690280

research-article2017
JHPXXX10.1177/0022167817690280Journal of Humanistic PsychologyHoffman et al.

Article
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
118
The Psychological The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions:
Benefits of Receiving sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0022167817690280
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167817690280
Real-Life Altruism journals.sagepub.com/home/jhp

Edward Hoffman1, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Mujica2,

Catalina Acosta-Orozco3, and William C.
Compton4

Abstract
This study investigates the impact of receiving real-life altruism on such
positive attitudinal aspects as empathy, optimism, and motivation to help
others. A mixed convenience/snowball sample of 148 participants (79 men,
67 women, 2 gender unknown), responded to an online questionnaire. Most
were between 21 and 40 years of age, and had at least a college degree;
all but eight were born in Venezuela, and the remainder were from other
Hispanic/Latino countries. Participants were asked to describe an experience
in which they had received unexpected altruism and rate its impact on their
subsequent view of life. They were also asked to rate its effect on their
optimism about human nature, trust in social relationships, appreciation for
life, sense of gratitude, self-esteem, sense of being valued by others, empathy
for others, motivation to help others, energy and enthusiasm in general, and
religious faith. A total of 64.2% reported an unexpected altruistic experience.
Of those, almost 75% reported the experience changed their view of life at
least strongly and only 4.2% stated that it had little or no effect. The
intensity of their change in life view correlated significantly with all 10

1Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA

2Independent Practice, Barcelona, Spain
3Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogot, Colombia
4Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA

Corresponding Author:
Edward Hoffman, Department of Psychology, Yeshiva University, 500 West 185th Street,
New York, NY 10002, USA.
Email: elhoffma@yu.edu
2 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

dependent variables except for gratitude. Women were significantly more

likely to report that their experience boosted their gratitude for others,
and participants whose altruistic experiences were attitudinally more life-
changing were significantly more likely to indicate that religion was very
important to them. The implications of these findings for understanding the
psychological benefits of altruistic experience are discussed and avenues for
future research are suggested.

Keywords
altruism, benevolence, helping behavior, humanistic psychology, Maslow,
Sorokin

On a globe that daily witnesses countless acts of cruelty and conflict both
large and small, our human capacity for altruism seems more important
than ever. Not surprisingly, psychologists today are increasingly interested
in understanding this vital caregiving phenomenon, certainly with the
hope that such knowledge will lead to a more harmonious humanity. In
recent years, researchers have increasingly examined the personality ante-
cedents as well as correlates of such prosocial behaviors as volunteerism,
mentoring, and compassionate caregiving. However, such interest is hardly
new. More than 60 years ago, Maslow (1954) criticized the emphasis on
sickness and pathology regarding human nature and declared that kind-
ness, generosity, benevolence, and charity have too little place in the social
psychology textbooks (p. 371). Asserting that psychology was fixated on
the negative aspects of social exchange, he rhetorically asked, Where are
the researches on unselfishness? (Maslow, 1954, p. 371).
As the 21st century moves through its second decade, Maslows challenge
to our field remains highly relevant. Little empirical knowledge yet exists
about socially benevolent behavior, especially from the standpoint of its
recipients. For this reason, our investigation of altruistic experience in South
America is guided precisely by Maslows humanistic vision.

Altruism in Psychological Inquiry

The term altruism derives from the Latin word alter (other), which
literally translated means other-ism. The concept was brought into the
social sciences by the French philosopher-sociologist August Comte in the
mid-19th century as the antonym of selfishness; the Oxford English
Dictionarys first recorded date for its usage is 1853. Since then, the concept
has remained part of international social and natural science terminology. In
Hoffman et al. 3

