 |
William Wordsworth
April 1770-April 1850 |
feelings
too
Of
unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
As
have no slight or trivial influence
On
that best portion of a good man's life,
His
little, nameless, unremembered, acts
Of
kindness and of love.
Tintern
Abbey by William Wordsworth
1798.
The memory of this lovely Wordsworth quote was sparked this morning as I
walked home from shopping.
A young woman overtook me, with a small child in a pushchair and, as
she passed, her open coat swung behind her and caught my eye. It was
a modern
version
of the Afghan coat I wore in the 70s, embroidered with
traditional patterns; they were all the rage in the 1970s and I loved
mine!!
Without
thinking, I called out,, “Love
the coat!”
and she strode on, looking briefly but so happily round, mouthing,
‘Thank
you’ .
Clearly she too loved her coat and was equally touched at the
unexpected called-out compliment! As she strode on, she shot a
second, delighted look back at me which was when I remembered the
Wordsworth!
This little encounter delighted the recipient of my compliment and also
me, the giver; I pondered on why it had occurred. The memory of a
favourite coat years ago, had undoubtedly sparked my delight and my
spontaneous remark had obviously pleased, and flattered the girl. An example of unplanned altruism I think; everyday life is
probably filled with similar small acts of kindness like this.
Psychologists
have long debated whether some people are just born with a natural
tendency to help others, a theory that suggests that altruism may be
influenced by genetics. Altruism, like empathy and co-operation,
activates the reward centres in the brain as neurobiologists have
found and the positive feelings activated by exercising empathy or
altruism, serve to reinforce the
belief
that compassionate behaviour can
inspire a
halo effect
in others. Certainly,
relationships and interaction with others have a major influence on
altruistic behaviour and one
study showed
that children
who observed reciprocal acts of altruistic behaviour, were far more
likely than their peers, to exhibit altruistic behaviour themselves.
Thus, modelling altruistic actions can be an important way to foster
prosocial and compassionate actions in children who have observed
this behaviour in
others.
Psychologists
have identified several different types
of altruistic behaviours. These include:
1.
Genetic
altruism.
This sub-set identifies those who engage in altruistic behaviours
that benefit family members. This kin selection is
an evolutionary theory that proposes that people are more likely to
help those who are blood relatives because it will increase the odds
of gene transmission to future generations thus ensuring the
continuation of shared genes. The more closely people are related,
the more likely people are to help others.
2.
Reciprocal
altruism. This
mutual give-and-take relationship involved helping another person now
because they may one da
y be able to return the favour.
3.
Group-selected
altruism.
This involves engaging in acts of altruism for people, based on their
group affiliation such as others in the same social or religious or
political group, or
in supporting social/religious/political causes that benefit a
specific group or agenda.
4.
Pure
altruism. Moral
altruism involving helping someone else when it is personally risky
and without personal reward. Pure
altruism results in behaviour
which
is
motivated by internalised values and morals.
One
thinks of Raoul
Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands
of Jews in Hungary during the Nazi holocaust,
exhibiting
pure altruism in his sustained campaign to rescue Jews. He
was
subsequently imprisoned by the Soviets as
part of a post-war
Soviet campaign
of menace against Sweden, and
died at an unknown date in Russia. After
Stalin’s death in 1953, thousands of German PoWs were released and
stories of chance encounters in the late Forties, with Wallenberg,
surfaced, despite Soviet
denials. It is now assumed that he
was
probably executed in the Lubyanka in 1947.
Clearly,
a sustained operation to save the lives of Jews in the Holocaust, was
motivated by strong internalised values at
the far end of a continuum with performing tiny random
acts of kindness at
one side,
to
the distant but related acts of prolonged courageous risk-taking to
save many threatened lives at the other end.
 |
At the Swedish Legation, Budapest, 1944, with Hungarian
Jewish co-workers. Wallenberg provided thousands of
Hungarian Jews with Swedish protective passes.** |
**The Swedish humanitarian, who managed to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust by employing hundreds of them in various office locations throughout Budapest, delivering a wide range of services from shelter and food rations to medical care, as well as issuing thousands of protective documents and security patrols, is remembered the world over for the heroism of his selfless courage. A supreme deadly irony that it was not the Nazis who killed Wallenberg, but the Russians, allies, who had bravely fought, and hugely suffered at the hands of, the Nazis.
 |
| 1945 Jewish children who survived Auschwitz. |
There
are also other possible ‘incentives’ for
altruism such
as we might help others to relieve our own distress, or because being
kind to others upholds our view of ourselves as kind people. I always
admired my mother, who did not have an easy life, for her unfailing,
spontaneous kindness and I notice that my self-image is of a kind
person. Almost certainly this self-image is why I give £5 a month to
a lovely Romanian woman who sells The Big Issue on Abbeygate Street.
She
has seven children in Ipswich and struggles to make ends meet. I
don’t experience the rush of pleasure I felt with the compliment to
the girl in The Coat but I do have the quiet pleasure of helping another while sustaining my self-image.
 |
The Big Issue is bought by each seller for £2 and then
sold for £4. |
