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Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

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Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#11

Post by bitshiftfaced »

Trasmatta wrote: post #2

Having a higher than average amount of empathy seems to be a disadvantage in many ways. It seems in many cases to be correlated with anxiety and depression. It can be difficult for people with high levels of empathy to recognize the boundaries between their own self and the thoughts and feelings of others. As a kid I was highly empathetic, and it's something I've struggled with my entire life. It never really felt li…

I think that's probably true, but it's more about conscientiousness than empathy. If you're empathetic and lack conscientiousness, you have a great advantage in being able to "work" people. And you feel no guilt if things don't go well for them.

On the other hand, you could be highly conscientious and lack empathy. You may try to do the right thing, but you feel guilt anyway because you're unable to understand why what you did wasn't in line with what the other person was feeling.

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#12

Post by loa_in_ »

layer8 wrote: post #4

Regarding empathy, there’s also an argument that it tends to be significantly biased, and that rational compassion is preferable for decision-making: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Empathy

Decision making when? In what conditions? Do those conditions ever change?

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#13

Post by natvod »

Trasmatta wrote: post #2

Having a higher than average amount of empathy seems to be a disadvantage in many ways. It seems in many cases to be correlated with anxiety and depression. It can be difficult for people with high levels of empathy to recognize the boundaries between their own self and the thoughts and feelings of others. As a kid I was highly empathetic, and it's something I've struggled with my entire life. It never really felt li…

You might find the research about sensory processing sensitivity interesting.

"Theory and research suggest that sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), found in roughly 20% of humans and over 100 other species, is a trait associated with greater sensitivity and responsiveness to the environment and to social stimuli. Self-report studies have shown that high-SPS individuals are strongly affected by others' moods, but no previous study has examined neural systems engaged in response to others' emotions."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4086365/

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#14

Post by chrisweekly »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #10

Psychologist measured that people differ by personality, and can be roughly grouped into 16 categories based on traits. I used to think everyone was more or less the same. I'm not sure if 16 is the correct number. But my understanding of the world has been helped by the concept that there are people that do and act in particular patterns. For example some of the battles on twitter that are going on, are just extensio…

It may be helpful to categorize _behaviors_, but I want to emphasize that for a given individual, personality isn't permanent.

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#15

Post by robluxus »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #10

Psychologist measured that people differ by personality, and can be roughly grouped into 16 categories based on traits. I used to think everyone was more or less the same. I'm not sure if 16 is the correct number. But my understanding of the world has been helped by the concept that there are people that do and act in particular patterns. For example some of the battles on twitter that are going on, are just extensio…

Are you by chance referring to the 16 Meyers-Briggs types?

It's been claimed that it's less useful than it is popular: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#17

Post by SpodGaju »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #7
Trasmatta wrote: post #2

Having a higher than average amount of empathy seems to be a disadvantage in many ways. It seems in many cases to be correlated with anxiety and depression. It can be difficult for people with high levels of empathy to recognize the boundaries between their own self and the thoughts and feelings of others. As a kid I was highly empathetic, and it's something I've struggled with my entire life. It never really felt li…

Don't numb it, master it and let it lead under control. Empathy is an incredible virtue, but it must be disciplined. I don't know enough neuroscience to know what the "right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex" is exactly but I know that you can over-ride/master it with reason and discipline. So I think there's something more to people allowing their better nature to slip under stress than simple brain chemicals. A colone…

> Don't numb it, master it and let it lead under control. Empathy is an incredible virtue, but it must be disciplined.

Disciplined empathy is no longer empathy. And it is no longer virtuous. You are close to understanding, but keep going.

Giving birth and nourishing, making without possessing, expecting nothing in return. To grow, yet not to control: This is the mysterious virtue.

Chapter 10, Dao De Ching

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#18

Post by dash2 »

Why does stress make more empathetic people less kind, but has little effect on others? We believe this is due to a set of linked phenomena. The first is publish or perish. When a researcher needs a publication, his or her cortisol levels increase. This reduces the researcher's ability to empathize with the victims of useless scientific results, or their own future self when their work turns out to be a dead end. A second cause is the garden of forking paths. When a main effect fails to reach significance, it is all too easy to find an interaction or sample subset where it is significant. For example, if stress didn't affect charitable donations, you can always check the result among high-empathy people, or women, or nursing students. These root causes come together in p hacking, where desperate researchers kid themselves that they always meant to run that particular interaction, and absurdly pretend that their p values and careers have some meaning...

[Not TFA, obviously, but I wouldn't be surprised.]

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#19

Post by tartoran »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #9
Trasmatta wrote: post #2

Having a higher than average amount of empathy seems to be a disadvantage in many ways. It seems in many cases to be correlated with anxiety and depression. It can be difficult for people with high levels of empathy to recognize the boundaries between their own self and the thoughts and feelings of others. As a kid I was highly empathetic, and it's something I've struggled with my entire life. It never really felt li…

I would argue that it's a disadvantage only from the self-centered perspective that modern society encourages us to cultivate. Empathy is an incredibly useful tool for humans that exist as part of a community, but our societies are structured to benefit those who seek to maximally exploit others, our role models are sociopaths, and the cultural narrative is that our only value is either in being them or being useful…

Empathy is great for the society, a burden for the individual. Very empathetic people have a hard time minding their own path in life for they get caught in the suffering of others. Regardless of setbacks and disilussionments, empathetic people feel good when helping others.

Re: Altruism under stress: cortisol negatively predicts charitable giving

#20

Post by SpodGaju »

"Stress Makes the Most Empathetic People Less Kind" when others do not help them relieve their stress.

Acting out when under stress is a call for help.

Please do not go around controlling yourself, it only prevents change for the better, as they implied in the article;

"But it helps to have scientific evidence to bolster the case for public and workplace policies that might make our lives less stressful — and thus, we hope, more compassionate.”

We do not need better people, we need a better society.

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