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Humanity is a virtue linked with altruisticethics derived from the human condition. It signifies human love and compassion towards each other. Humanity differs from mere justice in that there is a level of altruism towards individuals included in humanity more so than in the fairness found in justice.[1]:34 That is, humanity, and the acts of love, altruism, and social intelligence are typically individual strengths while fairness is generally expanded to all.[clarification needed] Humanity is one of six virtues that are consistent[clarification needed] across all cultures.[1]:28
While these theories and concepts of kindness and altruism are found within humanity, the actions of humans in general needs further study to ascertain whether or not we can apply such virtues to humanity in general or whether these ideals are only truly found in smaller numbers.
Confucius said that humanity, or "Ren" (仁), is a "love of people" stating "if you want to make a stand, help others make a stand."[1]:40 That is, the Confucian theory of humanity exemplifies the golden rule. It is so central to Confucian thought that it appears 58 times in the Analects.[2]:296Similar[clarification needed] to the Christian process of seeking God, Confucius teaches seeking Ren to a point of seemingly divine mastery until you are equal to, or better than, your teacher.[2]:298 The Confucian concept of Ren encompasses both love and altruism.[2]:312
Greek philosophy
Plato and Aristotle both wrote extensively on the subject of virtues, though neither wrote about "humanity" as a virtue, despite highly valuing love and kindness, two of the strengths of humanity.[citation needed] Plato and Aristotle considered "courage, justice, temperance" and "generosity, wit, friendliness, truthfulness, magnificence, and greatness of soul", respectively, to be the virtues.[1]:40
Kindness, altruism, and love are all mentioned in the Bible. Proverbs 19:22 states "the desire of a man is his kindness." On the topic of altruism, emphasis is placed on helping strangers (Hebrews 13:1) and the biblical adage "it is better to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
Humanity is one of Thomas Aquinas' "Seven Heavenly Virtues".[1]:48 Beyond that, humanity was so important in some positivist Christian cultures that it was to be capitalized like God.[3]:426
Strengths of humanity
Love
Love has many different definitions ranging from a set of purely biological and chemical processes to a religious concept. As a character strength, love is a mutual feeling between two people characterized by attachment, comfort, and generally positive feelings. It can be broken down into three categories: love between a child and their parents, love for your friends, and romantic love.[1]:304 Having love as a strength is not about the capacity to love, but about being involved in a loving relationship.
Love, in the psychological sense, is most often studied in terms of attachment to others. A degree of controversy surrounds defining and researching love in this way, as it takes away the "mystery of love."[1]:306 Because love is mysterious, to an extent, it is most often studied in terms of attachment theory, because it can be studied in the way across ages[clarification needed]. In infants, attachment is studied through the Strange Situation Test. Attachment to an individual, usually the mother, is determined by how distressed the infant becomes when the mother is taken out of the experimental setting.[1]:308 There are several models of adult attachment including the Adult Attachment Interviews and Adult Attachment Prototypes. Generally adult attachment models focus on the mental representation of the visible signs of attachment seen in infants.[1]:311
Negative affect states result from lacking love. One study found that children raised in an environment that did not allow children to become attached to their preferred caregivers experienced attachment disorders.[4] Individuals who develop securely attached have a lower likelihood of depression, high-self esteem, and less likelihood of divorce.[1]:315
Kindness
Giving alms to poor children can be considered an act of altruism or generosity.
The strength of kindness encompasses things like altruism, generosity, helpfulness and a general desire to help people: a disposition for helping humanity. The following statements are from the Values in Action (VIA) psychological assessment, which aims at measuring people's strengths in kindness: "others are just as important to me", "giving is more important than receiving", and "I care for the ungrateful as well as the grateful".[1]:326 Kindness, as a part of humanity, is deeply rooted in philosophical and religious traditions, each having words for the altruistic love aspect of kindness, such as agape in Greek, chesed in Hebrew, and the Latin word philantropia, the root of the word "philanthropy."[1]:326 Kindness is promoted through school community service programs and national programs like AmeriCorps. While gender differences in kindness are statistically significant, they are minimal, and the methods of testing used may not always have construct validity.[1]:333
Kindness is most often measured by using an ad hoc metric, usually not as a trait. The Self-Report Altruism Scale and the Altruism Facet Scale for Agreeableness Measure of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) psychological assessment are often used to ask people how often they engage in altruistic behaviors and to gauge their concern for others.[1]:328 The former, however, only asks about 20 specific altruistic acts, leaving out a wide range of altruistic behaviors.
There are numerous benefits from kindness and altruism on both sides of the action. For some, the motivation to be kind comes from a place of egoistic motivation, and thus the benefit to them is the positive affect state they receive from the action.[5] One study found that being kind develops pro-social skills in children, which positively effects their attachments and relationships.[6] Additionally, volunteerism in the elderly has shown to lead to decreased risk of early death, and to mental health benefits.[1]:329 There is a difference between altruism as a trait and as an act.[1]:329
Social intelligence
Being able to actively engage in a conversation is often considered a sign of social intelligence.
