early altruism

usa today reports on a recent study suggesting that altruism exists in infants as young as 18 months. the experiment was set up so that an infant could help the researcher with something he "dropped." there may be an important distinction between altruism and helping a parental figure, as the latter may have survival consequences that other more typical altruistic acts don't (although perhaps they have similar evolutionary roots?).

regardless, this is interesting as it may separate the altruism-for-its-own-sake and altruism-because-of-guilt phenomena, assuming that 18 month olds don't yet have the capacity for guilt (according to erikson, that doesn't happen until much later). guilt is a big driver, some argue, for altruistic acts such as recycling or giving up a seat on the subway, and it's interesting to note that some kinds of altruism may exist without it (if erikson is right).

Labels: misc. psych