Wired for Altruism?

Reprinted from the October 2004 issue of Science & Theology News. Used with permission.

Is there an evolutionary reason why some people behave more altruistically than others?

According to recent research out of Binghamton University in New York, in order for people to be "pro-social" - wanting to help those around them even when there might not be anything to gain - three aspects of their lives have to be in order.

"You need to be trying to be pro-social in a pro-social environment and have personal resources to be pro-social," said David Sloan Wilson, an evolutionary biologist and director of the study. "If any of those things are absent, you become less pro-social in your behavior."

In other words, a person must first try to be good, but the next two steps are a bit more complicated, requiring factors like a supportive living environment and stable financial status.

There have always been questions regarding theories about selfishness derived from evolutionary theory. Though Wilson's study is not definitively against the idea of a "selfish gene," its findings back group-selection theory - the idea that selfless behaviors are advantageous within a group but not between groups.

As a believer of group selection theory, Wilson said he feels that "selfishness beats altruism within a group, but an altruistic group beats a selfish group."

The research which started about a year and a half ago, is based on the experience sampling method, or ESM, created by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. ESM is a surveying process that not only charts how people feel, but also how they feel during certain activities and with certain people. Each participant first completes an extensive survey, and are then given a beeper where, upon each beep, they have to fill out a questionnaire regarding what they are doing and their feelings.

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