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Altruism--acting with the goal of benefiting another, despite costs to oneself--has been the subject of many studies, yet its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Laboratory studies have relied on isolated instances of contrived helpfulness, while investigations of actual rescuers and humanitarians are typically small and lack controls. Some investigators have suggested that altruism is merely a function of situation (c.f., Latane & Darley, 1968). Others, however, have found robust relationships between altruism and personality (c.f., Batson, 1991 ). This study investigated sustained, planned altruism in a sample of 469 undergraduates from four major New England Universities. The hypotheses were that altruism, operationalized as consistent volunteer work for altru istic organizations, would be related to personality variables of empathy and responsibility, to moral reasoning style, to constructive thinking under stress, and to retrospective reports of parenting practices that emphasize warm yet firm parental involvement. Measures were self-report questionnaires; precautions were taken to ensure the veracity of self-reported volunteerism . One-hundred and twenty-four subjects who volunteer for altruistic organizations three or more hours per week and 73 subjects who similar ly volunteer 1-2 hours per week, were compared with 173 nonvolunteers who were members of nonaltruistic organizations in a 2-way (Volunteer Work x University) MANCOVA with gender as a covariate . Results support the hypotheses relating prosocial personality and moral reasoning style with altruism . Altruistic volunteers reported higher levels of empathic concern, personal responsibility , and practical moral reasoning than did nonvolunteers . Results did not support the hypothesized relationship between parenting practices and altruism . Only one aspect of parenting, parental involvement/acceptance , was significantly related to volunteer work: altruistic volunteers recalled less parental involvement/acceptance than did nonvolunteers. It is important to note, however, that subjects were asked about parenting practices employed during their adolescence rather than dur ing their childhood . Two additional variables , high-school volunteerism and informal helpfulness , were also related to volunteer work . Overall , differences between altruistic volunteers and nonvolunteers-particular ly between nonvolunteers and altruists who volunteer three or more hours per week--accounted for about 19% of the variance between groups . Differences among male and fema le altruists were noted , and warrant further investigation . Acknowledgment Without the selfless contributions of my family and friends , this study of altruism would never have materialized . There are no words to express my gratitude to my husband, who delayed his own career advancement to serve as breadwinner, housekeeper, single parent, and source of moral support, while I pursued an out-of-state doctoral program. There is, similarly , no way to sufficiently thank my children, Alexander and Alicia, who made room for this project in their lives as if it were a sibling. I also thank my parents , Hannah and Morris Goldkorn , for the unfailing support they gave to me, my husband, and our children, even though they couldn't imagine why a woman with a family and career would also want a Ph.D. Thanks also go to my sister, Dr. Helen Lichtman, and my brother-in-law, Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, who tried to explain it to them. To Dr. Sue Allen Warren, I give separate thanks for each of the many roles she played through the years , any one of which would have sufficed : as a friend , she was always there when needed ; as a mentor , she demanded my personal best while accepting my limitations ; as a role model , she was an inspiration ; and as my mother-in-law , and my children's grandmother , she is incomparable . In addition to family, numerous friends , colleagues, and faculty contributed to this research by sharing their time, slipping journal articles into my mailbox ,

Altruism in College Volunteers: Relationships to Prosocial Personality, Constructive Thinking, and Parenting Variables