Evolution and Kindness

Charles Darwin’s idea of Survival of the Fittest has been associated with selfishness with the primitive instinct to survive. Although when Darwin studied human evolution, he did not distinguish humans as being biologically competitive and self-interested. He believed that humans are immensely social and caring, to which he argued that sympathy and showing affection towards others are innate. The idea of giving can be connected to altruism, which is defined as the practice of impersonal and selfless concern for the well-being of others (Keltner, 2015). More generally, altruism can be defined as the act of being kind, which is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate (Merriam-Webster, N.d.b). Kindness is seen as the intent to benefit, while altruism requires there to be no intent to benefit or personal gain. This paper aims to explain the cultivation of altruism positively relating to overall happiness as well as compassion.
Acts of Altruism
Acts of altruism can be seen as having good manners, common curtsey, acts of service, etc… While kindness is countercultural, practicing kindness becomes a lifestyle of serving others above yourself. A research study conducted by Lishner and Stocks (2016) defines altruism as two different concepts, as helping behavior, and as motivation. Lishner and Stocks (2016) suggest that altruism can be defined as a motive to increase others’ wellbeing. Klein and Dollenmayer (2014) define altruism as creating benefits for others at a cost or risk to yourself. They explain that as long as there are costs it’s an act of altruism, which allows for many different motivations for kindness, such as compassion and happiness (Klein & Dollenmayer, 2014).
Mildarsky and Kahana (1994) proposed there are five main reasons for people to engage in altruistic behavior: enhancing social integration, distracting from their own problems, enhancing meaningfulness, increasing the perception of self-efficacy and competence, and improving mood or physical lifestyle. While Midlarsky and Kahana’s (1994) study was catered towards older adults, the current study will explore the positive effects of altruism on young college students.
History of Altruism
The idea of helping another can be dated back to Philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and many others. It is noted that several of these philosophers believed that humans enact of the behalf of others (Baston, Van Lange, Ahmad, & Lishner, n.d.). Since then there has been an ongoing discussion on prosocial haling behavior and why people do in fact help. Some studies refute that humans have altruistic desires (Hobbes, 1651; Cialdini, et al., 1997), while others found humans to exhibit altruistic behavior (Batson, 1991; Stich et al., 2010). Researchers have looked into the reasoning behind the helping behavior and used various theories to try and explain the motivation one has to enact on such behavior, however, there is still no one specific answer (Baston, Van Lange, Ahmad, & Lishner, n.d.).
Evolution of Altruism
Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection has been applied to altruistic behavior. Acts of altruism came about after Charles Darwin with the survival of the fittest, or in this case survival of the nicest. Darwin studied natural selection amongst organisms and believed that those who were always ready to give and aid one another for the common good were exhibiting altruistic behavior (Darwin, 1871). The idea of survival of the fittest comes into play as people in the past have survived when cooperating with others by exhibiting social traits like gratitude, love, kindness, and compassion (Klein & Dollenmayer, 2014). It is thought that kindness is a gene like a trait, almost as if it is hardwired into humans. As Darwin studied human evolution, he did not account for humans being biologically competitive and self-interested., instead he believed that humans are immensely social and caring. This led to his argument that sympathy and showing affection towards others is an innate behavior. One survey of 10,000 people from thirty-seven countries found that kindest was the most important trait that attracted people to a long term partner (Buss, 1989). The participants were asked to rate the importance of each of the 18 characteristics listed in a potential mate using a 4-point scale. Buss (1989) found that both sexes valued ‘kind’ as being more important when looking for a partner.
Nonverbal and Verbal Communication
Acts of Altruism rely heavily on both verbal and nonverbal interpersonal communication. Tolman (2016) suggests that in order to complete random acts of kindness, the enactor has to be aware of the surroundings, the recipient has to susceptive to being helped, and most importantly communication. When enacting altruistic behavior there are several communication factors that are considered. These factors include proxemics, kinesics, verbal communication, and reciprocal interactions (Tolman, 2016).
