourselves? For many years psychology, including social psychology, has assumed that we are social egoists, caring exclusively for ourselves. Today, the computer analogy that underlies so much thinking in cognitive and social psychology overlooks the fact that we care altogether. Recent evidence in support of the empathy-altruism hypothesis suggests a very different view. It suggests that not only do we care but also that when we feel empathy for others in need, we are capable of caring for them for their sakes and not our own. Limits on the human capacity for altruistic caring are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Except in the case of the pre-school child, experimental results have shown consistently that naming colors requires more time than reading the names of colors. The hypothesis which the present paper proposes to test was developed by the late Dr. Joseph Peterson, who interpreted the difference "as due to the fact that to the written words 'red,' 'green,' etc., the subjects have as a rule given in the past but the one response of pronouncing (vocally or sub-vocally) the names of these colors; whereas on seeing the colors red, blue, green, etc., they have responded in many different ways, as grasping and eating, handling, perceiving and admiring, etc. The results of three experiments are presented in this paper. The first, representing an effort to comply with Dr. Peterson's wish, compares the effects of repeating the same response to a stimulus with those obtained by repeating the same number of different responses to the stimulus. The second experiment compares speed in naming colors and reading names of colors with speed in naming objects and reading names of objects. The third experiment approaches the problem through the medium of another form of reaction: it compares the reaction times to colors and to color names, in card sorting. The results of all three experiments would thus seem to support Peterson's explanation of the difference in time between color naming and word reading reactions. In addition to providing direct experimental evidence in support of this hypothesis, it would seem that the experimental procedures used are susceptible of application to the study of many conditions which affect motor performance, particularly to problems related to facilitation and inhibition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
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Tested the proposition that for adults, altruism and self-gratification are functional equivalents. It was predicted on the basis of this proposition that the effects of mood state on altruism would be parallel to the effects of mood on self-gratification. In support of this prediction, 3 separate findings from the mood/altruism literature were paralleled in the present study's investigation of the effects of mood on self-gratification. 79 undergraduates served as Ss. Specifically, it was found that (a) self-gratification increased under conditions of happy or sad mood; (b) for Ss in a sad mood, altruistic activity canceled the enhanced tendency for self-gratification; and (c) for Ss in a happy mood, altruistic activity did not cancel the enhanced tendency for self-gratification. Discussion focuses on the convergent evidence from the altruism literature and self-gratification literature that adult altruism functions as self-reward. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
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J. S. Coke et al (see record 1980-00984-001) proposed a 2-stage model of empathy-mediated helping, based on emotional arousal and perspective taking. The present study hypothesized that a dispositional factor--individual differences in empathy--and a situational factor--potential evaluation from others (demand)--should be included in the process. 123 female undergraduates received false GSR feedback, indicating that they had either high or low arousal during a broadcast of a person's need for help. In addition, Ss were led to believe that the experimenter either did or did not know their level of arousal (demand vs no demand). Ss' premeasured dispositional empathy (A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein's 1972 empathy scale) constituted the 3rd (continuous) variable. The effect of greater help following high- rather than low-arousal feedback found by Coke et al was replicated. However, this was true only for Ss higher in dispositional empathy in the demand condition. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
Article
Proposed that a distinction be made between 2 emotional responses to seeing another person suffer--personal distress and empathy--and that these 2 emotions lead to 2 different kinds of motivation to help: Personal distress leads to egoistic motivation; empathy, to altruistic motivation. These distinctions were tested in 3 studies, each using 10 male and 10 female undergraduates. Across the 3 studies, factor analysis of Ss' self-reported emotional response indicated that feelings of personal distress and empathy, although positively correlated, were experienced as qualitatively distinct. The pattern of helping in Studies 1 and 2 indicated that a predominance of personal distress led to egoistic motivation, whereas a predominance of empathy led to altruistic motivation. In Study 3, the cost of helping was made especially high. Results suggest an important qualification on the link between empathic emotion and altruistic motivation: Ss reporting a predominance of empathy displayed an egoistic pattern of helping. Apparently, making helping costly evoked self-concern, which overrode any altruistic impulse produced by feeling empathy. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
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Human emotions
Article
The manner in which the concept of reciprocity is implicated in functional theory is explored, enabling a reanalysis of the concepts of "survival" and "exploitation." The need to distinguish between the concepts of complementarity and reciprocity is stressed. Distinctions are also drawn between (1) reciprocity as a pattern of mutually contingent exchange of gratifications, (2) the existential or folk belief in reciprocity, and (3) the generalized moral norm of reciprocity. Reciprocity as a moral norm is analyzed; it is hypothesized that it is one of the universal "principal components" of moral codes. As Westermarck states, "To requite a benefit, or to be grateful to him who bestows it, is probably everywhere, at least under certain circumstances, regarded as a duty. This is a subject which in the present connection calls for special consideration." Ways in which the norm of reciprocity is implicated in the maintenance of stable social systems are examined.
