What Makes People Generous?

The intention to give of oneself freely without compensation is an admirable quality. Most of us would like to think of ourselves as being generous, even if we are not it the habit of giving away money to charitable causes. We still like to think that we possess at least some modicum of this desirable trait, after all, generosity is not only about giving away money. One can give the gift of goods, labor, time, attention, support, experience and more.... and we often expect nothing in return except the gratifying feeling that we’ve helped others and have made a difference in the world. Not so shabby.

But what makes one person generous and another apathetic? What makes one person more generous than another? Is it a hereditary trait? Is it a learned behavior? Are there different levels of generosity?

You can be sure there are scientists out there who have attempted to answer these questions.

Why are some people are more generous than others?

One experiment was successful in discovering a hormone that actually increases one’s level of generosity! Does that mean some of us are more prone to be altruistic because of our chemical make-up? You be the judge.

At the University of Notre Dame a project called the Science of Generosity investigated the causes of generosity through several controlled experiments. The subjects were all men.

Some of the subjects were given the hormone Oxytocin while others received a placebo.

Oxytocin acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. It’s best known for its role in female reproduction as it facilitates childbirth and breastfeeding; however, more recent studies also associate Oxytocin with social recognition, pair bonding, maternal behaviors and love.

In the experiment, a game was played to measure the hormone’s affect on generous behavior.

One person was given ten dollars and was told to give part of it to another person in the lab. Since the game was played on a computer, the subject did not see the recipient of his gift. If the recipient thought he had received a stingy offering, both subjects got a zero score. The participants played several rounds of the game, never knowing whether they would be assigned the role of giver or receiver so each would operate from an even perspective. If the recipient was pleased with what he received, the person making the offer was deemed “generous”. Oxytocin increased the generosity of the players by eighty percent compared to those taking the placebo.

Nothing was noted as to whether the gentlemen who participated in the survey had any sudden urges to mother their young.

What was concluded from the experiment was that generosity is primarily associated with empathy, considered an emotional behavior, rather than logic, considered to be a cognitive behavior. Maybe that’s just a scientific way of saying that women are more generous than men but most of us (even women) would take that as being a bit overblown.

Nevertheless, one might conclude that one is nobler of character simply because of his or her chemical make-up. But the fact remains, generosity whether chemically stimulated or not, is still considered to be a virtuous trait of character, beyond the mundane, practiced by those of “higher quality or greater goodness”.

Other similar scientific studies have shown that generosity, no matter how altruistic in nature, makes you happier and healthier due to the release of endorphins, a hormone responsible for the euphoria associated with sex, money, food, and drugs. Happily this hormone is present in both men and women.

So if you aspire to rise above the mundane majority, practice generosity. Even if you are Oxytocin challenged, you can do it, after all, being generous is a healthy human virtue and goodness knows, these days the world needs a lot more of that.

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