The Lived Experience of Spontaneous Altruism: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

A significant amount of research has been conducted examining the social, psychological and behavioral aspects of altruism (Post, Johnson, McCullough & Schloss, 2003), as well as the characteristics and practices of eminent altruists (Sorokin, 1950) but very little research has been done that seeks to understand the nature of the lived experience of spontaneous altruism. This study seeks to fill the gap left by traditional psychosocial research by using descriptive phenomenological methods (Giorgi, 1989) to reveal the structure and meaning of the lived experience of spontaneous altruism. Three participants wrote descriptions of situations in which they engaged in spontaneous acts of altruism. Altruism was defined as a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing another's welfare (Batson, 1991). These descriptions were then expanded and clarified through a follow up interview. The results of the phenomenological analysis produced a structure of the lived experience of spontaneous altruism consisting of 15 constituent themes. These themes detail the complex emotional, psychological and mental processes that work together in the experience of spontaneous altruism. They also point to the possible roles of love, spirituality, ego-autonomy and creativity in the experience of altruism.