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ALTRUISM CAN RULE THE DAY
By Dr. Stephen JuanWhat is the greater motivator for human action: 1) the desire for self-interest and personal gain or 2) the unselfish desire merely to help others?
It may be a surprise to some, but much behavioural science research indicates that humans are more effectively motivated to act in positive ways when they act for intrinsic, altruistic reasons, rather than for extrinsic rewards. "Altruistic" refers to the regard for others as a principle of action--in other words, unselfishness. "Extrinsic reward" refers to a benefit or gain from outside oneself (for instance, money, a prize, lollies, sex)--in other words, "a bribe".As psychologists use the terms, an intrinsic reward is the opposite of an extrinsic reward.
In the classic work on this topic, THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF HUMAN NATURE: ALTRUISM AND EMPATHY IN EVERYDAY LIFE by Alfie Kohn (Basic Books, 1990), many experiments show the power of unselfishness over selfishness when it comes to motivating both adults and children.
- Adults who were offered money for agreeing to help a researcher rated themselves as less altruistic than those who either received no payment or were told after they said they would help that they would be paid. The researchers concluded: "A person's kindness cannot be bought". (C. Bateson et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, volume 4, 1978)
- Women offered money for answering a questionnaire overr the telephone were less likely to agree to a similar request two or three days later in which no money was involved than were women who had not been paid for answering the first questionnaire. (M. Zuckerman et al. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, volume 9, 1979)
- Repeated blood donors who were reminded of altruistic reasons for giving blood indicated that they were more willing to do so again than those who were reminded of the personal benefits of donating blood. The researchers concluded that "focusing attention on personal benefits actually reduced the motivation to go through with the donation." (D. Paulhus et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, volume 3, 1977)
- Adult subjects who were told that a personality test showed they were kind and thoughtful people were more likely to help someone in doing a task than were those told they were "unusually intelligent" or those given no feedback at all. The researchers found this important because it suggests that being led to think of oneself as generous does not affect behaviour merely because it is a kind of reinforcement, a mood booster to the ego as it were. Instead, this label probably promotes positive action because it helps to build a view of the self as altruistic. (A. Strenta et al. Social Psychology Quarterly, volume 44, 1981)
- Primary school pupils whose mothers believed in using rewards to motivate them were less cooperative and generous than were other children. (R. Fabes et al. Developmental Psychology, volume 25, 1989)
- The likelihood of children giving-up to other children something they own increased both when they were verbally praised and when they were led to think of themselves as helpful. But significantly, in a follow-up experiment, it was the latter group who turned out to be more generous than those who had received praise. The researchers concluded that praise promoted generosity in a given setting, but ceased to be effective outside of that setting. However, children with a view of themselves as helpful, continued to act on their altruistic impulses in other circumstnces as well. (J. Grusec et al. Developmental Psychology, volume 16, 1980)
- After playing a game and winning, children were shown a model of someone giving away their winnings. Some children kept their winnings, others gave some or all of their winnings away just like the model. Among children who gave away at least some of their winnings, those who were told they were "the kind of person who likes to help other people" were more generous than those who were told "you have to share quite a bit". (J. Grusec et al. Developmental Psychology, volume 14, 1978)
- Primary school children who received rewards for sharing with other children or fines for not sharing were compared to children who received no such rewards or punishments. It was found that those receiving the extrinsic inducements were less likely to explain their own behaviour in terms suggesting that altruism motivated them. (C. Smith et al. Child Development, volume 50, 1979)
Kohn argues that these and other studies show that when we are rewarded for positive behaviours, we tend to assume that the reward accounts for our having acted as we did--and not altruism. Moreover, if we do not see ourselves as altruistic, we are less likely to exhibit positive behaviours once the extrinsic reward for acting that way is removed. "In this respect, verbal reinforcement for helping is worse than nothing, and material reinforcement is worse yet. Conversely, encouragement to think of oneself as a generous person--an appeal not to self-interest but to genuine altruism--seems to be the most reliable way to promote helping and caring over the long haul and in different situations."
Similarly to Kohn, Kristen Renwick Monroe in THE HEART OF ALTRUISM (Princeton University Press, 1998) boldly argues that social theory will soon accommodate altruism as a motivation for human action equal to self-interest. Her numerous case studies to illustrate her points include “Otto” a German businessman who rescued over a hundred Jews in Nazi Germany and “Lucille” a newspaper poetry editor who saved a young girl from being raped armed only with a cane.
Nigel Barber in KINDNESS IN A CRUEL WORLD: THE EVOLUTION OF ALTRUISM (Prometheus Books, 2004) takes an even more optimistic view that Kohn or Monroe. Using biological, psychological, historical, and cultural data, he argues that “the spirit of cooperation” is embedded in our evolutionary history. Even further, he contends that altruism is at the core of all human behaviour. With Barber, the debate about the power of selfishness vs altruism to motivate humans comes full circle: Selfishness is weak. Altruism is strong.
Which one is the stronger? As we face great challenges of global warming, climate change, growing world poverty, and greater class differentiation and wealth disparity, time will tell.
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