Comtes highly influential view, people have two distinct motives in life:
egoism and altruism. Although Comte viewed most human behavior as self-
serving, he regarded the unselfish desire to help others as a motivator too.
Similar ideas were later advanced by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim
in The Division of Labor in Society. In this 1893 work, he argued that altruism
as well as egoism has always existed in human history, for community
requires that individuals live together with some degree of mutual under-
standing and cooperation. Though Durkheims formulation carried consider-
able philosophical weight, he never defined altruism in measurable terms or
sought to elucidate it empirically (Dubeski, 2001).
Several decades later, altruism was catapulted into social scientific and
popular interest by the scholarly activities of Pitirim Sorokin. A Russian mi-
gr who helped build American sociology in the 1920s and 1930s, he became
devoted to the study of altruism after the horrific death and destruction of
World War II. Establishing the Harvard Research Center for Creative Altruism
in the late 1940s, Sorokin hoped to spark intense academic study of altruism
in the United States and abroad. In 1950, his book Altruistic Love highlighted
the lives and practices of eminent altruists, including both Christian saints
and American good neighbors. Among those Sorokin influenced was Maslow,
who, in 1955, became a cofounder of Sorokins new Research Society for
Creative Altruism. Maslow, who had studied directly with Alfred Adler in the
1930s, shared his mentors opinion that compassion, friendship, and coopera-
tion were basic features of the healthy human personality, and was strongly
interested in scientific research to support that view (Hoffman, 1999).
Unfortunately, as Maslow soon discovered, Sorokins organization was
poorly run and able to accomplish little. By 1970, both Sorokin and Maslow
were dead, and psychological research on altruism languished for more than
20 years.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the empirical study of altruism revived as
a result of two separate streams: the first involved hero research, focus-
ing, for example, on the brave persons who saved European Jews from the
Nazis during the World War II, and on famous exceptional altruists like
Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa (Fogelman, 1994; Oliner & Oliner,
1988). Such studies were essentially anecdotal and had meager scientific
grounding. Only one consistent finding was rooted in objective measure-
ment, and that was that individuals with an altruistic personality tended
to score higher on empathy and responsibility toward others (Oliner &
Oliner, 1990).
The second stream came from the growing subfield of evolutionary psy-
chology, as adherents (Boehm, 1999; Boone, 1998; McAndrew, 2002;
McCullough, Kimeldorf, & Cohen, 2008; Nowak & Sigmund, 2005) argued
4 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

that cooperative and benevolent behaviors among individuals carried a sig-

nificant advantage in natural selection for human group survival. For exam-
ple, according to such scientists, the mother who sacrifices her life to save her
children may actually be engaging in genetically adaptive behavior, as the
copies of her genes that reside in them will in the long run lead to greater
genetic fitness than if she alone had survived (McAndrew, 2002).
Although altruism has regained increased psychological attention, most
related empirical investigations have focused experimentally on helping
behaviors in the laboratory (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006; Danzis & Stone-
Romero, 2009; Fowler & Christakis, 2010) or public settings (Fischer-Lokou,
Lamy, & Gueguen, 2009; Lamy, Fischer-Lokou, & Gueguen, 2009).
Typically, such studies have examined helping between complete strangers in
brief, one-time interactions. Other studies have administered self-report sur-
veys to various categories of individuals, such as ministers (DaSilva, 2008),
nurses (Johnson, 2007), and medical, law, and business students (Coulter,
Wilkes, & Der-Martirosian, 2007). While undeniably shedding some useful
empirical light, the generalizability of these studies to situations of real-life
altruism appears limited. As Yeung (2006, p. 22) astutely concluded in her
review of social science research on altruism, Our next step in altruistic
research should involve exploration of everyday experiences and views of
altruism through combining survey and qualitative data.
In this light, Mastain (2006) conducted detailed interviews with three
adults who had provided altruism in daily life that encompassed caregiving to
strangers. She identified 15 constituent themes, such as empathy with the
person in need and the conscious decision to act on the desire to help. In
Japan, Oda et al. (2013) developed a self-report scale that assessed altruistic
tendencies in everyday situations concerning family, friends and acquain-
tances, and strangers. The scale was positively correlated with emotional
warmth and negatively correlated with emotional coldness. Women had
higher altruism scores relating to family as well as friends and acquaintances,
but no gender differences emerged concerning altruistic tendencies toward
strangers. Mastain (personal communication, June 7, 2010) decried that no
empirical research to date had examined real-life altruism from the stand-
point of the recipient. Since then, however, two studies have been reported in
the psychology literature. With a Brazilian sample, Hoffman, da Silveira, and
Polydoro (2011) found that experiences involving emotional support were
most common, followed in frequency by those involving financial aid. The
altruistic deeds generally occurred during the recipients adulthood and
involved a friend. Both men and women tended to experience altruism per-
formed by someone of their own gender and who was older or possessed
higher social status. In a study involving persons from the Dominican
Hoffman et al. 5

Republic, Hoffman, Alfonso, and Compton (2014) found that recipients of

altruism reported greater optimism and trust in humanity as a result of their
experience, stronger empathy and closeness in their social relationships, and
subsequent pay-it-forward behavior.

