The term altruism has long been one of the most widely used by psychologists to refer to studies concerning adolescents’ positive behaviors. Along with the terms such as caring, kindness, and prosocial behavior, “altruism” primarily invokes behaviors intended to benefit others, as opposed to proving beneficial for one’s own self and interests (Roker et al. 1999). Some researchers argue that there is really no real altruism, that altruism often benefits the self through, for example, the power, status, reward, psychological benefits gained from acting altruistically (Piliavin 2009).
Although many fields of study have examined altruism, the field of adolescent research has not addressed it directly but, instead, through such constructs as prosocial and helping behavior as well as conceptions of citizenship and moral development. Researchers have shown how, as adolescents develop their emerging sense of self, their behavior will likely vacillate between actions that serve their own...
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References
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Levesque, R.J.R. (2011). Altruism. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_510
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