Good At Heart? 10 Psychology Findings That Reveal The Better Side Of Humanity

By Matthew Warren Last year we published a list of ten psychology findings that reveal the worst of human nature. Research has shown us to be dogmatic and over-confident, we wrote, with a tendency to look down on minorities and assume that the downtrodden deserve their fate. Even young children take pleasure in the suffering of others, we pointed out. But that’s only half of the story. Every day, people around the world fight against injustices, dedicate time and resources to helping those less fortunate than them, or just perform simple acts of kindness that brighten the lives of those around them. And psychology has as much to say about this brighter side of humanity as it does the darker one. So here we explore some of the research that demonstrates just how kind and compassionate we can be. Kids as young as two are surprisingly selfless… We tend to think of toddlers as selfish creatures — but it seems that even very young children are more prosocial than we give them credit for. In one study, pairs of two-year-olds were given a set of marbles that made a nice sound when put into a box. Children this age are not exactly renowned for sharing — yet the team found that about half the time, the kids divided up the marbles fairly. Only in 19% of trials did one child selfishly take all of the toys for themselves. In a variation of the study, one of the pair started out with three marbles, while the other received just one. Even in this case, the luckier child willingl...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Feature Morality Positive psychology Source Type: blogs