In this blog post, we explore whether altruistic behavior in humans stems from genuine selflessness or is a strategy derived from our selfish nature.
Altruism refers to the psychological trait of helping others to promote their well-being without expecting anything in return. Blood donation, volunteer work, and charitable donations are examples of altruistic behavior. Altruistic behavior is common in our society and is often encouraged. However, there are times when helping others is not understood. This is because, according to individual self-interest, it is natural to behave in a way that maximizes one’s own benefit. Nevertheless, why do people exhibit altruistic behavior? Consider the following parable.
Once upon a time, there was a village on an island far away from the mainland. All the people who lived there had arms that could not bend, so they could not eat by themselves. In order to avoid starvation, someone had to feed them. There were two types of people in this island village: one type was “people who knew how to help others,” and the other type was “people who only cared about themselves.” When the people who knew how to help others found someone who was hungry, they fed them. On the other hand, the people who only cared about themselves only took food from others and never fed anyone else.
In this situation, what would you do? Perhaps the most ideal answer would be to feed each other. However, feeding others when your arms are bent is beneficial to the other person but laborious for yourself. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the other person will feed you in return. Perhaps the most beneficial thing to do is to accept food from others without lifting a finger. However, if you are in a situation where you must continue to eat, the story changes. People who feed you will remember those who only accept food and will not feed them again. In this case, people who do not help others will starve to death. Therefore, you will have no choice but to feed others in order to survive.
In this way, according to individual self-interest, it is more rational to help others for future benefits than to take advantage of them without helping them. According to this view, altruistic behavior does not stem from a desire to help others regardless of reward, but rather from a selfish nature that seeks one’s own interests. In other words, human selfishness has created altruism. In addition to the stories of people who refuse to bend their arms, there are many hypotheses that prove this. Let’s take a look at some of them.
First, we can cite altruistic behavior originating from “selfish genes.” Altruistic behavior within a blood group that shares the same genes can be explained by the selfish nature of individuals. Take parents who are devoted to their children as an example. Parents devote a quarter of their lives to the success of their children. This can be explained by the genetic nature of humans to propagate their genes as much as possible. This is because children can be said to be the products and inheritors of their parents’ genes. If children survive and continue to have children, they contribute directly or indirectly to the proliferation of their parents’ genes, so it is beneficial for parents to be altruistic toward their children in order to pass on their genes. Similarly, this concept can be extended to siblings and relatives, which explains the development of altruistic behavior in early human societies that were based on kinship. British evolutionary biologist Hamilton called this phenomenon “kin selection,” and it can also explain the extremely specialized and altruistic societies found in bees and ants.
The second explanation is the “tit-for-tat hypothesis.” This hypothesis explains the altruistic behavior described in the story of the “people who don’t bend their arms.” Human altruistic behavior can be explained as showing kindness for long-term benefits that will return to oneself later in situations where there is repeated interaction. It is like feeding others so that they will not starve to death later. When an individual shows kindness to another person and there is a high probability that the other person will return the favor in the future, this altruistic behavior is called the “repetition-reciprocity hypothesis.” The essence of altruistic behavior, which appears to be for the benefit of others, is actually a selfish investment to secure one’s own future interests. The repetition-reciprocity hypothesis presupposes two conditions: “long-lasting relationships” and “repeated transactions.” In a village where people are honest, people would have continued to live as neighbors unless they moved to another village, and they would have fed each other whenever they ate. This is what is meant by “long-lasting relationships” and “repeated transactions.” In the history of humanity, which has been based on small groups, it is highly likely that these conditions were met, creating a social environment in which altruistic behavior could evolve.
Readers who understand this point may ask, “How can we explain altruistic behavior that occurs in cases where there are no blood ties or repeated relationships?” “Isn’t it true that most altruistic behavior in our society is directed toward people we don’t know?” However, altruistic behavior in such cases can also be explained by human selfishness. To explain this, economist Herbert Gintis defines the concept of ‘strong reciprocity’ and says that the answer can be found in the social environment derived from human selfishness. “Strong reciprocity” refers to the tendency to act for the benefit of others even if it is detrimental to oneself. This ‘strong reciprocity’ can be explained by the social environment derived from human selfishness.
The first example of a social environment derived from selfishness is the ‘birds of a feather flock together’ hypothesis. In societies where people live together, there is a phenomenon of ”birds of a feather flock together.” Altruistic people tend to associate with other altruistic people because they can maximize their own benefits. If altruistic people continue to encounter selfish people, they will eventually starve to death. Therefore, altruistic people will associate with other altruistic people, creating an environment conducive to the maintenance and evolution of cooperative behavior. The behavior of “birds of a feather flock together” is ultimately for the purpose of gaining benefits without suffering losses. This can be seen as originating from the “selfish” nature of humans. Therefore, altruistic behavior can be explained as coming from a social environment that originates from the selfish nature of humans.
The second example is the “group selection hypothesis.” The group selection hypothesis can be seen in a similar context to the kin selection hypothesis mentioned earlier. While the “kin selection hypothesis” explains altruistic behavior within blood relations, the “group selection hypothesis” explains altruistic behavior among members of a group. Altruistic behavior is defined as “behavior that benefits other members of the group, but involves sacrifice or cost to the individual.” Therefore, the more altruistic individuals there are in a society, the more likely that group is to succeed and survive in harsh environments or competition between groups. From an individual perspective, altruistic behavior may be a “sacrificial” act that causes harm to others, but from a group perspective, it can be seen as a “selfish” act necessary for survival in competition between groups. This is consistent with the kin selection hypothesis, which states that individuals engage in altruistic behavior toward members of their kin group in order to spread their genes.
Through the various hypotheses mentioned above, we have confirmed that the origin of altruistic behavior may stem from selfish nature. Of course, there are altruistic behaviors that cannot be fully explained by human selfish nature, such as the psychological satisfaction felt from performing altruistic acts. However, it is clear that human altruistic behavior cannot be viewed as originating purely from a desire to help others regardless of reward. When discussing altruism, we must not overlook human selfishness. Therefore, we can redefine altruism as “a characteristic of human selfishness that manifests itself in acts of helping others.” By redefining altruism, I hope that readers of this article will think about what altruistic behavior really is and for whom it is intended.
