Self-Sacrifice: An Exploration of Altruism in Human Nature

Running Head: SELF-SACRIFICE
SELF-SACRIFICE
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Author Note

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Self-Sacrifice is a concept that requires deep and meticulous exploration to be
understood. In the social context, Self Sacrifice is also known as Altruism. In this essay, it
will be argued if an altruistic nature is present in every person as an innate quality that allows
them to sacrifice a lot for the welfare of other, using two theories surrounding the same: The
Kin Selection and the Empathy altruism theory. These theories should help explore and come
to a conclusion about altruism and human nature.
From a social perspective, Altruism is the art of giving, selflessly. It practiced by
various organizations all over the world that believe in giving to the one in need because that
is what a human must do. Such acts are often religious or cultural in nature. Altruism is an act
of good faith and kindness that is apparently ‘humane’ and natural but this is difficult to
believe given how difficult survival may be in this world and everyone is a part of a
competition to ensure that people get to live their life as normally bas possible with the
limited resources at human disposal. It is especially questioned by many evolutionary
researchers who know the human need to fight their way to the top (Kruger, 2003). However,
many researchers are of the view that human evolution would not have happened if people
did not learn to live amicably in groups and displayed altruistic behavior to stand the test of
time. This is termed as social reciprocity
The Kin Selection theory is one of the altruistic theories till date. It states that humans
tend to display a highly self sacrificial or altruistic behavior when it comes to their kin. This
theory works unconsciously for the people one is related to by blood. This theory begins at
gene level. It is biological and not self motivated. It innately happens and is shown on the
outside. One favors his or her family a lot. It is only normal and prevalent. Altruism is
branded highly sacrificial by this theory. On is willing to let go of the things owned by the
self for the kin to live better. The genetic similarity is favored to make sure the gene survives.
It is a method of welfare of a certain gene belonging to a certain family. However, it has been

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noted that a chunk of people are altruistic only to the kin and they are not altruistic to anyone
else. It is a strange phenomenon that can be used to question the validity of the argument that
all humans are self sacrificial. The reason for this kind of selective altruistic behavior has not
yet been found out but it can be presumed that one would want their kin to assert dominance
and survive over anyone else.
The empathy-altruism theory is a theory that is more focused on the emotions that
occur and trigger altruism. This is a theory that is based on the empathetic understanding of a
person and altruistic tendencies giving way to help the other person in need. This theory is
naturally a conscious effort because empathy needs our conscious attention (Battson, 1987).
One can only empathize with a person if he or she has keenly observed the position of the
person involved. This theory views altruism as an increase in someone else’s welfare. It
focuses on help based on empathy. However, if this is deeply studies one realizes that people
indulge in welfare after empathy because of positive or negative emotions that arise for the
other person. Positive emotions like sympathy and compassion are commendable and even
required but negative emotions like guilt, pity and pain lead to altruism as well. People might
be altruistic if they find a degree of relatability with the person who needs help. Maybe the
person realizes that they had been in a similar position at some point of their life and they
should help because he would have liked help at that point. People are even altruistic if they
feel guilty for being someone who does not require welfare, after empathizing (Zahavi,
1995). They realize their better position and try to help the other person out because they do
not want to feel bad about themselves for ignoring someone who needs help. This raises
questions if altruism is actually self sacrificial or is it a method of gaining satisfaction?
Due to the drawbacks of the theories, considering all humans as self sacrificial seems
like a far-fetched thought. It is evident that not everyone is self sacrificial. In the Kin
Selection theory, the person is only nice to their kin and they care very little about anything