The Venezuelan Context

Venezuela, named the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in 1999, is located
on the northern coast of South America. The country comprises a continental
mainland and numerous islands in the Caribbean Sea. The majority of
Venezuelas approximately 28.95 million residents are concentrated in the
north, especially in the largest city of Caracas, numbering about 2.11 million.
Based on Hofstedes cultural comparison work (Hofstede, 2003; Hofstede,
Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010), Venezuela has the following rankings: power
distance = 81, individualism = 12, masculinity = 73, uncertainty avoidance =
76, long-term orientation = 16, and indulgence = 100. These rankings indi-
cate that Venezuela ranks cross-culturally high on accepting power inequali-
ties among people, extremely low on individualism (in favor of collectivism),
high on the masculinity-linked traits of status and competition (rather than
caregiving), high on uncertainty avoidance (rather than tolerating emotional
ambiguity), very low on long-term orientation (indicating meager future
planning), and extremely high on indulgence (associated with leisure rather
than work orientation).
To trace the history or delineate the parameters of Venezuelas current
economicpolitical situation is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to
say that with an estimated 27,875 homicides in 2015 (Observatory of
Venezuelan Violence as cited in McDonnell, 2016) or about 90 per 100,000
people, the country ranks alongside gang-ridden El Salvador and Honduras
as the worlds most homicidal nation. In comparison, the United States
homicide rate is about 5 per 100,000. As McDonnell (2016) noted, While
most crime victims are poor, they also include members of the middle and
upper classes, and scores of police and military personnel are killed each
year, sometimes for their weapons. For many Venezuelans, their countrys
massive violent crime is attributable to corrupt law enforcement, governmen-
tal indifference, proliferating arms, and a deteriorating economy. In 2013,
Cesar Chavezs 14-year rule as Venezuelas controversial president ended
with his death from cancer. That same year, his personally chosen successor
Nicolas Maduro was elected president over an increasingly destitute nation in
which mob violence and paramilitary governmental death squads, imprison-
ment of political oppositional figures, and severe shortages of both food and
medical supplies may eventually spiral into civil war.
6 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Against this volatile social backdrop, we decided to investigate experi-

ences of real-life altruism. That is, in a country where social trust is fraying
to the breaking point, our goal was to examine how individuals were affected
by their experience of being a recipient of unexpected benevolent behavior.
This topic was especially salient for the second author (a native Venezuelan)
of this article, who has suffered the murder of several acquaintances included
a medical student killed during a paramilitary attack on the Central University
of Caracas in 2013.

Hypotheses. Based on our review of the literature and familiarity with condi-
tions in Venezuela, we had five hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: The experience of receiving unexpected altruism would

significantly increase self-reported trust in human kindness.
Hypothesis 2: This experience would significantly increase self-reported
empathy for others.
Hypothesis 3: The experience would significantly increase self-reported
motivation to help others.
Hypothesis 4: The experience would significantly increase self-reported
sense of gratitude.
Hypothesis 5: Women would report that their experience increased their
sense of gratitude significantly more than would men.

Method
Instrument
We utilized the questionnaire developed by Hoffman et al. (2014). It has
three parts. Part 1 elicits demographic information, encompassing the
participants gender, age range, educational level, religious affiliation if
any, how important is religion to the participant on a 3-point Likert-type
scale (1 = not important; 2 = somewhat important; 3 = very important),
country of birth, and country of current residence. Part 2 asks whether
the participant has ever had an experience in which someone unexpect-
edly acted altruistically toward him or her, and then to describe this
experience including his or her age when it occurred, the gender of the
initiator, the relationship between the initiator and the recipient, and
whether the initiator was younger or older than the recipient. It next asks
the participant to rate on a 5-point Likert-type scale the intensity with
which the experience affected or changed his or her view or attitude
toward life (1 = not at all; 2 = a little; 3 = moderately; 4 = strongly; 5 =
Hoffman et al. 7

greatly). Part 3 asks the participant to rate separately on 10 indepen-

dently scored 3-point Likert-type scales (1 = not at all; 2 = a little; 3 = a
large amount), the extent to which the experience increased his or her
optimism, trust in social relationships, appreciation for life, sense of
gratitude, self-esteem, sense of being valued by others, empathy for oth-
ers, motivation to help other persons, energy and enthusiasm in general,
and religious faith. Each of the 10 scales yields a mean score utilized in
statistical analysis.

Sample and Data Collection

The second author of this study used a mixed convenience/snowball sample
in recruiting participants to respond to our online questionnaire. She sent the
questionnaire to approximately 250 persons, comprising friends and col-
leagues, and both groups acquaintances. In addition, the second author
posted the questionnaire link on Facebook, where it was accessed by various
individuals. They were advised that participation was wholly voluntary and
anonymous.

Participants
A total of 148 persons (79 men, 67 women, 2 gender unknown) responded to
the questionnaire. In terms of chronological age, our sample was quite var-
ied. A total of 59 (40.4%) were between 21 and 30 years of age, 35 (24.0%)
were between 31 and 40 years. A total of 16 (11.0%) were between 41 and
50 years, 20 (13.7%) were between 51 and 60 years, and 16 (11.0%) were
older than 60 years. Our sample was well-educated, with 74 participants
(50.7%) possessing postundergraduate education, 24 (16.4%) with a univer-
sity degree, 27 (18.5%) with some university education, 16 (11.0%) with a
high school diploma, and 5 (3.4%) with less than a high school diploma. In
terms of religious affiliation, 88 were self-described as Catholic, 28 as
Protestant, 15 as Jewish, 3 as Buddhist, 2 as Hindu, 1 as Muslim, 1 as
other, and 8 as none. Concerning the importance of religion for them-
selves, 67 participants (45.9%) reported that it was not important, 43 (29.5%)
stated that it was somewhat important, and 36 (24.7%) said that it was very
important.

