Altruism: New perspectives of research on a classical theme in sociology of morality

Abstract

Since coined by Comte, altruism has become one of the most controversial concepts in social and behavioral sciences, although altruistic behavior and related topics have been successfully studied within a number of fields. Oddly, while the theme of altruism was of primary significance in classical sociology of morality, modern sociology seems to have relatively little interest in studying altruism and altruistic behavior (although there are some exceptions) and the field is largely dominated by other social and behavioral sciences. The article aims at reconsidering altruism as a concept and as an area of research in sociology of morality by reviewing the major concepts of altruism in classical sociology and modern behavioral sciences. The article argues that, although for the ‘new’ sociology of morality it is necessary to take into account behavioral and psychological perspectives, a promising sociological approach to the study of altruism in different social contexts can be based on renewing the classical focus on the normative components of moral behavior.

Research altruism as motivation for participation in community-centered environmental health research

“…This was not conveyed as a compulsion and no participants indicated that they felt that the decision to participate was a difficult one or that they felt coerced. Rather, their responses were consistent with a sense of a shared moral norm for behavior as described by Bykov (2016). This shared norm was most clearly voiced by those expressing a connection to society most broadly.…”

“…Bykov’s (2016) review of theoretical frames on altruism outlines three dominant approaches: altruism as a biological act of evolutionary self-preservation; altruism as an individual psychological motivation to do good and be viewed as a good person; and, sociologically, altruism is a shared moral norm for behavior. Three types of altruism that exemplify biological motivations for altruism include evolutionary altruism, in which one operates without time to think of consequences during an emergency (Piliavin and Charng, 1990); kin-selected altruism, in which blood ties encourage apparently selfless behavior; and reciprocal altruism, wherein those who are not related exchange favors with each other (Humphrey, 1997).…”

Opening Constructive Dialogues Between Business Ethics Research and the Sociology of Morality: Introduction to the Thematic Symposium

“…Putting these abstract theoretical considerations into organizational context and applying them to the problem of the norm-oriented behavior (Bykov 2017 ) would serve, at least, two goals. First, this would allow verification and clarification of such general models of culture at the meso-level of organizational relations, which is important for further development of the sociological theories of values and morality (e.g.…”

Measuring happiness in the social sciences: An overview

“…Amitai Etzioni, who introduced the moral and communitarian dimension to sociological analysis (Etzioni, 1988), critically reviews scales of happiness and satisfaction that are based on questions of self-perception and personal assessment, and suggests that happiness is a mistaken measure (Etzioni, 2016). He introduces the perspective of measurement of values (see also Bachika and Schulz, 2011), especially altruism (as diligence in promoting the good of others even at the expense of one’s own good) (Bykov, 2017), which enriches and adds a degree of complexity to the analysis. Accordingly, reflection on the pain and discomfort that ethical commitment or individual moral conduct often causes is introduced (Etzioni, 2018: 15).…”