Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Douglas A. Vakoch is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, as well as Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute. His research spans the fields of psychology, anthropology, and space sciences, and his books include Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective (NASA, 2011), On Orbit and Beyond: Psychological Perspectives on Human Spaceflight (Springer, 2012), Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication (NASA, 2012), Astrobiology, History, and Society: Extraterrestrial Life and the Impact of Discovery (Springer, 2013), and Between Worlds: The Art and Science of Interstellar Message Composition (MIT Press, 2013). Dr. Vakoch chaired the symposium ―Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective‖ at the 34th Annual Conference of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, which brought together researchers from anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, and public health for the first in-depth discussion of altruism across cultures. He has been a faculty participant in two separate month-long summer seminars sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation: ―Biology and Purpose: Altruism, Morality, and Human Nature in Evolutionary Theory‖ and ―Works of Love: Scientific and Theological Perspectives on Altruism.‖ Dr. Vakoch has served on the Executive Committee of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, which brings together psychologists, anthropologists, and other social scientists to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and research. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Ecopsychology, and he serves as general editor for Berghahn Books’ Ecofeminist Theory and Practice Series, which includes his own book, Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse (2011).

• Altruism in Its Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts: An Introduction.- Conceptual Aspects of Altruism in Cross-cultural Contexts.- Cross-cultural Variation in Altruism: Traditional Parental Manipulation and Ancestor-Descendant Conflict.- Guatemalan Adolescents’ Reports of Helping in Urban and Rural Mayan Communities.- Do We Really Like the Kind Girls and Animals?: Cross-cultural Analysis of Altruism in Folktales.- Cultural Values and Volunteering: A Cross-cultural Perspective.- Daoism and Altruism: A China-USA Perspective.- Altruism in Indian Religions: Embracing the Biosphere.- Altruism—Renouncing the Renunciant: A Discussion on Desire and Selflessness.- Spiritual Transformation and Healing: Is Altruism Integral?.- Altruism in Human Ritual.- Epilogue. To Give or Not to Give: Confessions of a Humanitarian Aid Worker.

"Based on a symposium on the same theme held in connection with the 34th Annual Conference of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, February 23-27, 2005, at Santa Fe, NM, and convened by the volume's editor, the book contains contributions by 21 authors of different nationalities in 13 chapters, 7 of which are based on papers originally presented at this conference. While a "Foreword" by senior cross-cultural psychologist Harry C. Triandis (vii-xi) aptly leads into the subject matter, the "Afterword" (chapter 13, pp. 159-63), by Steven G. Post and Matthew T. Lee, concludes that "other-regarding behaviors are without exception endorsed in all major world religions and in the world cultures that have grown up around them" (p. 159) which allows us to assume that altruism is "a universal value" indeed (p. 163). (Post is a physician and Lee a sociologist, and both are engaged in the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, Stony Brook, NY.)...Short biographical notes about the contributors (pp. 165-71) and the editor (p. 173) as well as a general index (pp. 175-80) conclude this book, which is a high-quality tool for cross-cultural studies of altruism and beyond." Christopher H. Grundmann Zygon, vol. 49, no. 1, March 2014 "Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective provides a multidisciplinary effort to examine human altruism cross-culturally. The authors of the 11 chapters plus epilogue and afterword come from a variety of disciplines: Psychology and anthropology are well represented, with additional contributions from social work, philosophy, theology, and education. Other chapter authors come from communication, folklore studies, English literature, public health, recreation and tourism, and ecology and environmental sciences. The multidisciplinary breadth of this volume results from its origination as a symposium conducted at the 34th Annual Conference of the Society for Cross Cultural Research convened in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in February 2005. The pioneering work of Daniel Batson on altruism provides a foundation for the book and a common thread running through many of the chapters (Batson, 2011, 2012)...This book should be of interest to both students and professionals concerned with gaining a broader understanding of altruism in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives. As noted above, it builds on the pioneering work of Batson and complements other recent work on altruism (Knafo & Israel, 2012; Midlarsky, Mullin, & Barkin, 2012; Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroeder, 2005; Snyder & Dwyer, 2013)." John M. Davis PsycCRITIQUES April 28, 2014, Vol. 59, No. 17, Article 8