Commentary: Stress makes altruistic people become more selfish

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Many say they are more stressed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Reducing stress could improve altruism, says this researcher.

KINGSTON, Ontario: If you’re feeling stressed right now, you’re not alone. One quarter of Canadians report experiencing high levels of stress on most days and almost half of Canadians say their stress levels have increased since the pandemic began.

We wanted to understand how stress hormones, brain responses and our thoughts about others work together to explain how stress can make people selfish and why it doesn’t happen to everyone to the same degree.In our study, we asked participants to donate to various charities before and after undergoing a social stress. To simulate the consequences of most altruistic acts in the real world, donations in this experiment had real consequences.

We found that there is a region of the brain that mediates a cortisol-related shift of altruism: The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This area has long been known to play a key role in altruistic decision-making and cognitive control. Understanding how stress can impact our prosocial behaviours towards other people and organisations is vital. Understanding this can ultimately help develop new interventions that target the elements altered by stress experience.

 

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