ISSUE 11 | NOVEMBER 2019
BIKERS CLUB | MAGAZINE | PAGE 34
"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the
light of creative altruism or in the darkness of
destructive selfishness" - Martin Luther King Jr.
Neurological Reasons Environmental Reasons
Altruism activates reward
centers in the brain.
Neurobiologists have found
that when engaged in an
altruistic act, the pleasure
centers of the brain become
active. A Stanford study suggested that
interactions and relationships with
others have a major influence on
altruistic behaviour. Psychologists
have long debated whether some
people are just born with a natural
tendency to help others while others
are not, a theory that suggests that
altruism may be largely controlled by
genetics.
It is found that engaging in
compassionate actions
activates the areas of the
brain associated with the
reward system including the
dopaminergic ventral
tegmental area and the
ventral striatum. The positive
feelings created by
compassionate actions then
reinforce altruistic behaviours.
Finding that socializtion had a serous
impact on altruistic actions in one-and
two-year-old children. Kids who
observe simple reciprocal acts of
altruism are far more likely to exhibit
altruistic actions, whereas friendly but
non-altruistic modeled actions did not.
Research suggests that modeling -
faith is
taking the
first step
even when
you don't see
the whole
staircase