To understand "Why People are Altruistic." We must learn "Where did it comes from?" and " What does it mean?" Altruistic or altruism is a concept in psychology and philosophy developed from a French Philosopher Auguste Comte. Comte laid claim to the French word altruisme, basing it on autrui meaning other person. Altruism means any behavior that is kind, generous and helpful to others. People are not likely to read about altruism in a newspaper, but they take place with great occurrence. People go to considerable trouble to help a sick neighbor, take in a family left homeless by a fire, and serve as volunteer firemen and hospital attendants.
Altruism is an innate trait that has been passed along through the process of evolution. In addition, people have always had a better chance or survival when living with other individuals than when trying to make it alone. It seems likely that those who were willing to cooperate with others had a chance of surviving and passing along their characteristics to future generation. It is believe that not only altruism lies in heredity but in learning. There are wide individual differences in tendencies toward altruism. The people most likely to be altruistic are those who have learned to experience empathy-- the ability to feel the mental and emotional state of another person as if they were one's own. Having altruistic parents or other models to imitate and identify with also plays a part. Whether altruism is or is not a basic and innate human trait, there seems to be a little doubt that it can at least be encouraged or discouraged by learning and by social influence.
