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Edhi Altruism

Foundations of Human Behaviour_ Excellent concise research on Altruism of Edhi

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34 views2 pages

Edhi Altruism

Foundations of Human Behaviour_ Excellent concise research on Altruism of Edhi

Uploaded by

aishabadar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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22nd May 2018 Aisha Badar

14518

Abdul Sattar Edhi spent his lifetime working for others. Use one social
psychological theory to explain how his actions are altruistic, and another
one to show that they aren’t.
Altruism, as psychology defines it, is unselfish regard for the welfare of other people. Abdul
Sattar Edhi is known to be a true symbol of altruism. He is amongst those who serve their
country not for monetary benefits, not for votes, not for fame, not for material rewards, but
because of empathy, and to discharge the agony they feel for the less fortunate suffering
from pain and poverty.
Social psychology justifies such altruism as being a product of society's rules, norms, and
expectations. Edhi belonged from a family, not so affluent, but highly cultural and norm
following. His father had a job away from his home, and used to send fruits in sacks to
home, whilst his mother by equally packed these into packets and strictly advised her son to
dispense these among the needy people.
By continuing her greater vision and passion of support for needy, his mother started giving
him two paisas daily, advising him to give one paisa to any needy, whilst consuming one
paisa himself, and the next day she would regularly inquire. This particular act instilled in
Edhi the sense of helping the ones truly in need.
The empathy-altruism theory (Batson 1981) posits that some helpful actions are truly
altruistic because they are motivated by the genuine desire to increase another’s welfare.
Batson’s understanding of altruism is that it is the helper’s motives that determine whether
a behaviour is altruistic or not. Edhi’s actions are in perfect sync with Batson’s theory
explaining altruism.
According to Batson, the perception of a situation and the emotion that follows determines
whether an individual will help or not. Observing another person’s situation may produce
either empathic concern or personal distress. Empathy evokes altruistic motivation to
reduce another person’s distress whereas personal distress evokes an egoistic motivation to
reduce one’s own distress.

Edhi’s actions, no matter how altruistic, may be considered as a coin having two sides,
where one side promotes selflessness, while the other states that his actions were driven by
selfish desires. Selfish Gene Theory (Dawkins, 1989) more formally explains this kind of
behaviour. Dawkins posed a theory that each gene acted in a way that would allow it the
best opportunity to be replicated and passed on to the next generation. Fitting this into the
context of negating Edhi’s altruism, what looks like self-sacrifice could, in reality, promote
survival of his genes- thus his actions were ultimately focused towards his own self.
Egoism further supports Dawkins’ theory that one’s self is, or should be, the motivation and
the goal of one’s own actions. Edhi’s response to the mullahs who had gone as far as to say
that Edhi would not enter heaven simply because he did not say his prayers has been: “I will
not go to paradise where these types of people go; I will go to heaven where the poor and
miserable people live.” His statement can be said to be a reflection of his ulterior self-
motives.
22nd May 2018 Aisha Badar
14518

References:
 https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-altruism-2794828
 https://www.appsychology.com/IB%20Psych/IBcontent/Options/HumanRelationship
s/Rel2.htm
 https://www.slideshare.net/abonica/altruism-theories
 https://explorable.com/selfish-gene-theory
 http://theessayblog.com/2016/07/09/abdul-sattar-edhi-a-symbol-of-altruism/
 https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/37144/no-edhi-is-not-pakistans-mother-teresa/
 https://edhi.org/the-motivation-of-helping-needy-was-infused-by-his-mother-in-
edhi-in-his-very-earlier-age/

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