Compassion + Empathy
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Who cares? The national altruism study
The General Social Survey (GSS) has tracked the whims and trends in American social life for more than three decades. The widely cited survey, run by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, has measured everything from Americans' drinking habits to race relations, as well as their attitudes toward their doctors, religions, and government. But in its first 30 years, the GSS never tried to gauge the prevalence of altruistic values and behaviors in American society. Most information on that topic came from smaller surveys, conducted mainly among college students.
That changed with the last GSS. As always, the NORC reached a broad, national sample of adult Americans; this time, though, with additional funding from the Fetzer Institute, the GSS tried to determine what percentage-and what types-of Americans feel and demonstrate altruism.
The study actually examined three areas: altruistic values, altruistic behaviors, and empathy. It found that all three are common in American society. For instance, 75 percent of more than 1,300 survey participants said that assisting people in trouble is personally important to them; a majority said they performed 8 of 15 sample altruistic acts over the previous year; and 80 percent said they often have tender, concerned feelings for the less fortunate.
People who scored high on empathy also, not surprisingly, had strong altruistic values. But, the survey found, that didn't make them more likely to have performed altruistic acts. GSS director Tom Smith, who authored the study, said this finding doesn't necessarily cast doubt on their values; it could simply mean they had less opportunity to show their altruism. "You have to be exposed to a certain situation in order to offer help," said Smith. "Not everyone has the same exposure, and therefore the same opportunities, to help."
The survey also found that the prevalence of empathy and altruism varies across groups: women appeared more likely to express empathy than men; people who reported being religious showed greater empathy and altruism. Those who were more empathetic and altruistic also proved to be more liberal on social policies, supporting higher government spending on health care and children, and stronger government efforts to reduce economic inequalities.
There were some surprises. Empathy and altruistic values were stronger among people more fearful of crime. People who advocated tougher punishment of criminals also reported more empathy. And residents of big cities helped people more often than their rural counterparts. - Elizabeth Cushing Payne
Altruism in Contemporary America: A Report from the National Altruism Study, by Tom W. Smith, for the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. Report prepared for the Fetzer Institute, June, 2003.
Altruism & Terrorism
The terrorist attacks of September 11 traumatized millions of Americans. Angry outbursts, sleeping trouble, problems concentrating-the number of people reporting these and other symptoms of depression and traumatic stress skyrocketed immediately afterwards, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Health Education. Even a year later, these symptoms were roughly twice as common among Americans as they had been before the September attacks.
But that's not the whole story. The attacks also provoked an outpouring of sympathy and kindness. Volunteers swarmed the Red Cross to donate blood; civilians teamed up with rescue crews to help victims at the Pentagon and World Trade Center.
Now a team of Stanford researchers, with support from the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, are trying to determine just how common those altruistic responses were, and whether they helped people cope with the trauma of September 11. More than 7,000 people worldwide-nearly all of whom had only indirect exposure to the attacks via television-completed the researchers' Web-based survey in the weeks after the attacks. Co-investigators Jay Azarow, Cheryl Koopman, Lisa Butler, and graduate student Melinda Manley, analyzed 137 of these responses to identify and better understand generativity-concern for the well-being of future generations-and altruism in the wake of 9/11.
"What really jumps out at me from the moving accounts provided by our respondents is that, as media reports suggested, there was indeed an outpouring of generativity and altruism," Dr. Azarow said. More than 40 percent of the sample respondents had clear altruistic responses, such as donating blood or checking in on an elderly neighbor. Respondents directed their altruism toward strangers about as frequently as they did toward family members, and their political orientation did not seem related to their levels of altruism.
