Altruism

What is Altruism?

It is important for those who write about altruism to define the construct, because the word altruism has been defined in many different ways. Defined in some ways, altruism is easy to achieve. Defined in other ways, it is an impossible ideal.

All definitions of altruism contain criteria that acts must meet to qualify as altruistic. In some cases, the criteria are based on the consequences of acts; in other cases, they are based on the intentions of the individuals who perpetrate the acts. All consequence-based definitions of altruism require that an act must benefit a recipient. Some definitions also require that the act must be costly to donors. The benefits and costs in question may be genetic (e.g., helping others propagate their genes at an expense to one's own genetic success), biological (e.g., sacrificing one's life to save someone else's life), physical (e.g., agreeing to take an electric shock to prevent a victim from being shocked), material (e.g., donating money to charity or donating food to a food bank), or psychological (e.g., forgoing an enjoyable activity to comfort a friend). Controversy has arisen with respect to trade-offs between different kinds of costs and benefits. For example, do acts of charity that increase donors’ self-esteem or enhance their reputations qualify as altruistic?

When people make attributions of altruism in their everyday lives, they tend to place greater emphasis on the intentions of donors than on the consequences of their acts. People implicitly assume that to qualify as altruistic, acts must be aimed at benefiting recipients as an end in itself, and to quality as a truly altruistic person, an individual must be motivated to enhance the welfare of others without regard for his or her own welfare. Acts that benefit others incidentally or accidentally and acts that benefit others to make a good impression, to ingratiate, or to enhance self-esteem do not meet this criterion.

An Overview of Theory and Research on Altruism

There are two main sources of theory and research on altruism—evolutionary biology and psychology. Evolutionary biologists tend to define altruism in terms of the biological [Page 662]and genetic consequences of behaviors. Psychologists tend to define it either in terms of such psychological consequences of behaviors as pain and pleasure or in terms of the intentions of donors or helpers. The following sections provide a brief overview of research from each source, and then the implications for leadership are explored.

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