Do people only act out of self-interest? Or is there a less pessimistic explanation for human behaviour? Maurer delves into early-Enlightenment debates on self-love from both famous and lesser known ...authors, including Lord Shaftesbury, Bernard Mandeville, Francis Hutcheson, Joseph Butler, Archibald Campbell, David Hume and Adam Smith.
A familiar question is whether psychological egoism (suitably supplemented with plausible further premises) entails ethical egoism. This paper considers this question, treating it much more ...thoroughly than do any previous treatments. For instance, it discusses all the most common understandings of ethical and psychological egoism. It further discusses many strategies and arguments relevant to the question addressed. Although this procedure creates complexity, it has value. It forestalls the suspicion, aroused by so many treatments of this subject, that the results stem largely from leaving stones unturned—for instance, from ignoring many natural argumentative strategies and many familiar understandings of the views discussed. The paper's conclusion is that psychological egoism (suitably supplemented …) does not entail ethical egoism.
Online Reviewer Engagement Mathwick, Charla; Mosteller, Jill
Journal of service research : JSR,
05/2017, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Consumers who generate online reviews provide a vital information service for the buying public, influencing nearly half of all purchase decisions. This study focuses on factors that motivate online ...reviewer engagement (ORE). ORE is a contextually dependent psychological state characterized by varying degrees of altruistic and egoistic market-helping motives coupled with an individual’s intrinsic motivation to review when the needs for autonomy, competence, and social relatedness are fulfilled. Amazon.com’s top reviewer community, which uses a public ranking system to motivate, recognize, and influence reviewer behavior, provides the study’s context. Three reviewer types—indifferent independents (IIs), challenge seekers (CSs), and community collaborators (CCs)—all report altruistic motives; however, egoistic motives associated with rank and psychological need fulfillment vary. IIs fulfill autonomy needs by using the platform for self-expression, with rank exerting little influence. CSs view rank as a game to master. CCs, who have fully integrated the ranking system, perceive reviewing as an enjoyable, socially embedded experience that merits advocacy. This study extends engagement theory by linking market-helping motives and psychological need fulfillment with high levels of behavioral engagement. Thus, findings may help managers tailor reviewing environments to attract and retain a diverse and highly engaged reviewing community.
The present research shows that public (vs. anonymous) donations are viewed as a sign of egoistic motives, such as wanting to impress others. In addition, such public donations also are viewed as a ...sign of altruistic motives, such as wanting to encourage others to donate. These perceptions inform inferences of donors' communal traits, with egoistic motives suggesting weaker communal traits, and altruistic motives suggesting stronger ones. Inferences of communal traits impact behavior, with stronger communal traits predicting greater charitable donations. In sum, public modes of giving can decrease donations (through inferences of egoistic motives and weaker communal traits) and increase donations (through inferences of altruistic motives and stronger communal traits). These effects occur in the context of $100 and $10 donations (Study 1) and impact real contributions of money (Study 2) and volunteer work (Study 3). Platform managers can strengthen inferences of altruistic motives by communicating that public donations can motivate others to give (Study 4). Together, these findings enhance understanding of how public forms of giving influence others to donate, which has practical implications for donation platform managers.
Business leaders are increasingly responsible for the societal and environmental impacts of their actions. Yet conceptual views on responsible leadership differ in their definitions and theoretical ...foundations. This study attempts to reconcile these diverse views and uncover the phenomenon from a business leader's point of view. Based on rational egoism theory, this article proposes a formal mathematical model of responsible leadership that considers different types of incentives for stakeholder engagement. The analyses reveal that monetary and instrumental incentives are neither sufficient nor necessary for business leaders to consider societal and environmental stakeholder needs. Non-monetary and non-instrumental incentives, such as leaders' values and authenticity, as well as their planning horizons, counterbalance pure monetary and instrumental orientations. The model in this article complements the growing body of research on responsible leadership by reconciling its various conceptual views and providing a foundation for future theory development and testing.