Social intelligence is the most recently-discerned of the three strengths associated with humanity. The Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) psychological assessment defines social intelligence as the ability to understand "relationships with other people, including the social relationships involved in intimacy and trust, persuasion, group membership, and political power."[1]:339
Intelligence has many psychological definitions, from Weschler's intelligence to the various theories of multiple intelligences. The CSV divides intelligence into hot and cold, hot intelligence being those intelligences related to active emotional processes.[1]:338 People with high social intelligence are very self-aware, and are effective organizers and leaders.[1]:338 Additionally, it[ambiguous] combines elements of the other two hot intelligences, personal and emotional intelligence—personal intelligence being the internal counterpart to social intelligence and emotional intelligence being the capacity to understand emotions. The CSV highlights three social intelligence measurement scales: Factor Based Social Intelligence Tasks, Psychological Mindedness Assessment Procedure, and Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test.[1]:334
Social Intelligence research is limited. However, there is much literature on the characteristics associated with social intelligence. Zaccaro et al. found social intelligence and perceptiveness to be integral to effective leadership; that is, good leaders are "social experts."[7] Emotional intelligence, too, plays a role in leadership. Another study found that emotional intelligence enables leaders to better understand their followers, thereby enhancing their ability to influence them.[8]
Although only a relatively new field of inquiry for psychological researchers, character strengths[9] and virtues[10] have been consistently measured in psychometric surveys and have been shown to be positively associated with psychological and subjective wellbeing.[11] Even among those who endorse a spiritual/theistic worldview, these salutary associations appear to be better explained by humanity/civility rather than by faith in a supernatural being.[12]
1 2 3 Chan, Wing-Tsit (January 1955). "The Evolution of the Confucian Concept Jên". Philosophy East and West. 4 (4): 294–319. doi:10.2307/1396741. JSTOR1396741.
↑ Coit, Stanton (July 1906). "Humanity and God". International Journal of Ethics. 16 (4): 424–429. doi:10.1086/206237.
↑ Smyke, Anna T.; Dumitrescu, Alina; Zeanah, Charles H. (August 2002). "Attachment Disturbances in Young Children. I: The Continuum of Caretaking Casualty". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 41 (8): 972–982. doi:10.1097/00004583-200208000-00016. PMID12162633.
↑ Dovido, John F.; Allen, David A.; Schroeder, Judith L. (August 1990). "Specificity of Empathy-Induced Helping: Evidence for Altruistic Motivation". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 59 (2): 249. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.59.2.249.
↑ Zeece, Pauline Davey (18 March 2009). "Using Current Literature Selections to Nurture the Development of Kindness in Young Children". Early Childhood Education Journal. 36 (5): 448. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0306-3. S2CID143846116.
↑ Zaccaro, Stephen J.; Gilbert, Janelle A.; Theor, Kirk K.; Mumford, Michael D. (Winter 1991). "Leadership and Social Intelligence: Linking Social Perspectiveness and Behavioral Flexibility to Leader Effectiveness". Leadership Quarterly. 2 (4): 334. doi:10.1016/1048-9843(91)90018-w.
Isaacowitz, D.M.; Vallant, G.E.; Seligman, M.E.P. (2003). "Strengths and satisfaction across the adult lifespan". International Journal of Aging and Human Development. 57 (2): 181–201. doi:10.2190/61EJ-LDYR-Q55N-UT6E. PMID15151189. S2CID8366635.
Park, N.; Peterson, C.; Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). "Strengths of character and well-being". Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 23 (5): 603–619. doi:10.1521/jscp.23.5.603.50748.
Fowers, B.J. (2005). Virtue and psychology: Pursuing excellence in ordinary practices. American Psychological Association.
Toner, E.; Haslam, N.; Robinson, J.; Williams, P. (2012). "Character strengths and wellbeing in adolescence: Structure and correlates of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Children". Personality and Individual Differences. 52 (5): 637–642. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.12.014.
↑ Schuurmans-Stekhoven, J.B. (2011). "Is it God or just the data that moves in mysterious ways? How well-being research might be mistaking faith for virtue?". Social Indicators Research. 100 (2): 313–330. doi:10.1007/s11205-010-9630-7. S2CID144755003..
↑ Schuurmans-Stekhoven, J.B. (2013). "'As a Shepherd Divideth his Sheep from the Goats': Does the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale Encapsulate Separable Theistic and Civility Components?". Social Indicators Research. 110 (1): 131–146. doi:10.1007/s11205-011-9920-8. S2CID255002643.