Article
Do individuals conform to various norms of reward allocation not necessarily in response to internal standards but rather, to win approval from relevant others? This study examined the role of self-presentation in mediating equity, equality, and self-interest within reward allocations. It was hypothesized that when others were aware of a subject's behavior, distributions would reflect that person's normative definition of the situation. Subjects allocated a $5.00 payment among themselves and three partners with unequal performance inputs. Informing the experimenter of one's decisions resulted in more equitable divisions, characterizing the employment-productivity relationship between experimenter and subject. When co-workers, defined as peers, were aware of allocations, an equality-based solution was favored. Allocators enhanced their own rewards beyond normative values only when their choices were completely private. Evidence was also found of postdecisional cognitive changes which maintained the belief that one acted justly in giving each partner what he deserved. These findings are consistent with the proposition that individuals maximize their own rewards, defined broadly to include social impression-formation and intrapsychic benefits. Apparently, self-presentational concerns mediate the relative salience of equity, equality, and self-interest in social exhange.
Article
A total of 21 children who displayed low baseline rates of donating pennies to help a needy peer were exposed to instructional prompts to donate and praise for each donation. Some children donated repeatedly following the prompting alone, while others resumed low rates of donation after prompting ceased. Of 10 children who responded temporarily to prompting, 4 increased their helping rates when praised but continued to donate when praise was discontinued. 6 additional children faithfully reflected the praise contingency in their behavior by donating infrequently in the absence of praise and at high rates when praised for donations. Both prompts and praise appear to influence children's help giving.
Article
Prosocial motivation is egoistic when the ultimate goal is to increase one's own welfare; it is altruistic when the ultimate goal is to increase another's welfare. The view that all prosocial behavior, regardless how noble in appearance, is motivated by some form of self-benefits may seem cynical. But it is the dominant view in contemporary psychology. Most contemporary psychologists who use the term have no intention of challenging the dominant view that all human behavior, including all prosocial behavior, is motivated by self-serving, egoistic desires. Contemporary pseudoaltruistic views can be classified into three types: altruism as prosocial behavior, not motivation, altruism as prosocial behavior seeking internal rewards, and altruism as prosocial behavior to reduce aversive arousal. If altruistic motivation exists, then one has to make some fundamental changes in the conception of human motivation and indeed of human nature. As yet, the evidence is not sufficiently clear to justify such changes. If the conceptual analysis and research outlined in the chapter have merit, then the threshold of an empirical answer to the question why one care for other will be reached.
Article
This chapter provides an overview of motivational, cognitive, and situational factors that influence helping behavior and altruism. The emotional experience of arousal as well as the overall level of arousal appears to be a critical determinant of prosocial behavior. There are several different types of emotion that can mediate intervention. The strong feelings of upset associated with high levels of psychophysiological activity motivates helping in emergency situations. Several empirical contradictions and the precise interrelationships in the cognition–affect–helping sequence are identified in the chapter. The chapter focuses on the arousal—the cost-reward model. Arousal is the process through which bystanders are mobilized for action that could lead to intervention and helping. The model may also be valuable for encouraging the orderly theoretical development of inquiry and for suggesting new research, new ideas, and new regions for study. Various conditions produce different emotions and levels of arousal and differentially influence the relative impact of costs and rewards; this suggests that there may be different types of helping situations and different types of motivations.