Proxemics, the study of people’s use of personal space, can be applied to acts of altruism based on the enactor observing another in need. For instance, if a young person is sitting on a full bus and a much older person gets on, the person sitting is aware of his proxemics and offers the seat up.
Kinesics, on the other hand, is the study of gestures and body movements. Kinesics refers to facial expressions and eye contact, which are keys to communicating nonverbally. Some gestures are seen as a reinforcement of action or verbal communication. For example, direct eye contact while thanking someone after completing an act can affirm or show sincere appreciation without verbally stating ‘thank you.’ Keltner (2010) uses Batson’s experiment to explain that humans communicate through compassion by facial expressions and touch. When one feels compassion, they tend to have a “concerned glaze” or an “oblique eyebrow” (Keltner, 2010 pg.13) These forms of compassion serve as a motivation for altruistic behavior.
However, when it comes to verbal communication, the simplicity of saying ‘thank you’ or offering help is just as effective when it comes to performing altruistic behavior. By verbally communicating with others who are in need can receive the sense of compassion that is being transmitted. Verbal cues, such as tonal, pitch, and range are used in communication to help convey a message. Within verbal communication lies the notion of other-oriented, being able to understand other’s perceptions. The idea of other-oriented can be connected to the empathetic emotion of compassion, which will be discussed later on. Hall (2017) describes acting on kindness as a way of offering a kind word, a smile, or offering help. Hall lists various ways to show kindness through verbal communication as well as nonverbal communication.
Tolman (2016) outlined another factor of altruistic behavior, reciprocal interactions. This concurs when one has seen or been the recipient of a random act of kindness decides to reciprocate another act onto another. A recent example of this started with one women’s decision to pay for the driver behind her at Starbucks (White, 2018). As the other diver pulls up, they too decided to pay it forward and reciprocate the act. This chain of kindness started at eleven in the morning and lasted until six at night, as the last driver denied to pay it forward. That day the Starbucks witnessed a chain of 378 acts of kindness (White, 2018).
Self-Determination Theory
Self-determination theory, coined by Deci and Ryan (1985), is centered on the study of human motivation. According to this theory, human well-being relies on the satisfaction of three basic needs: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Deci and Ryan look at the motivation behind people’s choices to act on their motivation. Within SDT lies a continuum scale, which outlines the three types of motivation, motivation, extrinsic, and intrinsic. The first type of motivation, a-motivation, which is the state of lacking intention, competence, and control. The second type, intrinsic motivation, is the state of high autonomy and self-determination. The third type, extrinsic motivation, covers the middle ground between the other two types, which varies from compliance to ego-involvement to personal importance to congruence. For the purpose of this study, intrinsic motivation be will be connected to the motivation of altruistic behavior amongst college students.
As mentioned before, Darwin’s idea that all humans are innately altruistic relates to the concept of self-determination. The self-motivation to enact on altruistic behavior leads to a positive impact on prosocial behaviors of happiness and compassion. The theory of self-determination will be utilized in explaining the motivation in college students to cultivate altruism to unknowingly positively increase their prosocial behaviors.
Altruism Increasing Happiness
Happiness is an experience that brings “joy, contentment, and or positive well-being to one’s life” (Lyubomirsky, 2008). Altruistic behavior not only has an effect on those on the receiving end, but it also has the power to make the enactor feel happy, content, pleased, and calm. Researchers have called this the ‘helper’s high,’ a rewarding experience that those who show kindness are then motivated to repeat their actions in the future.
‘Helper’s high’ was coined by Luks (1988) after conducting a survey with over 3000 volunteers in proving to help is good for the body and mental health. They found that 95% of the people feel good when they help someone, 53% of the people feel happier and more optimistic, and those feelings lasting for hours or even days for 81% of the people. His findings also report that two-thirds of helpers felt a physical sensation after helping, and half of the participants reported a high feeling (Luks, 1988). Luks (2001) describes participants’ comparison of the ‘helper’s high’ to intoxication, an energy bolt, an orgasm, and serenity from yoga. Luks (2001) concludes that this feeling is associated with a release of endorphins into the bloodstream, which can relieve pain and promote a sense of well-being.