Altruism is the principle and practice of concern for the well-being and/or happiness of other humans or animals above oneself. While objects of altruistic concern vary, it is an important moral value in many cultures and religions. It may be considered a synonym of selflessness, the opposite of selfishness.
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment.
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act productively using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, self-transcendence, and non-attachment, and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.
A virtue is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is valued as an end purpose of life or a foundational principle of being. In human practical ethics, a virtue is a disposition to choose actions that succeed in showing high moral standards: doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong in a given field of endeavour, even when doing so may be unnecessary from a utilitarian perspective. When someone takes pleasure in doing what is right, even when it is difficult or initially unpleasant, they can establish virtue as a habit. Such a person is said to be virtuous through having cultivated such a disposition. The opposite of virtue is vice, and the vicious person takes pleasure in habitual wrong-doing to their detriment.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. People with high emotional intelligence can recognize their own emotions and those of others, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, and adjust emotions to adapt to environments.
Agape is "the highest form of love, charity" and "the love of God for [human beings] and of [human beings] for God". This is in contrast to philia, brotherly love, or philautia, self-love, as it embraces a profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance.
Positive psychology studies the conditions that contribute to the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."
Kindness is a type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, rendering assistance, or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward in return. It is a subject of interest in philosophy, religion, and psychology.
Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more definitions of empathy that include but is not limited to social, cognitive, and emotional processes primarily concerned with understanding others. Often times, empathy is considered to be a broad term, and broken down into more specific concepts and types that include cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, somatic empathy, and spiritual empathy.
Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on notions such as fairness, justice, and interdependence, it may be considered partially rational in nature.
Selfishness is being concerned excessively or exclusively for oneself or one's own advantage, pleasure, or welfare, regardless of others.
Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the human self:
Flourishing, or human flourishing, is the complete goodness of humans in a developmental life-span, that somehow includes positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, along with other basic goods. The term has gained more usage and interest in recent times, but is rooted in ancient philosophical and theological usages. Aristotle’s term eudaimonia is one source for understanding human flourishing. The Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament, also speak of flourishing, as they compare the just person to a growing tree. Christian Scriptures, or the New Testament, build upon Jewish usage and speak of flourishing as it can exist in heaven. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas drew from Aristotle as well as the Bible, and utilized the notion of flourishing in his philosophical theology. More recently, the Positive Psychology of Martin Seligman, Corey Keyes, Barbara Fredrickson, and others, have expanded and developed the notion of human flourishing. Empirical studies, such as those of the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, and practical applications, indicate the importance of the concept and the increasingly widespread use of the term in business, economics, and politics. In positive psychology, flourishing is "when people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time," living "within an optimal range of human functioning." It is a descriptor and measure of positive mental health and overall life well-being, and includes multiple components and concepts, such as cultivating strengths, subjective well-being, "goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience." In this view, flourishing is the opposite of both pathology and languishing, which are described as living a life that feels hollow and empty.
Ren is a Confucian virtue meaning the good quality of a virtuous human when reaching for higher ideals or when being altruistic. Ren is exemplified by functional, instinctual, parental feelings and intentions of encouragement and protection for their children. It is considered the outward expression of Confucian ideals.
The VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS), formerly known as the "Values in Action Inventory," is a proprietary psychological assessment measure designed to identify an individual's profile of "character strengths".
Warm-glow giving is an economic theory describing the emotional reward of giving to others. According to the original warm-glow model developed by James Andreoni, people experience a sense of joy and satisfaction for "doing their part" to help others. This satisfaction - or "warm glow" - represents the selfish pleasure derived from "doing good", regardless of the actual impact of one's generosity. Within the warm-glow framework, people may be "impurely altruistic", meaning they simultaneously maintain both altruistic and egoistic (selfish) motivations for giving. This may be partially due to the fact that "warm glow" sometimes gives people credit for the contributions they make, such as a plaque with their name or a system where they can make donations publicly so other people know the "good" they are doing for the community.
Cultural differences can interact with positive psychology to create great variation, potentially impacting positive psychology interventions. Culture differences have an impact on the interventions of positive psychology. Culture influences how people seek psychological help, their definitions of social structure, and coping strategies. Cross cultural positive psychology is the application of the main themes of positive psychology from cross-cultural or multicultural perspectives.
Elevation is an emotion elicited by witnessing actual or imagined virtuous acts of remarkable moral goodness. It is experienced as a distinct feeling of warmth and expansion that is accompanied by appreciation and affection for the individual whose exceptional conduct is being observed. Elevation motivates those who experience it to open up to, affiliate with, and assist others. Elevation makes an individual feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity.
Well-being is a multifaceted topic studied in psychology, especially positive psychology. Biologically, well-being is highly influenced by endogenous molecules that impact happiness and euphoria in organisms, often referred to as "well-being related markers". Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life.
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