Article
This chapter describes the naive explanation of human actions, theory of correspondent inferences, personal involvement and correspondence, and the recent research concerning phenomenal causality and the attribution of intentions. The cognitive task of establishing sufficient reason for an action involves processing the available information about, or making assumptions about, the links between stable individual dispositions and observed action. The dispositional attributes are inferred from the effects of action, but not every effect is equally salient in the inference process. The perceiver's fundamental task is to interpret or infer the causal antecedents of action. When a person's actions have certain consequences, it is important for the perceiver to determine whether the person was capable of producing these consequences in response to his intentions. Where an actor fails to produce certain effects that might have been anticipated by the perceiver, there may be ambiguity as to whether the actor did not want to produce the effects, or wanted but was not able to. The attribution of intentions is that actions are informative to the extent that they have emerged out of a context of choice and reflect a selection of one among plural alternatives. However, the distinctiveness of the effects achieved and the extent to which they do not represent stereotypic cultural values, determine the likelihood that information about the actor can be extracted from an action. To say that an inference is correspondent, then, is to say that a disposition is being rather directly reflected in behavior, and that this disposition is unusual in its strength or intensity. In-role behavior is supported by too many reasons to be informative about the actor. However, out-of-role behavior is more informative because the effects of such actions are distinctive and not to be dismissed as culturally desirable.
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Article
Ethological attachment theory is a landmark of 20th century social and behavioral sciences theory and research. This new paradigm for understanding primary relationships across the lifespan evolved from John Bowlby's critique of psychoanalytic drive theory and his own clinical observations, supplemented by his knowledge of fields as diverse as primate ethology, control systems theory, and cognitive psychology. By the time he had written the first volume of his classic Attachment and Loss trilogy, Mary D. Salter Ainsworth's naturalistic observations in Uganda and Baltimore, and her theoretical and descriptive insights about maternal care and the secure base phenomenon had become integral to attachment theory. Patterns of Attachment reports the methods and key results of Ainsworth's landmark Baltimore Longitudinal Study. Following upon her naturalistic home observations in Uganda, the Baltimore project yielded a wealth of enduring, benchmark results on the nature of the child's tie to its primary caregiver and the importance of early experience. It also addressed a wide range of conceptual and methodological issues common to many developmental and longitudinal projects, especially issues of age appropriate assessment, quantifying behavior, and comprehending individual differences. In addition, Ainsworth and her students broke new ground, clarifying and defining new concepts, demonstrating the value of the ethological methods and insights about behavior. Today, as we enter the fourth generation of attachment study, we have a rich and growing catalogue of behavioral and narrative approaches to measuring attachment from infancy to adulthood. Each of them has roots in the Strange Situation and the secure base concept presented in Patterns of Attachment. It inclusion in the Psychology Press Classic Editions series reflects Patterns of Attachment's continuing significance and insures its availability to new generations of students, researchers, and clinicians.
Article
The different emotions are accompanied by recognizably different bodily states, and the direct manipulation of bodily state, by drugs or surgery, also manipulates emotional state. This chapter describes the implications of a cognitive-physiological formulation of emotion, and a series of experiments designed to test these implications. The emotional states are a function of the interaction of cognitive factors with a state of physiological arousal. Cognitions arising from the immediate situation provide the framework within which one understands and labels his feelings, and cognitive factors can lead the individual to describe his feelings with any of a variety of emotional labels, such as euphoria or anger. The experimental results suggest that given a state of physiological arousal for which an individual has no explanation, he labels this state in terms of the cognitions available to him, and by manipulating the cognitions of an individual in such a state, his feelings can be manipulated in diverse directions. Under the state of physiological arousal for which the individual has a completely satisfactory explanation, he does not label this state in terms of the alternative cognitions available. While, under the constant cognitive circumstances, an individual reacts emotionally only to the extent that he experiences a state of physiological arousal.
