Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness
Selfishness is often regarded as an undesirable or even immoral characteristic, whereas altruism is typically considered universally desirable and virtuous. However, human history as well as the works of humanistic and psychodynamic psychologists point to a more complex picture: not all selfishness...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01006/full |
| _version_ | 1818905105925144576 |
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| author | Scott Barry Kaufman Emanuel Jauk Emanuel Jauk |
| author_facet | Scott Barry Kaufman Emanuel Jauk Emanuel Jauk |
| author_sort | Scott Barry Kaufman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Selfishness is often regarded as an undesirable or even immoral characteristic, whereas altruism is typically considered universally desirable and virtuous. However, human history as well as the works of humanistic and psychodynamic psychologists point to a more complex picture: not all selfishness is necessarily bad, and not all altruism is necessarily good. Based on these writings, we introduce new scales for the assessment of individual differences in two paradoxical forms of selfishness that have lacked measurement in the field – healthy selfishness (HS) and pathological altruism (PA). In two studies (N1 = 370, N2 = 891), we constructed and validated the HS and PA scales. The scales showed good internal consistency and a clear two-dimensional structure across both studies. HS was related to higher levels of psychological well-being and adaptive psychological functioning as well as a genuine prosocial orientation. PA was associated with maladaptive psychological outcomes, vulnerable narcissism, and selfish motivations for helping others. These results underpin the paradoxical nature of both constructs. We discuss the implications for future research, including clinical implications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T21:18:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f806b4cd307b46fba0b4be61356d37c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T21:18:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f806b4cd307b46fba0b4be61356d37c02022-12-21T20:05:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-05-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.01006521440Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of SelfishnessScott Barry Kaufman0Emanuel Jauk1Emanuel Jauk2Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United StatesClinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, GermanyDepartment of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaSelfishness is often regarded as an undesirable or even immoral characteristic, whereas altruism is typically considered universally desirable and virtuous. However, human history as well as the works of humanistic and psychodynamic psychologists point to a more complex picture: not all selfishness is necessarily bad, and not all altruism is necessarily good. Based on these writings, we introduce new scales for the assessment of individual differences in two paradoxical forms of selfishness that have lacked measurement in the field – healthy selfishness (HS) and pathological altruism (PA). In two studies (N1 = 370, N2 = 891), we constructed and validated the HS and PA scales. The scales showed good internal consistency and a clear two-dimensional structure across both studies. HS was related to higher levels of psychological well-being and adaptive psychological functioning as well as a genuine prosocial orientation. PA was associated with maladaptive psychological outcomes, vulnerable narcissism, and selfish motivations for helping others. These results underpin the paradoxical nature of both constructs. We discuss the implications for future research, including clinical implications.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01006/fullselfishnessvulnerable narcissismpathological altruismdepressionwell-being |
| spellingShingle | Scott Barry Kaufman Emanuel Jauk Emanuel Jauk Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness Frontiers in Psychology selfishness vulnerable narcissism pathological altruism depression well-being |
| title | Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness |
| title_full | Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness |
| title_fullStr | Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness |
| title_short | Healthy Selfishness and Pathological Altruism: Measuring Two Paradoxical Forms of Selfishness |
| title_sort | healthy selfishness and pathological altruism measuring two paradoxical forms of selfishness |
| topic | selfishness vulnerable narcissism pathological altruism depression well-being |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01006/full |
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