We examine recent evidence on the consequences of selfishness and otherishness for psychological well-being, physical health, and relationships. In the first sections, we consider recent evidence regarding the costs and benefits of giving time, money, and support to others and the costs and benefits of taking or receiving those things from others. Then, because the behaviors of giving and taking can be motivated either by selfish or otherish concerns, we next consider the costs and benefits of the motivation underlying giving and taking. We also examine why and for whom selfishness and otherishness have consequences for psychological well-being, physical health, and relationships. We focus on mechanisms identified in research, including intrapsychic mechanisms such as positive and negative affect, self-esteem and self-efficacy, a sense of meaning and purpose in life, and a sense of connectedness to or isolation from others, as well as interpersonal processes such as reciprocation of support and responsiveness.

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Grateful people experience more psychological well-being, social connectedness, and feelings of personal accomplishment, along with less burnout. They also use more adaptive approach-oriented coping strategies. Thus, we hypothesized that trait gratitude and grateful coping strategies would be associated with various indicators/predictors of academic retention and success, including psychological variables (social integration, academic integration, degree commitment, and general college persistence) and academic variables (number of withdrawn courses, number of failed courses, and GPA). Fifty-four undergraduates completed self-report measures of all variables except GPA, which was accessed via transcripts when permitted. At least one facet of trait gratitude was associated with each outcome variable. Grateful coping was associated primarily with the psychological outcome variables, with growth-focused coping emerging as the most consistent positive predictor and social support seeking often emerging as a negative predictor. We discuss implementing gratitude-enhancing techniques as a possible strategy for improving integration, commitment, persistence, and success in college.

The crush syndrome was first defined as a clinical entity in 1941. This paper reports 2 patients suffering from the syndrome as a result of being trapped for several hours during the Moorgate tube train disaster. An account of the initial course, management and complications is presented and discussed with reference to the available literature on the subject.