The Impact of Giving: An Examination of Stephen Post's Philosophy

This essay analyzes Stephen Post's philosophy of giving, highlighting his argument that giving is universally beneficial for health, happiness, and well-being. The essay explores the psychological principles underlying giving, referencing studies that demonstrate the positive correlation between giving and life satisfaction, reduced mortality rates, and the release of happiness chemicals in the brain. It further discusses the role of selflessness and dedication in professions like teaching, emphasizing the fulfillment derived from imparting knowledge and supporting students' growth. The essay also examines the evolutionary and spiritual aspects of giving, noting the activation of brain regions associated with pleasure and social connection. It concludes by advocating for the inclusion of knowledge about the benefits of giving in teacher training programs to foster happier and more satisfied educators. Desklib provides access to this essay along with a wealth of other solved assignments and study resources to support students' academic endeavors.

Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF GIVING
PHILOSOPHY OF GIVING
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Youtube: It’s Good to be Good | Stephen Post | TEDxSBU
Part A:
The speaker named Stephen has put forward a novel concept of a shared humanity. The
speaker is believer of the fact that humans require to care and support others without feeling the
need to be paid. He is of the opinion that every human beings should behave with others in the
way as they expect those others to do with them. He believes that emotions that remain attached
with the idea of helping others and giving others without any intentions of gaining anything in
return can result in a sense of tranquility and peace among individuals. He has further backed up
his belief with that scientific data where he has talked about the response of meso-limbic
pathway. When individuals provide help to others without expecting anything in return or when
they go an extra mile to provide help to an individual without the expectation of reaping extra
benefits of it, person are seen to feel an inner peace within themselves. He has associated this
feeling with better and healthier life and well-being that enables human being to be happy and
satisfied with their own selves.
Different studies have established strong powerful psychological principle which
underlies the psychology of giving. It had stated that when an individual experiences itself as
givers, they receive a deep as well as enduring affirmation of his own values to that of the others
(Grant, 2019). Researchers have been of the opinion that giving is positively associated with life
satisfaction and the more the people give the more satisfaction they feel (Kogut et al., 2017). One
of the longitudinal studies undertaken by the researchers at the University of Buffalo had shown
that people who engaged themselves in the helping behaviors with their friends as well as with

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their neighbors like that of running errands for them, cooking meals for them as well as
providing child care have reduced their mortality rates in comparison to those who did not help
(Weaver, 2018). Stephen has talked about similar aspects where he had stated that helping others
without thinking of benefits result in releasing of happiness chemical making people feel joy,
fulfillment as well as social trust. He had also stated facts where that older people who remained
engaged in helpful activities in neighborhood or volunteering activities were found to be more
satisfied with their lives than those who did not and their life expectancy was seen to have been
also increased by one year. The pure unselfish love that remain associated with the condition of
giving and helping others with no expectation in return can help individuals to come into a circle
of spirituality and this would feel them with joy that is more profound and deeper than mere
happiness. This has positive impact on health and well being of persons.
Teaching might be regarded as a profession like that of other types of profession of a
manager, doctor, engineer and many others but there remains a stark difference that makes
teaching very different from the others. All professions come with an expectation where the
professionals expect a benefit or profit in return (Cavallo et al., 2016). However, according to
me, the main foundation of the teaching profession is selflessness and dedication towards the
making of individuals who would be leading the next generation. As a teacher, I rely on the
power of giving in a similar manner as described by Stephen and many other articles published
over time. The joy of imparting knowledge and support to the student and helping them grow up
as a successful human being fills a teacher with a satisfaction, fulfillment and happiness that can
never be met with any financial or materialistic rewards. When I see the enthusiasm in the face
of the child when he or she learns new aspects of science or the environment makes me fill up
with pleasure that inculcates a sense of peace and serenity within me. Such feeling can never be

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compared with the remuneration that a teacher gets because of the profession. I feel much
energized and excited and such feelings have direct impact on my well-being and quality of life.
Such feelings overrides my sense of tiredness throughout the day and makes me look forward to
meeting the students the next day to impart knowledge to them selflessly and make them the best
citizens for future. Elements of the well-being framework are eight in number. These are
emotional, financial, environmental, intellectual, relational, physical, and spiritual as well as
vocation. Selflessness, dedication and giving others without any expectations help in to develop
myself spiritually, emotionally as well as physically helping me to not only enjoy my
professional but also helping ,e to grow as a human being and extreme better quality life.
Part B:
Stephen has put forward a number of different examples where he had stated how helping
others and sense of giving others evokes a feeling of joy and happiness among older cohorts of
people. Even the 2010 surveys have shown that people who were engaged in volunteering
activities also shared a feeling of happiness among themselves. A 2008 study by the Harvard
business school professor namely Michael Norton and colleagues had provided similar results.
They have seen that giving money to others lifted the happiness of the participants more than
spending the money on their own selves (Beaglehole, 2015). It has been found to be associated
evolutionarily as such good feelings are reflects activities within the biological pathways helping
individuals to evolve. When people gets engaged in any form of giving attributes, the part of the
brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust get activated and this results in a
“warm glow” effect. Such behaviors are believed by many to release endorphins that produce
positive feelings within individuals. Giving activities is also seen to result in reducing stress that
increases physical health and longevity (Genevsky et al., 2016). When individuals get the

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essence of such feelings, they would be seen to evolve as human being who are helpful and tend
to be less concerned about the paybacks.
Teachers should be included in workshops as well as training sessions which can explain
to them about how the feelings of giving are intricately associated with positive outcomes like
better health and well-being. Such sessions would help them to try out the experiences of giving
and in turn feel happier as well as satisfied. Seminars and presentations of psychology of giving
can also make them knowledgeable about the benefits of giving helping them to develop similar
attributes.

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References:
Beaglehole, E. (2015). Property: A study in social psychology. Psychology Press.
Cavallo, J. V., Zee, K. S., & Higgins, E. T. (2016). Giving the help that is needed: How
regulatory mode impacts social support. Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin, 42(8), 1111-1128.
Genevsky, A., Knutson, B., & Yoon, C. (2016). Request framing moderates affective preferences
in charitable giving. ACR North American Advances.
Grant, A. M. (2019). Writing a book for real people: On giving the psychology of giving
away. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(1), 91-95.
Kogut, T., & Ritov, I. (2017). Psychological Determinants of Charitable Giving. Economic
Psychology, 387-404.
Weaver, M. (2018). The Psychology of Giving and Receiving Compliments.

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