30 Times Good-Hearted People Surprised Everyone By Being The Opposite Of Choosing Beggars

When you scroll through this list, you can’t help but wonder what exactly drives these selfless acts and behaviors. Are some people born altruists, or is it something they acquire throughout their lives? After all, humans have a notorious reputation for being selfish creatures who put their own needs ahead of everyone else's.

According to researchers, altruism involves helping others at a cost to the self, not only when such behavior is supported by strategic considerations like reciprocity or cooperation, but even in the absence of expectation for future benefit. In other words, people who choose to do something good for others don’t necessarily expect anything good back from them.

This illuminating study suggested that each altruist act is a choice just like any other, with pros, cons, and even the occasional mistake. The authors of the study found that generous choices took more time to make than selfish ones, especially for those who made more selfish choices overall, consistent with their decision-making model. Interestingly, about half of the generous choices participants made appeared to be mistakes.

In reality, the strength of good-hearted people who don’t expect anything back has to do with their sense of compassion. And compassion starts with empathy — imagining putting ourselves in the mind of another person and imagining what they’re going through. Once we’ve empathized, and feel their suffering, the second half of compassion is wanting to end that suffering. This is when good-hearted actions may occur.

But most importantly, in order to make a compassionate move, a person has to get themselves out of the way and to think of the other person. On the other hand, it’s been suggested that compassionate behavior may be appealing for people because it reduces the feelings of guilt from their privilege and good fortune.