From a biological standpoint, studies have shown the correlation between kindness and happiness (Dunn & Norton, 2013). The brain shows certain activity when one wins money, and the same activity can be seen when one gives money to charity. When one gives, the brain expresses pleasure to which then may be reciprocated in the future. It is noted by Dunn and Norton (2013) that giving must be done by choice, not by force, as it connects the enactor and the recipient foster a connection of interpersonal communication.
A survey conducted by Harvard Business School measured the happiness of children and adults who gave something of theirs to another (Aknin, Hamlin & Dunn, 2012). One of the experiments gave toddlers a pile of snacks and were asked to give one away. Aknin, Hamlin, and Dunn (2012) found that when the child gave one away, they showed higher levels of happiness than those received ones themselves. The second experiment conducted in the study gave students either a five or a twenty-dollar bill (Aknin, Hamlin & Dunn, 2012). Half of the students were asked to spend the money on themselves and the other half was to spend the money on someone else. Aknin, Hamlin, and Dunn (2012) found that the amount of money did not matter and those who spent the money on another were reportedly happier throughout the day than those who spent the money on themselves. The research was used to show that young children experience emotional benefits when helping others.
Anderson (2003) confirms that modeling positive emotions, such as kindness, other-regarding love, and compassion enhance health by pushing aside negative ones. This can be linked with Batson and Bardi’s (2010) which measured life satisfaction of completing a daily act of novelty, kindness, and no acts for ten days. The study found that acts of kindness boost overall happiness as much as doing something new every day (Buchanan & Bardi, 2010). Therefore, the following research question is proposed:
RQ1: Is the cultivation of altruism positively related to overall happiness?
Altruism Increasing Compassion
Altruistic behavior can be motivated by empathy and gratitude, but also compassion. Compassion is the feeling of witnessing someone suffering and wanting to help them (Merriam-Webster, n.d.a). While there are several definitions of compassion, Gotez, Keltner, and Simon-Thomas (2010) define it as sensitivity to pain and suffering of another and the desire to help. Compassion also includes the belief that the person suffering is inferior to us. Compassion makes us happier as it creates empathy, improves social connection, and makes humans more similar to others (Simon-Thomas, 2014). The difference between compassion and empathy is a desire to help. Empathy refers to the emotional state that one as for another by adopting their perspective (Lishner and Stocks, 2016).
Charles Darwin thought that sympathy and compassion are human’s strongest instincts (Darwin, 1871). He rationalized that compassionate people would instill the same prosocial behavior in their own children (Keltner, 2015). Darwin reasoned that compassionate groups of people would cooperate better and raise more children to do the same. This leads to the idea that altruism is evolved and others feel motivated to do the same, this is referred to as “reciprocal altruisms” (Keltner, 2015). Feeling compassion for someone is one thing, however, enacting on that compassion leads to altruism.
Simon-Thomas(2014) found that compassion has three stages, empathy, distress, and then judgments. When experiencing the emotions of others (other-oriented), one is enacting on empathy to understand their perspective (Simon-Thomas, 2014). When enacting this empathy, other feelings may emerge, such as caring or distress. According to the last stage that Simon-Thomas (2014) suggests that judgments are made about oneself and surroundings to help decide to enact on altruism to be more self-self-efficacious.
A study conducted by Batson, Duncan, Ackerman, Buckley, and Birch (1981) had participants watch another person receive shocks when questions were answered wrong. The study measured various perceptions from the participants on distress and their willingness to trade places after finding out the person receiving the shocks. They found that when humans engage or witness others in need, they often imagine what their experience is like. This helped explain the idea that compassion promotes altruism.
By acting on this compassion of helping others leads to altruism and possibly vice versa. While previous studies have looked at the empathy-altruism hypothesis and confirmed that empathy leads to altruism, this study will look at altruism promoting compassion instead. Therefore, the following research question is proposed:
RQ2: Is the cultivation of altruism positively related to overall compassion?