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[I do not have an electronic copy of this chapter. You can find many pages of it online at https://books.google.co.il/books?redir_esc=y&id=lEgM5N6rIKwC&q=normative+influences+on+altruism#v=snippet&q=normative%20influences%20on%20altruism&f=false Central to the theoretical model of personal normative influences on altruism presented in this chapter is the idea that altruistic behavior is causally influenced by feelings of moral obligation to act on one's personally held norms. Research supporting this central tenet of the model has demonstrated associations between personal norms and behavior rather than causal relations. These associations are partly causal because the associations appear primarily in the presence of personality conditions conducive to norm activation and are absent when personality conditions are conducive to deactivation, and attributes of personal norms (e.g., centrality, stability, and intensity) relate to altruism singly or in combination, in ways predicted when the causal impact of anticipated moral costs on behavior is assumed. Studies show that variations in situational conditions conducive to activation of moral obligation also influence the relationship between personal norms and behavior. There is ample evidence that variables that foster movement through the activation process—according to the theoretical model—are themselves related to altruistic behavior (e.g., seriousness of need and uniqueness of responsibility). The study of how personal norms are related to altruism is a part of a larger enterprise—the investigation of attitude–behavior relations in general. [I do not have an electronic copy of this chapter. You can find many pages of it online at https://books.google.co.il/books?redir_esc=y&id=lEgM5N6rIKwC&q=normative+influences+on+altruism#v=snippet&q=normative%20influences%20on%20altruism&f=false]
Article
• As the title suggests, this book examines the psychology of interpersonal relations. In the context of this book, the term "interpersonal relations" denotes relations between a few, usually between two, people. How one person thinks and feels about another person, how he perceives him and what he does to him, what he expects him to do or think, how he reacts to the actions of the other--these are some of the phenomena that will be treated. Our concern will be with "surface" matters, the events that occur in everyday life on a conscious level, rather than with the unconscious processes studied by psychoanalysis in "depth" psychology. These intuitively understood and "obvious" human relations can, as we shall see, be just as challenging and psychologically significant as the deeper and stranger phenomena. The discussion will center on the person as the basic unit to be investigated. That is to say, the two-person group and its properties as a superindividual unit will not be the focus of attention. Of course, in dealing with the person as a member of a dyad, he cannot be described as a lone subject in an impersonal environment, but must be represented as standing in relation to and interacting with another person. The chapter topics included in this book include: Perceiving the Other Person; The Other Person as Perceiver; The Naive Analysis of Action; Desire and Pleasure; Environmental Effects; Sentiment; Ought and Value; Request and Command; Benefit and Harm; and Reaction to the Lot of the Other Person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) • As the title suggests, this book examines the psychology of interpersonal relations. In the context of this book, the term "interpersonal relations" denotes relations between a few, usually between two, people. How one person thinks and feels about another person, how he perceives him and what he does to him, what he expects him to do or think, how he reacts to the actions of the other--these are some of the phenomena that will be treated. Our concern will be with "surface" matters, the events that occur in everyday life on a conscious level, rather than with the unconscious processes studied by psychoanalysis in "depth" psychology. These intuitively understood and "obvious" human relations can, as we shall see, be just as challenging and psychologically significant as the deeper and stranger phenomena. The discussion will center on the person as the basic unit to be investigated. That is to say, the two-person group and its properties as a superindividual unit will not be the focus of attention. Of course, in dealing with the person as a member of a dyad, he cannot be described as a lone subject in an impersonal environment, but must be represented as standing in relation to and interacting with another person. The chapter topics included in this book include: Perceiving the Other Person; The Other Person as Perceiver; The Naive Analysis of Action; Desire and Pleasure; Environmental Effects; Sentiment; Ought and Value; Request and Command; Benefit and Harm; and Reaction to the Lot of the Other Person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
This chapter discusses social norms, feelings, and other factors that influence helping and altruism. Externally derived incentives are undoubtedly major determinants of behavior, perhaps more important than internalized ideals for many persons and in many situations. But there is probably a far greater incidence of selfless action on behalf of others—even in the absence of reciprocal or anticipated benefits than the usual form of exchange theory. Some of this behavior, not all, is influenced by the operation of social rules and internalized standards of conduct. People sometimes act altruistically because this is the right thing to do in a given situation. On other occasions, however, they might help someone else because they empathize with him. The chapter also considers another complication: a person may deviate from social regulations in some instances even though he is firmly convinced of their propriety and has attempted to adhere to these standards in other situations; these occasional deviations do not mean that he or she does not believe in these rules or that they do not frequently govern his behavior. Other factors obviously may become potent determinants of behavior in some situations. Social-exchange conceptions apply to the organizational world because this setting promotes exchange concerns. Outside this milieu however, exchange ideas may be less influential as other motives, interests, and values come into play. Nonetheless, the findings reviewed in the chapter indicate that many normative conceptions of social behavior are vastly oversimplified.