Results
A total of 95 (64.2%) participants indicated yes to Question 1, that is,
whether they had experienced an unexpected act of altruism toward them.
8 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Those checking yes tended to be women (2 = .22.68, p < .01), more edu-
cated (r = .40, p < .000), and older (r = .34, p < .000), and with religion less
important to them (r = .53, p < .000). Question 2 asked participants to describe
their experience of unexpected altruism; their answers will be highlighted in
the Discussion section. Question 3 asked, On a scale of 1 to 5, describe the
intensity with which this experience affected or changed your view or atti-
tude toward life. The mean score was 4.2 with 74.7% of participants indicat-
ing either strong or greatly.
There were no significant gender differences with regard to the 10 depen-
dent variables except for gratitude, which is reported under Hypothesis 5
below. Age was not significantly correlated with change in view or attitude
about life after an experience of unexpected altruism. Participants who had
more education were likely to report significantly higher optimism about
human nature (r = .28, p < .007), appreciation for life (r = .26, p < .022), sense
of gratitude (r = .35, p < .001), energy and enthusiasm in general (r = .23, p
< .03), and religious faith (r = .23, p < .025) after experiencing unexpected
altruism.
Our first hypothesis was that the experience of receiving unexpected
altruism would significantly increase self-reported trust in human kind-
ness. The correlation between the intensity of the effect of an altruistic act
and trust in human kindness was significant (r = .30, p < .003). Thus, the
first hypothesis was supported. The second hypothesis was that being the
recipient of such altruism would significantly increase self-reported
empathy for others. The correlation between the intensity of the effect of
an altruistic act and empathy was significant (r = .34, p < .001). Thus, the
second hypothesis was supported. The third hypothesis was that being the
recipient of unexpected altruism would significantly increase self-
reported motivation to help others. The correlation between the intensity
of the effect of an altruistic act and motivation to help others was signifi-
cant (r = .41, p < .000). Thus, the third hypothesis was supported. The
fourth hypothesis was that being the recipient of unexpected altruism
would significantly increase self-reported gratitude. The correlation
between the intensity of the effect of an altruistic act and gratitude was
not significant (r = .15, p < .155). Thus, the fourth hypothesis was not
supported. This result may reflect the fact that virtually all recipients of
altruism in our sample indicated that their sense of gratitude was very
strongly boosted by the experience, and hence, almost no statistical vari-
ability existed. The fifth hypothesis was that women would report that
their altruistic experience increased their gratitude for others significantly
more than would men. Women were indeed more likely than men to report
that experiencing altruism increased their sense of gratitude (r = .26, p <
Hoffman et al. 9

Table 1. Impact of Receiving Unexpected Altruism on Attitudinal Aspects.

Degree of increase Frequency Valid percentage

Optimism Not at all 2 2.1
A little 24 25.3
A large amount 69 72.6
Trust in social Not at all 1 1.1
relationships A little 31 32.6
A large amount 63 66.3
Appreciation for Not at all 4 4.2
life A little 16 16.8
A large amount 75 78.9
Sense of Not at all 0 0
gratitude A little 4 4.3
A large amount 89 95.7
Self-esteem Not at all 22 23.2
A little 41 43.2
A large amount 32 33.7
Sense of being Not at all 5 5.3
valued by A little 32 33.7
others A large amount 58 61.1
Empathy Not at all 3 3.2
A little 19 20.2
A large amount 72 76.6
Motivation to Not at all 3 3.2
help others A little 15 16
A large amount 76 80.9
Energy and Not at all 7 7.4
enthusiasm in A little 33 34.7
general A large amount 55 57.9
Religious faith Not at all 17.2
A little 21 22.6
A large amount 56 60.2

