Helping can be egotistically or altruistically motivated. The social psychologist Dr. Daniel Batson identified two distinct emotions that motivate people to help others. The first is what he called “empathetic concern,” which he proposed could be considered altruistic in that it focuses on the other person. It is the tenderness and care that are evoked in us when we see another person suffering. He called the second motivation “personal distress” and posited that this could be considered egoistic in that it is self-focused. Here, the motivation to help comes from the desire for personal gain,
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