This article explores whether people’s altruistic behavior is truly a pure good deed or a calculated choice that will ultimately benefit them. We often find ourselves in situations where we do a favor for a friend or return someone’s lost item with the expectation that it will be reciprocated later. This is known as “reciprocal altruism,” and similar behavior is observed in animal societies. However, these hypotheses do not fully explain the unconditional love of a parent or the good deeds that come from emotion, showing that human altruism is multifaceted and not simply a selfish calculation.
There are many different things that happen in the world. While horrific events such as murder and sexual assault become social issues and are documented in the news, there are many wonderful things that happen between people around us in our daily lives that quietly remain in our hearts as memories. These experiences naturally lead us to think, “The world is such a selfish place, and being nice will only hurt you in the end.” But the irony is that there are still many selfless people in the world. So, do altruistic people have an advantage over their selfish counterparts, and what drives them to act altruistically?
Is altruistic behavior distinct from truly selfish behavior? In conclusion, the concept of “altruism” as we use it here may seem like an act of doing for others on the surface, but deep down, it can also be a rational choice that involves a bit of calculation and an expectation of gain. It may not be a pure act of helping others, but rather a calculated act that is done with the expectation of returning a benefit in the future. In this way, “altruistic” doesn’t just mean making unconditional sacrifices for others like a fool.
Here’s an example. You’re on your way to buy supplies for a school class when your friend calls you. She said that she needed to buy some supplies, but she hadn’t gotten around to it yet, so she asked if I could buy some for her while I was on my way. I said yes, maybe because I was on my way and it wasn’t too much to ask, or maybe because I’ve always been close to him and I naturally decided to help him out. However, in the back of your mind, you may have been thinking, “Maybe in the future, when I ask for a favor like this, he’ll be willing to do it for me. This kind of altruistic behavior with the expectation of receiving something in return is called reciprocal altruism.
Reciprocal altruism doesn’t happen unconditionally, but is based on several premises. The most important of these is that the relationship is long-lasting and repetitive. The longer the relationship lasts, the more likely it is that the other person will respond to your favor in the future, and the calculation is that you will benefit from it as well. In this context, humans are more willing to perform altruistic acts for others in close relationships. Repetitive relationships also give us the opportunity to evaluate each other’s behavior and retaliate. If someone ignores or rejects a favor from someone who has helped them, the damage they do to themselves can lead to more damage than just their relationship with that person. This leads people in relationships to carefully evaluate the favors they give and receive.
In fact, altruistic behavior is easily observed in animal societies. Wilkinson’s study of vampire bats in particular is a prime example of reciprocal altruism. Vampire bats usually feed on the blood of large animals, which can die within three days if they are deprived of blood. In such a crisis, vampire bats make a surprising choice. They share their blood with each other. They thrive on reciprocity, and calculations show that without this selfless act, the average life expectancy of a vampire bat would only be about three years. But thanks to this altruistic behavior, their lifespan can be extended to 15 years. Thus, even in vampire bat societies, altruistic behavior can be seen as an instinctive form of altruism, manifesting itself in ways that help each other survive.
But can the reciprocal altruism hypothesis explain all human and animal behavior? In fact, there are many examples in our daily interactions with people that don’t fit this hypothesis. For example, the unconditional love that parents show to their children or the free acts of kindness that we receive from others are difficult to explain in terms of reciprocal altruism, which involves repeated interactions or expectation of something in return. Instead, these relationships are driven by human emotions, intangible values like affection and humanity, rather than mere calculations like expectations or retribution.
In the end, this hypothesis should not be used as an absolute truth that can explain all human relationships, but rather as a tool to explain a wide range of human relationships and psychology. As such, reciprocal altruism and the reciprocity hypothesis are valuable as theoretical frameworks to explain some of the behaviors that occur in complex relationships in human society, and can be viewed as perspectives that help us understand how complex and multifaceted human beings are.