.014). Thus, the fifth hypothesis was supported. Finally, higher intensity
of the effect from an unexpected altruistic experience was significantly
correlated with upward change in optimism about human nature (r = .55,
p < .000), appreciation for life (r = .32, p < .002), self-esteem (r = .48,
p < .000), feeling valued by other (r = .37, p < .000), energy and enthusi-
asm in general (r = .35, p < .001), and religious faith (r = .56, p < .000;
see Table 1).
10 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Discussion
Though the importance of investigating altruism to improve social relations
and reduce interpersonal conflict has been identified for more than 60 years
(see Maslow, 1954; Sorokin, 1950), meager research has been conducted on
real-world experiences in this domain. Rather, experimental studies involv-
ing brief, low-level encounters as well as attitudinal questionnaires by occu-
pation have predominated in the research literature. In addition, most
investigations on altruism have examined the psychological benefits to its
initiators, such as the helpers high, rather than to its recipients. Yet both
theoretical and empirical studies have suggested, at least indirectly, that the
experience of receiving benevolence from others may carry significant psy-
chological benefits (Barr, 2014; Janoff-Bulman, 1989; Poulin & Silver, 2008;
Rogers, 1961). For this reason, we examined experiences of unexpected
altruism in a country with one of the worlds highest violent crime rates,
rampant corruption, and widespread breakdown of civil institutions
(Observatory of Venezuelan Violence as cited in McDonnell, 2016).
Our findings clearly showed that the experience of receiving altruism had
a potent emotional and attitudinal impact. Supporting our first three hypoth-
eses, the intensity of participants experience of altruism significantly
increased their self-reported confidence in human kindness, empathy for oth-
ers, and motivation to help others. In addition, participants appreciation for
life, self-esteem, sense of being valued by others, energy and enthusiasm in
general, and religious faith were all significantly bolstered too. Nearly 75%
of participants who reported an altruistic experience said the experience
strongly or very strongly affected their view of life, and only 4.2% stated
that it had little or no effect. These findings are consistent with previous
research on the psychological benefits of receiving altruism (Hoffman et al.,
2010; Hoffman et al., 2014), but also suggest a more pervasive effect.
It is interesting to note that participants whose altruistic experiences were
attitudinally more life-changing were significantly more likely to indicate
that religion was very important to them. Possibly, prior religiosity had a
snowball effect, inducing those who already viewed human life benevo-
lently to become even stronger in their faith after experiencing altruism. It is
also plausible that having received unexpected altruism in a country with
pervasive criminal violence and civil breakdown, participants became more
religious as a result. Both interpretations, of course, may be relevant.
However, in view of the fact that self-reported intensity of altruistic experi-
ence was significantly linked to increased faith, our second interpretation
seems more likely. As we predicted based on gender differences with regard
to gratitude, women were significantly more likely to report that their
Hoffman et al. 11

experience of altruism boosted their gratitude for others as compared with

men. This was the sole gender difference to emerge in our study, and supports
the notion that men and women differ not only in their verbal expression of
gratitude (Yoosefvand & Raskeh, 2014) but in how they experience it as well
(Chang, Tsui-Shan, Teng, Berki, & Chen, 2013; Kashdan, Mishra, Breen, &
Froh, 2009). Thus, our fifth hypothesis was supported.
It is also worth noting that the experience of receiving real-life altruism
significantly bolstered participants self-reported energy and enthusiasm.
That an increased benevolent worldview had a positive impact on individual
vitality should not be surprising, in light of research linking cynicism with a
variety of both mental and physical difficulties including depression, demen-
tia, and cardiovascular impairment (Barefoot et al., 1998; Barney et al., 1999;
Lavretsky & Irwin, 2007; Neuvonen et al., 2014; Ranjit et al., 2007). To be
constantly suspicious and wary of others takes a mental and physical toll, and
if such vigilance is significantly lowered, it makes sense that recipients of
altruism would report greater energy and enthusiasm. Our finding has par-
ticular relevance for older adults, for whom the link between worldview
(whether benevolent or cynical) and health status is strongest (Neuvonen
et al., 2014; Poulin & Silver, 2008).
In describing their experiences of receiving altruism, participants most
frequently expressed the emotion of gratitude. For example, a woman in her
30s recounted that

Some years ago, I got sick and my younger sister took care of my children and
me. For a month, she lived with us and took charge of everything including
cooking and cleaning. I am very thankful for her actions.

More dramatically, a man in his 20s related that

Last year, I was coming back home at night and I was shot by thugs. My
neighbors son was studying medicine and he managed to remove a bullet
using kitchen tools and stich me up. The next morning, he drove me to the
university hospital where he worked, where they completed the treatment.
Thanks to his courage, I am alive.

