Altruism

Altruism is an important concept in psychology.

The term altruism is defined as helping others and showing concern for the wellbeing of others without expecting any rewards in return. It is a kind of help that a person does selflessly. People show altruistic behaviour out of empathy for others rather than for expecting any gain or reward in return. Altruistic behaviour is generally seen in times of crisis. For instance, after a flood or an earthquake, people readily start to help the victims of the disaster.

When talking of altruism, one might think that help can be done by providing money or any other form of financial help to someone. However, this is not the only way to express altruistic behaviour. It can also be expressed in terms of other forms of help such as by giving time to others, listening to others or providing emotional support to others in the time of need. The spirit of altruism is generally a product of one’s empathy for others and one’s internal satisfaction from helping others. Thus, a person is motivated to behave altruistically when he sees others in a problem. He puts himself in the shoes of those who are in some problem and feels their problem as his own problem. He attempts to understand the situation and needs of those who are in some problem and behave altruistically towards them.

Altruism is an important aspect of social life because it acts as a cohesive force to organize people in the form of a sophisticated society. Without the spirit of altruism, a society would lead to disintegration.

   Why do humans help each other?

Since help lies at the core of altruism, it is important to understand why do humans help each other? The answer to this question is not simple and not one. Different theories of social psychology provide different explanations to this. These explanations provide the basis for whether or not every helping behaviour qualifies for being called an altruistic behaviour.

According to social exchange theory, people help others because, in return, they expect something from others for their behavior. According to this theory, there is no purely altruistic behavior. This is because people may want fame, recognition or approval of others which motivate them to help others. Therefore, every helping behaviour may not qualify for being called an altruistic behaviour if it involves the expectation of return in any form such as even to gain reputation in masses.

According to Baston’s model, true altruism does exist. Not all actions are done with an intention to gain something in return. People may also help others simply because they feel for others. Therefore, they may fulfill the needs of others or resolve the problems of others without any expectation for return. As noted earlier, in many situations in our routine life, helping behaviour is solely based on empathy for others or getting internal satisfaction from seeing someone at ease. It sometimes relieves a person’s internal distress when he or she helps others in their miserable time. 

   THE PROCESS OF HELPING - ALTRUISTIC BEHAVIOR

The process of helping starts with knowing about the needs of the other person. This happens when a person sees someone in need of help. After knowing this, the person thinks about whether he or she is capable of providing help. For instance, a woman driving a car sees a man on the road whose car’s engine has stopped working. The woman may desire to help him but if she has no expertise in fixing engine’s problems, she may not help him. However, if another person with sound technical know-how sees such a situation, he may provide help in this situation.

  Situational factors that affect helping behavior

  Time

Time also determines whether the person will provide help or not. Suppose a person notices a man standing on a road whose car’s engine has stopped working. The person may have good technical know-how of the engine and may want to help the man, but if he is going for an important interview, he is less likely to help in this situation. However, if the same person is free (or not on his way for an important task), he is more likely to help the man.

  Nature of the place or situation

In a situation where it is expected that there are many people to help, a person may feel less motivated to help because he may think that someone else will surely provide help. For instance, in a sparsely populated village, a person is more likely to help a man standing on the road whose car has got engine problem. However, in larger cities, in a similar situation, a person may feel less motivated to help because he may think that someone else will surely help.

The readiness to help others also varies with the situation. For instance, people may refuse to help others in problems involving crimes, because they may fear unexpected legal consequences of involvement in such case. 

   Moods and personal circumstances

The personal circumstances of a person also determine his or her readiness to help others. For instance, if a person is himself is trapped in some personal issues, he may find it hard to provide help to someone even if he desires to help. People in good circumstances and good moods (e.g., happy) are generally more likely to help others. However, altruism is deeply associated with the internal state of feeling of a person and thus, people in bad circumstances and bad moods may also sometimes express a helping attitude towards others to reduce their personal suffering and distress.