quinta-feira, maio 17

Women & her best friend

How much pain would you put up with to help your friend? Less than you would for your close relatives, but more than you would for a charity, according to a study that looked at the basis of altruistic behaviour. There's an intriguing gender difference. Women tended to spread their efforts more equally among relatives than men did, as well as putting up with more pain for best friends than for cousins. This could be down to the fact that in many societies women tend to move away from their families. "Women have to get along with everybody - including their mothers-in-law," says Phyllis Lee of the University of Stirling, UK. The other possibility, says co-author Robin Dunbar of the University of Liverpool, UK, "is that females are just more social".

@ NewScientist.com

1 comentário:

Anónimo disse...

Tive uma conversa algo longa sobre altruísmo há relativamente pouco tempo.
Cheguei (chegámos, em parte) à conclusão que o humano é demasiado "self-absorbed" para ser altruísta na forma mais pura do termo.
Espera sempre algo de retorno, seja sexo, seja a capacidade da outra pessoa te ajudar de volta...etc.
Mais que não seja para sentir que é um bom samaritano e sentir-se muito bem e contentinho consigo próprio, não é altruísmo.

N.