And a woman in her 50s recalled that

Six years ago, my daughter was running in an open space and fell. She injured
her head and was bleeding. The first person who passed by was a woman my
age. She helped and calmed me, called a taxi for me, and even paid the driver.
She solved everything for me without receiving any compensation except for
my gratitude.
12 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Despite such vivid statements of gratitude, it was the only one of the 10
dependent variables not significantly related to the intensity of the altruistic
experience as self-reported by participants. In our view, this result appears
due to the fact that 95.7% of recipients of altruism in our sample indicated
that their sense of gratitude was very strongly boosted by the experience.
Thus, due to lack of statistical variability with regard to the gratitude vari-
able, our fourth hypothesis was not supported.
Other participants described experiences that bolstered their trust in
human nature. For example, a woman in her 20s recollected that

A few years ago, I was brutally raped by thugs at a medical center where I was
working. Several hours later, some nurses arrived. They took care of me and
comforted me. They healed me wounds and behaved like mothers to me. I owe
them my life.

A man in his 20s related that

Several months ago, I was in a bakery and tried using my credit card to pay for
my breakfast. My card was rejected by the machine and I had no cash with me.
A somewhat older woman behind me offered to give me the money. Initially I
refused to accept it, but finally I did so. She refused to allow me to pay her
back, saying, This could happen to me, theres no problem, and then went
away. This event had a great impact on me. It allowed me to remember that
there are good people in the world.

Still other participants reported that their experience bolstered their reli-
gious faith. One man in his 20s stated,

Three years ago, I was lost into drugs. I committed many terrible sins until I
met a pastor about 55 years old who told me about the word of God. Because
of him, I realized my mistakes and I turned to God. Im a new man, every day
I preach the word of God.

And a woman in her 50s recounted that

Two years ago, the Venezuelan government appropriated my house. I was left
in the street without anyone because my daughter had been murdered the
previous year. My sister and brother-in-law paid for my airplane ticket so I
could live with them in Spain. This was a great blessing after so much suffering.

In view of our findings that receiving unexpected altruism appears highly

beneficial psychologically, we believe these have applicability in coaching
Hoffman et al. 13

and mental health intervention. For example, practitioners could encourage

clients to recall experiences in their lives when they were treated with excep-
tional kindness or generosity, and in this way, strengthen their clients capac-
ity to adopt a benevolent worldview. Such an approach might be especially
useful in helping clients identify past altruistic behaviors performed on their
behalf by family members, since from our clinical experience, many persons
take these acts for granted. Late in Maslows life, he decried the growing
tendency in American society to interpret others motives and conduct from
the most negative possible perspective, which he called down-leveling. In
his prescient view, this tendency (termed social cynicism by social scientists
today) is a metapathology with detrimental consequences both for its indi-
vidual adherents and society as a whole (Maslow, 1971). In this light, the
encouragement of clients to recall family members acts of kindness and also
attribute more benign motives to their varied behaviors might be termed up-
leveling. As clinicians, we cannot easily create new experiences of unex-
pected altruism for clients, but we can certainly help them recognize
experiences they may have forgotten, overlooked, or misinterpreted.
Several limitations exist in generalizing from our findings regarding the
psychological impact of receiving unexpected altruism. Our participants
comprised mainly a convenience sample combined with persons who
responded to our online posting about the study. For several reasons, there-
fore, they may not have not been representative of Venezuelans in general.
First, our sample was much better educated than the general population.
That is, 67.1% of participants had at least a college degree in a country
where only 28.9% of post-secondary students currently attend college.
(UNESCO, n.d. 9). Second, our sample comprised adults who were rela-
tively young; 40.4% were between the ages of 21 and 30 years, and nearly
64% were younger than 41 years. Though predominantly Catholic, only
24.7% of participants stated that religion was very important to them. Thus,
it is quite possible that Venezuelans who were less educated and/or older, as
well as more strongly religious, would have responded differently. Because
our questionnaire was presented solely online, it is also difficult to general-
ize to the 43% of adult Venezuelans who lack the financial or logistical
resources to access the Internet (Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, 2015).
Perhaps most important, a strikingly high percentage (28%) of participants
who reported an act of altruism indicated that they had been a victim of vio-
lent crime. For this reason, their reactions to unexpected kindness may not
be typical of people who live in more placid, if not salutary, milieus around
the world. Thus, we recommend that future studies of real-life experiences
of altruism be conducted with recipients of altruism who are less educated,
14 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

as well as those who are chronologically older, less affluent, and living in
milieus less marked by criminal violence and civil breakdown.
Despite its limitations, we believe that our study reveals that the experience of
receiving unexpected altruism brings a host of psychological benefits. These
include enhanced optimism about human nature and appreciation for life, a
greater sense of being valued by others, greater empathy and motivation to help
others, more energy and enthusiasm in general, and increased religious faith.
Indeed, nearly 30% of all participants reported that the experience very strongly
affected their view of life. In light of research on the health consequences of pos-
sessing a benevolent versus cynical worldview (Barefoot et al., 1998; Barney
et al., 1999; Lavretsky & Irwin, 2007; Neuvonen et al., 2014; Post, 2007; Ranjit
et al., 2007), we can think of very few interpersonal experiences that yield such
powerful payoffs emotionally, attitudinally, and even physically.
More than 70 years ago, Maslow (1943) pioneered in explicating the
importance of ones worldview in determining individual behavior. Against
the backdrop of World War II, he sharply differentiated persons with an
authoritarian worldview, and who therefore identify kindness with weak-
ness (p. 407)) and seek power over others, from those with a democratic
worldview and who focus instead on social problems, intellectual problems
[and] problems of the real world (p. 405)). For psychologists today in a
vastly different global era, among our greatest tasks is still to help people
view each other more benevolently. Our study suggests that the experience of
being a recipient of altruism is highly relevant to this goal.

