This article presents an argument, based on psychological research and inferences about human evolution, for the plausibility of an intrinsic altruistic motive. A theoretical model for the development of such a motive is outlined. (JMB)

This paper attempts to tie empathy to the individual's development of a cognitive sense of the other, and thus to lay the groundwork for a stage analysis of the development of altruistic motivation. The first stage proposed in this scheme is empathic distress, the involuntary experiencing of another person's painful emotional state. Empathic…

Explores the case for viewing altruism as an inherent part of human nature. Postulates an altruistic disposition or motive to act which is under the control of perceptual and cognitive processes. Presents psychological evidence complementing this view. Discusses social implications of a biological basis for human altruism. (RH)

This paper presents a theoretical model of empathy in which empathy is defined as a largely involuntary vicarious response to affective cues from another person or from his situation. The model has three components: affective, cognitive, and motivational. In the presentation of the affective component, five distinct models of empathic affect…

It was tentatively concluded that identification may contribute to the recognition that moral principles and not external sanctions form the basis of right and wrong, but not to the application of these principles to one's own behavior in the absence of authority. (Author)

A developmental model for an empathy-based prosocial motive is presented. The framework of the model is presented in terms of three components of empathy. The first component, empathic affective arousal, is discussed and six involuntary psychological mechanisms which underlie it are described briefly. These mechanisms, in the order in which they…

This paper presents a summary of behavior concepts that together provide the outline of a possible developmental theory of prosocial motivation. These concepts, based on human role-taking capacities, include empathic distress, sympathetic distress, personal guilt, and existential guild. At first, a child cannot discriminate between himself and…

This paper presents the theory that altruistic motives develop out of the synthesis of empathic distress and the child's increasingly sophisticated cognitive development, especially his level of self-other differentiation. An examination of empathy and the sense of other is included, followed by a discussion of empathic distress, various forms of…