Altruism in Everyday Life Essay - 1120 Words

We can say a general understanding of altruism is a selfless behavior intended for the benefit of others at a personal cost to the individual who is preforming that behavior. These behaviors will have no obvious gain for the provider and could also have obvious costs for the one carrying out the behavior. Taking all of this into consideration can we say whether true altruism exists or not? It does not exist because no matter what you do whether it be giving a beggar a dollar or saving someone’s life you are going into a loss but you get something in return no matter what it is varying from fame to a feeling of satisfaction. First off I’ll start off by talking about the bystander effect and how it could influence people’s altruistic†¦show more content†¦This is why you may sometimes see when someone is in need of help people around that person will be looking around to see the amount of people around and plan their course of action accordingly. Another stimuli that causes the bystander is symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism comes from the words symbol and interaction, symbol meaning sign, and interaction meaning communication. So symbolic interactionism is when there is a situation in which someone is in need of help and the subject looks around to get an idea of what other people are doing and according to their reactions evaluates the situation and then decides whether or not to help the person in need of help. Another form of symbolic interactionism is when a potential helper looks around and observes people’s reactions and depending on how the people react he or she could misinterpret the situation as to not being an emergency while it is or vice versa. Sometimes we do something good for someone to benefit them and we might think of it as an altruistic act but we may be mistaken. Even if the â€Å"altruistic† act costs us something, we may be gaining something without being aware of it. Helping others can sometimes be rewarding even if the reward you get isn’t tangible, eg. happiness, it is considered a reward. For example if a man is walking down the street and he sees a beggar asking people forShow MoreRelatedThe Foundation And Provision Of Nursing1316 Words   |  6 Pagesrepresent the core of nursing practice. These values include altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice. This essay will focus on my top three values of altruism, human dignity, and autonomy, how these values are currently represented in my life, and how these values led to my own unique philosophy and definition of nursing. Altruism The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Nursing (n.d.) describes altruism as â€Å"an unselfish concern for the welfare of others† (Values sectionRead MoreRand Ethics of Altruism1105 Words   |  4 PagesAltruism is a concept in which the individual sacrifices regard for themselves in the interest of another. 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