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Yurie Igarshi, Jonathan Mintz, and Porntida Tanjitpiyanond
for their research assistance.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publi-
cation of this article.

References
Barefoot, J.C., Maynard, K.E., Beckham, J.C., Brummett, B.H., Hooker, K., & Siegler,
I.C. (1998). Trust, health, and longevity. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 21,
517-526.
Hoffman et al. 15

Barney, J.A., Fredericks, Fredericks, J., Fredericks, M., & Robinson, P. (1999).
Cynicism/idealism: Implications for health care. Education, 120, 118-124.
Barr, P. (2014). Adult attachment dimensions, world view schemas, and the psy-
chological health of infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. Journal of Loss &
Trauma, 19, 537-557.
Bartlett, M. Y., & DeSteno, D. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behavior: Helping
when it costs you. Psychological Science, 17, 319-325.
Boehm, C. H. (1999). Hierarchy in the forest: The evolution of egalitarian behavior.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Boone, J. L. (1998). The evolution of magnanimity: When is it better to give than to
receive? Human Nature, 9, 1-21.
Chang, Y. P., Tsui-Shan, L., Teng, H. Y., Berki, A., & Chen, L. H. (2013). Living
with gratitude: Spouses gratitude on ones depression. Journal of Happiness
Studies, 14, 1431-1442.
Coulter, I. D., Wilkes, M., & Der-Martirosian, C. (2007). Altruism revisted: A
comparison of medical, law and business students altruistic attitudes. Medical
Education, 41, 341-345.
Danzis, D. A., & Stone-Romero, E. F. (2009). Effects of helper sex, recipient attrac-
tiveness, and recipient femininity on helping behavior in organizations. Journal
of Managerial Psychology, 24, 722-737.
DaSilva, P. B. (2008). Altruismo na auto-imagem de pastores e pastoras meto-
distas [Altruism in the self-image of male and female Methodist ministers]
(Unpublished doctoral thesis). Department of Religion, Universidade Metodista
de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Dubeski, N. (2001). Durkheims altruism as the source of his social holism: A dis-
cussion of the viability of a social basis for moral principle. Electronic Journal
of Sociology. Retrieved from https://www.sociology.org/content/vol005.003/
dubeski.html
Fischer-Lokou, J., Lamy, L., & Gueguen, N. (2009). Induced cognitions of love and
helpfulness to lost persons. Social Behavior and Personality, 37, 1113-1220.
Fogelman, E. (1994). Conscience and courage. NY: Doubleday.
Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2010). Cooperative social behavior cascades in
human social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107,
5334-5338.
Hoffman, E. (1999). The right to be human: A biography of Abraham Maslow (2nd
ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Hoffman, E., Alfonso, Y., & Compton, W. C. (2014, April). Altruistic experience and
psychological well-being in the Dominican Republic. Paper presented at Society of
Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, Philadelphia, PA.
Hoffman, E., da Silveira, R. F., & Polydoro, J. I. (2010). Altruismo no Brasil: um
Estudo exploratorio [Altruism in Brazil: An exploratory study]. Mudanca-
Psicologia de Saude, 18, 36-46.
16 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Hofstede, G. (2003). Cultures consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, insti-

