Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

Within the social sciences, these courageous actions are readily attributed to selfish genes, to the desire to save kin, or to self-interest, pure and simple: Daniel Batson has taken the debate over altruism to a new level in his theoretical and empirical work. Rather than being misguided by either/or propositions (is there such a thing as altruism or not?), Batson proposes that most kind, pro-social behaviors are likely motivated by selfish and other-oriented motives. Perhaps more importantly, Batson has established a set of empirical guidelines for the documentation of more other-oriented, even selfless motives of altruistic behavior. C. D. Batson and L. L. Shaw, “Evidence for Altruism: Toward a Pluralism of Prosocial Motives,” Psychological Inquiry 2 (1991): 107–22. Alfie Kohn has made a very similar point about the reluctance for people immersed in Western thought to attribute benevolent intentions to others, even when explaining the most altruistic kinds of action. Kohn, The Brighter Side of Human Nature.

altruistic action is a defense mechanism by which we ward off deeper, unflattering, anxiety-producing revelations about the self: G. Valiant, “Natural History of Male Psychological Health—V: The Relation of Choice of Ego Mechanisms of Defense to Adult Adjustment, Archives of General Psychiatry 42 (1976): 597–601.

In an essay on the sublime and the beautiful: Kant, Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, 58.

To set the stage for his empirical studies: Batson and Shaw, “Evidence for Altruism.” Nancy Eisenberg et al., “Relation of Sympathy and Distress to Prosocial Behavior.”

In a first study: Batson et al., “Self-Reported Distress and Empathy and Egoistic versus Altruistic Motivation for Helping,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45 (1983): 706–18.

This age-old question motivated Batson’s next study: J. Fultz et al., “Social Evaluation and the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50 (1983): 761–69.

just this kind of data: Nancy Eisenberg et al., “Relation of Sympathy and Personal Distress to Prosocial Behavior,” and “Differentiation of Personal Distress and Sympathy in Children and Adults,” Developmental Psychology 24 (1988): 766–75.

Our tendencies to experience specific emotions: Carol Z. Malatesta, “The Role of Emotions in the Development and Organization of Personality,” in Socioemotional Development: Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, ed. Ross A. Thompson (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 1–56.

the longitudinal studies of Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan: J. Kagan, J. S. Reznick, and N. Snidman, “Biological Bases of Childhood Shyness,” Science 240 (1988): 167–71; C. E. Schwartz et al., “Inhibited and Uninhibited Infants ‘Grown Up’: Adult Amygdalar Response to Novelty,” Science 300 (2003): 1952–53.

Avshalom Caspi studied the adult lives of shy individuals: A. Caspi, G. Elder, and D. J. Bem, “Moving Away from the World: Life-Course Patterns of Shy Children,” Developmental Psychology 24 (1988): 824–31.

In one study, Chris Oveis and I: C. Oveis et al., “Vagal Tone as a Biological Marker of Social Connection,” unpublished manuscript.

Nancy Eisenberg has found that: N. Eisenberg et al., “The Relations of Children’s Dispositional Empathy-Related Responding to their Emotionality, Regulation, and Social Functioning,” Developmental Psychology 32 (1996): 195–209, and “The Role of Emotionality and Regulation in Children’s Social Functioning: A Longitudinal Study,” Child Development 66 (1995): 1360–84.

College students with higher resting vagal tone: Eisenberg et al., “The Relations of Emotionality and Regulation to Dispositional and Situational Empathy-Related Responding,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 66 (1994): 776–97.

Following the loss of a married partner: M. F. O’Connor, J. J. B. Allen, and A. W. Waszniak, “Emotional Disclosure for Whom? A Study of Vagal Tone in Bereavement,” Biological Psychology 68 (2005): 135–46.

And on the other end of the continuum: T. Beauchaine, “Vagal Tone, Development, and Gray’s Motivational Theory: Toward an Integrated Model of Autonomic Nervous System Functioning in Psychopathology,” Development and Psychopathology 13 (2001): 183–214.

an inspiration to James: In several places James expresses admiration for the open-spirited character of Walt Whitman. W. James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, (New York: Collier, 1902/1961), 88–89.

The vulnerability of our offspring: Hrdy, Mother Nature.