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Related Concept Videos

Egoism and Altruism01:55

Egoism and Altruism

Voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people is called prosocial behavior. Why do people help other people? Is personal benefit such as feeling good about oneself the only reason people help one another?
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Altruistic behaviors are “unselfish” behaviors—those that help another individual at the expense of the individual carrying out the behavior. Despite the negative consequences for the altruistic animal, these behaviors are thought to have evolved for several reasons.
Inclusive Fitness00:57

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Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
Fundamental Attribution Error01:14

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According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution...
Empathy02:34

Empathy

Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
Impact of Individuals on Individuals01:30

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Human behavior is intricately shaped by social influences that arise from interactions with others in diverse contexts. These influences not only mold beliefs and attitudes but also drive the regulation of behaviors through both direct communication and observational learning. The study of these processes falls within the domain of social psychology, which seeks to understand how individuals are affected by and affect those around them.Mechanisms of Social InfluenceDirect social influence...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
06:42

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Published on: September 28, 2018

Elevation leads to altruistic behavior.

Simone Schnall1, Jean Roper, Daniel M T Fessler

  • 1University of Cambridge, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RQ, United Kingdom. ss877@cam.ac.uk

Psychological Science
|April 29, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Witnessing good deeds triggers elevation, a positive emotion. This emotion significantly increases helping behaviors and altruism in individuals.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
06:42

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Published on: September 28, 2018

A Complex Diving-For-Food Task to Investigate Social Organization and Interactions in Rats
10:29

A Complex Diving-For-Food Task to Investigate Social Organization and Interactions in Rats

Published on: May 8, 2021

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Prosocial behavior is crucial for societal functioning.
  • Elevation, a positive emotion from witnessing altruism, is hypothesized to increase helping.
  • Empirical evidence linking elevation to actual altruistic behavior is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the causal link between elevation and helping behavior.
  • To determine if witnessing altruistic acts elicits the emotion of elevation.
  • To examine if elevation increases tangible altruistic actions.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis.
  • Participants were exposed to conditions designed to elicit elevation or control emotions (mirth, neutral).
  • Helping behavior was measured through volunteering for unpaid studies and time spent on tedious tasks.

Main Results:

  • Participants experiencing elevation were more likely to volunteer for unpaid research.
  • Elevation led to approximately double the helping time on a tedious task compared to mirth or neutral states.
  • Elevation, not amusement or happiness, predicted the amount of helping behavior.

Conclusions:

  • Witnessing altruism effectively elicits the discrete emotion of elevation.
  • Elevation demonstrably leads to increased prosocial and altruistic behavior.
  • Findings support elevation as a key emotional driver of altruism.