As a normative ethical theory, ethical egoism may seem compatible with the metaethical theory of moral realism. However, in this article, I will problematize such an assumption. The reason is that an ...important motivation for rejecting moral anti-realism by many moral realists—like Derek Parfit, Torbjörn Tännsjö, and Erik J. Wielenberg—is that such a view entails that not even cruel or horrendous acts are to be called wrong by any universal or objective standard. I suggest that this motivation also applies to the ethical theory of egoism, as it may imply that no one has any obligation to refrain from cruel or horrendous acts as long they are beneficial to the agent. On that basis, I will demonstrate that egoism is a problem for robust moral realists that also, to a large degree, is being overlooked.
Four studies investigated the impact of a recipient's perception of a helper's motivation (autonomous vs. controlled) on the recipient's subsequent prosocial intentions, alongside testing a ...mediational mechanism. Study 1 employed a questionnaire method to assess the relationships between participants’ lay theories of helper's prosocial motivations (i.e., the degree of autonomy), their dispositional gratitude and their prosocial tendencies. Studies 2–4 manipulated a helper's autonomous versus controlled motivation within hypothetical scenarios (Studies 2 and 3) and within recalled events (Study 4), testing the effect of the helper's motivation on the recipient's prosocial intentions towards the helper (Studies 2–4), a bystander (Study 3) and others in general (Study 4) as well as the mediating role of gratitude. The findings consistently demonstrated that perceiving helpers as having autonomous motivation led to heightened intentions among recipients to engage in prosocial behaviour, which was mediated by increased feelings of gratitude. These effects remained robust after controlling for relevant factors including participants’ demographic information, social desirability bias and perceptions of egoism within helpers. Our findings highlight the role of perceived helper's autonomous motivation on recipient's prosocial behaviours, which enhances the knowledge regarding reciprocity and pay‐it‐forward behaviour.
At present, China is paying more and more attention to sustainable development. Saving energy is an important guarantee for sustainable development. At the same time, many studies have found that ...changing people's energy consumption behaviours can contribute to solving the high energy consumption problem. Thus, this research chooses the urban residents in China as its object, and studies the factors influencing residents’ habitual energy-saving behaviours. We establish a comprehensive theoretical model suitable for this study based on TPB and NAM model. Through on-the-spot investigation, data collection, and model establishment, we find that the daily energy-saving behaviours of urban residents in China are mostly motivated by “altruism”. In addition, the external factors (social norms and policy environment) have a significant impact on residents’ daily energy-saving behaviour. Based on this, we put forward some specific policy suggestions from three aspects: policy effectiveness, information behind the big data and the publicity by the Internet.
•Establishing a comprehensive theoretical model based on TPB and NAM model.•Dividing the influencing factors into two types: altruistic and egoistic factors.•It shows that the behaviour of urban residents in China were motivated by altruism.•We found the external factors (social norm and policy environment) are significant.
George Eliot wrote under the influence of continental philosophers, especially Ludwig Feuerbach and Auguste Comte. Both philosophers claim that the crucial problem of the individual is egoism, which ...can be transcended by means of sympathy and contact with others. According to Feuerbach and Comte, loyalty to family and community is the best way to transform initial egoism into altruism. This research is aimed at dealing with the issue of egoism in Eliot’s first novel, Adam Bede. The three main characters are analysed through the prism of the ethical concept of Feuerbach and Comte. The paper argues that at the beginning of the novel Adam Bede, Arthur Donnithorne and Hetty Sorrel symbolise different aspects of egoism. Adam and Arthur succeed to transcend their egoism through deep suffering, which is viewed as an instrument of moral development. Although critics often cite Hetty Sorrel as a typical representative of unredeemed egoism, this paper argues that she matures through suffering. The beginning of her transformation is marked by the confession of her crimes, which is the initial stage of redemption. However, with the exception of a few characters, the society of Hayslope treats her as an outcast, unable to even attempt to understand and forgive her. Still, although the importance of suffering and attachment to family are underlined in Adam Bede, the novel implies that altruism should not be equated with self-sacrifice. The protagonists, Dinah and Adam succeed in attaining personal fulfillment that is not inconsistent with the common good, that is, a certain reconciliation of egoism and altruism is accomplished.
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