tutions and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hofstede, G. H., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations:
Software of the mind, revised and expanded edition (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad. (2015). Libertad en la Red 2015, Caso Venezuela
/ Freedom House. IPYS. Retrieved from http://ipysvenezuela.org/2015/11/03/
libertad-en-la-red-2015-caso-venezuela-freedom-house/
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1989). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events:
Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7, 113-136.
Johnson, M. (2007). Valuing of altruism and honesty in nursing students: A two-
decade replication study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 57, 366-374.
Kashdan, T. B., Mishra, A., Breen, W. E., & Froh, J. J. (2009). Gender differences in
gratitude: Examining appraisals, narratives, the willingness to express emotions,
and changes in psychological needs. Journal of Personality, 77, 691-730.
Lamy, L., Fischer-Lokou, J., & Gueguen, N. (2009). Induced reminiscences of love
and chivalrous helping. Current Psychology, 28, 202-209.
Lavretsky, H., & Irwin, M. R. (2007). Resilience and Aging. Aging Health, 3(3),
309-323.
Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, NY: Harper.
Maslow, A. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York, NY: Viking.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). The authoritarian character structure. Journal of Social
Psychology, 18, 401-411.
Mastain, L. (2006). The lived experience of spontaneous altruism: A phenomenologi-
cal study Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 37, 25-52.
McAndrew, F. T. (2002). New evolutionary perspectives on altruism: Multilevel-
selection and costly-signaling theories. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 11, 79-82.
McCullough, M. E., Kimeldorf, M. B., & Cohen, A. D. (2008). An adaptation for
altruism? The social causes, social effects, and social evolution of gratitude.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 281-285.
McDonnell, P. J. (2016, June 6). The biggest worry in crisis-ridden Venezuela:
Crime. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/world/mex-
ico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-violence-20160605-snap-story.html
Neuvonen, E., Rusanen, M., Solomon, A., Ngandu, T., Laatikainen, T., Soininen, H.,
. . . Tolppanen, A. M. (2014). Late-life cynical distrust, risk of incident dementia,
and mortality in a population-based cohort. Neurology, 82, 2205-2012.
Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K. (2005). Evolution of indirect reciprocity. Nature, 437,
1291-1298.
Oda, R., Dai, M., Niwa, Y., Ihobe, H., Kiyonari, T., Takeda, M., & Kai, H. (2013).
Self-report altruism scale distinguished by the recipient (SRAS-DR): Validity
and reliability. Shinrigaku Kenkyu, 84, 28-36. (In Japanese)
Hoffman et al. 17

Oliner, P. M., & Oliner, S. P. (1990). The roots of altruism. Shofar, 8(2), 16-34.
Oliner, S. P., & Oliner, P. M. (1988). The altruistic personality: Rescuers of Jews in
Nazi Europe. New York, NY: Free Press.
Post, S. G. (Ed.). (2007). Altruism and health: Perspectives from empirical research.
Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Poulin, M., & Silver, R. C. (2008). World benevolence beliefs and well-being across
the life span. Psychology and Aging, 23, 13-23.
Ranjit, N., Diez-Roux, A. V., Shea, S., Cushman, M., Seeman, T., Jackson, S. A., &
Ni. H. (2007). Psychosocial factors and inflammation in the multi-ethnic study of
atherosclerosis. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167, 174-181.
Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapists view of psychotherapy.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Sorokin, P. (1950). Altruistic love: A study of good neighbors and Christian saints.
Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
UNESCO. (n.d.). Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). Retrieved from http://
en.unesco.org/countries/venezuela-bolivarian-republic
Yeung, A. B. (2006). In search of a good society: Introduction to altruism theories
and their links with civil society (Civil Society Working Paper, number 25).
London, England: Centre for Civil Society, London School of Economics and
Political Science.
Yoosefvand, A., & Raskeh, A. E. (2014). Gender differences in the expression of
gratitude by Persian speakers. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language
Research, 1, 100-117.

Author Biographies
Edward Hoffman, PhD, is an adjunct associate psychology
professor at Yeshiva University and maintains a full-time pri-
vate practice in New York City as a licensed psychologist. He
serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Humanistic
Psychology and the Indian Journal of Positive Psychology. He
is the author of major biographies of Alfred Adler and Abraham
Maslow, and his research interests include peak experiences
and positive self-regulation, especially in cross-cultural con-
text. His latest book is titled Paths of Happiness: 50 Ways to Add Joy to Your Life
Every Day (Chronicle Books).
Jenniffer Gonzalez-Mujica, MA, is an independent clinical
psychologist in Barcelona, Spain, who is currently collaborat-
ing on various mental health projects relating to empower-
ment, leadership, and multicultural programs for students. Her
primary research interest is positive psychology and
well-being.
18 Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Catalina Acosta-Orozco is a senior medical student at La

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogot, Colombia. She has
been certificated to participate in a year-long program of interna-
tional university leadership (AUSJAL). During her university
years, she served in a Colombian institutional group to prevent
child abuse. She has also performed volunteer work in one of
Bogotas poorest neighborhoods, where she developed various social projects. In
2015, she coauthored two research articles in College Student Journal, comprising the
first published studies involving metaphor analysis with the Colombian population.
William C. Compton, PhD, is a professor emeritus of psychology
at Middle Tennessee State University. His primary research inter-
est is in the psychology of well-being with an emphasis on medita-
tion and transpersonal psychology. He is the author of An
Introduction to Positive Psychology, Positive Psychology: The
Science of Happiness and Flourishing (with Edward Hoffman),
and Eastern Psychology: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.