Psychospiritual Basis of Altruism: A Review

Abstract

Altruism seems to be perceived in its various hues. In several cases it is mistaken for “pseudo-altruism.” Considering altruism as an expression of self helps clarify this perspective of altruism and probably adds a spiritual connotation to it. This article looks at altruism from the self point of view and tries to expound the variations in expression of altruism with respect to variations in self-space. On the basis of self-space, three variations of self in progression toward altruism have been proposed. The journey of an egoistic self to a transcended self expresses the transition from pseudo-altruism to purest form of altruism, the state of self-transcendence. This calls for incorporation of strategies of self-progression for development of altruism. An attempt was made to adopt self-transcendence and its features mentioned in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as an independent objective for the present study.