Altruism

  Altruism is generally defined as any form of voluntary act intended to favour another without expectation of reward (Smith & Mackie, 2000; Batson et. al., 2002; Aronson et. al., 2004).

Perhaps the first person to utilise the term altruism was the French sociologist Auguste Comte, who declared that humans have inborn drives to behave sympathetically toward others (Lee, Lee and Kang, 2003). It is a specific kind of motivation to benefit another without consciously considering for one’s own self interest (Hall, 1999). In other words, altruism refers to a kind of selfless help, which is based on pure desire to help others (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, & Fehr, 2004). Nevertheless, altruism is not a synonym for pro-social behaviour.

Prosocial behaviour refers to helping behaviour of favouring another person with the goal that may involve benefits to self (Smith & Mackie, 2000; Aronson et. al., 2004). For instance, people donating money to Tsunami relief fund may not always be selfless. In the case that donation is for the sake of tax exemption, its motive would not be regarded as altruistic. The major difference between altruism and pro-social behaviour is that altruism does not involve the element of self interest (Myers, 1996).

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