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ALTRUISM: TOWARD A PSYCHOBIOSPIRITUAL CONCEPTUALIZATION
Author(s) -
Morrison Nancy K.,
Severino Sally K.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2006.00802.x
Subject(s) - altruism (biology) , conceptualization , ethical egoism , social psychology , psychology , homo economicus , positive economics , epistemology , economics , philosophy , linguistics
. Altruism, defined here as a regard for or devotion to the interest of others with whom we are interrelated, is pitted against two other dispositions in human beings: nepotism and egoism. We propose that to become fully human is to become more altruistic. We describe how altruism is mediated by our physiology, is expressed in our psychological development, is evolving in our social institutions, and becomes the moral communities that enforce our sense of right and wrong. A change in any one of these influences changes our disposition—changes who we are and what we do—potentially making altruism more possible in the world.