The research group has published two papers on the study-one in CNS Spectrums, one in Psicologia Politica-with a third due out later this year. That paper will discuss the effects altruistic and generative acts had on people's resilience to post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of distress. Although the analyses are not yet complete, preliminary results suggest that altruism did help people cope with the traumatic effects of September 11. - Matthew Wheeland
Love on the brain - A study of mothers and infants
When mothers try to describe the love they feel for their newborn children, the words "bilateral activation of the orbitofrontal cortex" probably won't come to mind. But that type of brain activity might be a neurological basis of their maternal affections, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and published in the February issue of the journal NeuroImage, involved six mothers with newborn infants. The mothers viewed photos of their babies-interspersed with photos of other babies, as well as photos of familiar and unfamiliar adults-while lying inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The functional MRI study recorded images of the women's brain activity while they looked at the photos. Upon seeing them, the women reported how each type of photo made them feel.
When the women looked at photos of their own babies, their brain images showed unusually strong activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and they reported feeling happier and more loving at these times-strongly suggesting a link between the OFC and their positive emotions. Their OFC activity was weaker when they viewed pictures of other babies and adults.
Lead researcher Jack Nitschke said the results expand scientists' understanding of the relationship between positive emotions and brain activity, especially with regard to the OFC. "What this study shows is that when you're feeling this type of positive emotion, this is an area that essentially swamps other areas of the brain," he said.
But Nitschke also said that the study could help scientists better understand and treat postpartum depression, the type of depression some mothers experience after giving birth. He said that in a follow-up study, he would like to explore whether women showing symptoms of postpartum depression actually exhibit less OFC brain activity than other women. If so, that could mean their depression arises not from overwhelming negative emotions, but rather from deficient levels of positive emotion. Their therapy would then focus on boosting positive stimuli in their lives, not only alleviating sources of stress.
Before they explore this question, Nitschke and his colleagues are analyzing data for 28 more mothers in a slightly expanded version of their recent study. - Jason Marsh
Orbitofrontal cortex tracks positive mood in mothers viewing pictures of their newborn infants, Nitschke, J.B., Neuroimage, Vol. 21/2 (2003), pp. 583-592.
Better to give than to recieve
This study examines the influence of social contact on health and longevity. Whereas previous articles have focused on the effects of receiving support on longevity, this study focuses on the relationship between giving support and longevity. Over a period of 5 years, researchers interviewed 423 married couples with husbands over the age 65. Questions concerned whether or not the individuals had provided instrumental support, such as providing transportation, running errands, shopping, housework and childcare, to friends and relatives or emotional support such as expressing love and a willingness to listen to their spouse. Experimenters also inquired as to whether individuals were receiving instrumental or emotional support. Demographic, personality, health, mental health and marital-relationship variables were controlled. Mortality was then tracked. Experimenters ran a correlation study and found that both providing instrumental support and emotional support improved longevity, whereas receiving instrumental support actually slightly increases risk of mortality. Researchers suggested that this could be attributed to feeling such as guilt that can result from receiving help. - Lauren Shapiro
"Providing Social Support May be More Beneficial Than Receiving: Results from a Prospective Study of Mortality,"
Brown, S.L. , Nesse, R.M. , Vinokur, A.D. , Smith, D.M., Psychological Science 14 (2003): 320-327.
Taking compassion caregiving to new level
This study examines acts of compassion within the clinician/patient relationship. Recognizing that the demanding nature of the current health care structure often renders physicians who appear somewhat detached from their patients, this study specifically questions whether or not it is possible for a clinician to act compassionately towards a patient without sacrificing the objectivity and rationality required for successful treatment. Drawing from interviews with 24 nurses, physicians, therapists and health care practitioners from two hospitals in the U.S. south who were described by their colleagues as compassionate, this study constructs a model describing four levels of possible clinician/patient interaction: impersonal/practical, personal/social, personal/feeling and transcendent. Locating the compassionate clinicians within the personal/social and transcendent levels, this study argues that the compassionate clinicians were able to balance their emotions with professional judgment. Not only were close patient/clinician relationships meaningful to the clinicians, but also they were beneficial for the patients. - Lauren Shapiro
"Transcending the Ordinary: Compassionate Clinicians and Their Interactions With Patients,"
Graber, D.R. , Mitcham, M.D.
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