Pay It Forward Essay Sample

Psychology

Pay It Forward
I decided to perform an anonymous act of kindness by donating to the foundation that aims to help the education of the orphans. It gave me a sense of personal satisfaction knowing that the result of my donation will benefit the children who are genuinely in need of assistance. By giving money to a cause I believe allowed me to gain knowledge and experience of helping children to have better lives in the future. It makes sense to uphold the adage of “paying-it-forward” by doing such act of kindness for the poor. The reward it produced in return is the transcendental feeling that I experienced with the thought that a small act of kindness will create a bright future for even just one of the orphans. Such act is not obligatory on my part because I did it wholeheartedly without expecting anything in return.
The role of altruism may come in various forms such as acts of kindness and generosity, being compassionate about others, becoming a volunteer for worthy causes, and donating money to my favourite charity. The potential to reward that altruism extends to the giver is even more than what the recipient actually accepted. These acts of kindness will not only enrich the giver, but the entire community as well. Compared to personal and professional social responsibility, the role of altruism is that the doer of these of kindness achieves a sense of self-fulfilment by knowing that he or she was able to make other people happy. By being generous, the less fortunate people are treated with more compassion. Most of the members in the community will always look for the good qualities that are innate in the people around him or her, especially for those who are kind others. By being kind, a person will be able to establish a strong sense of connection with others. The act of generosity is the most significant factors that will increase happiness. By being generous will aid in giving the feeling of appreciation and grateful for the blessings and good fortune that we have received. It will also boost the giver’s self-image to know our strengths and talents by spreading positivity in a meaningful way. It starts a chain reaction of positivity by being kind to others. It may also lead other people to become grateful and generous to the people around them.
Altruism applies to psychology or psychological principles by influencing the giver to be grateful and kind to other people (Leahy, 1979, p.34). Altruism improves the human condition in the sense that it fosters camaraderie and unity within the community. The rewards of pros-social behavior imbibes the rule of reciprocity of relationships in the sense that that where one person helps another, the other person’s reciprocation of that action is seen as highly desirable (Leahy, 1979, p37). These people give more value their true intention, rather than the principle of reciprocity since they feel that they are rewarded the feeling of accomplishment knowing that they have done their share in making the world a better place to live in by becoming generous.
There are no limits to altruism since the act of kindness is infinite. By becoming kind, giving and compassionate to other people will foster greater happiness. Being happy gives positive effects since it provides higher levels of physical activity that goes well with old age, and prolonging the life of an individual. When people extend help to other without expecting anything in return, it improves the quality of life since. By being generous to other people on giving the abundance of time, money, and energy will promote one’s over-all well-being. When the members of the community share the burden in resolving issues that will benefit the majority, it will redound to the well-being of the entire group.
Some of the professional responsibilities related to altruism include an employee in the hospital, such as a doctor or a nurse who works in a psychological setting and have the duty to give services which provide direct support and improving the quality of their patients. While in the case of psychologists and other mental health professionals, the principles and ethics shall come into play to serve as a guide to improve the quality services being offered to their clients to help them to overcome various mental conditions. In contrast, the personal acts of altruism relates to individual behaviors that may directly promote the interest or benefit of the whole society. According to Trivers (1971) altruism is related to codependency, which refers to behavioral aspects of person having low self-esteem, and encouraged to search for internal happiness through outside factors.
The future of psychology in relation to altruism and contemporary society refers to the sense of responsibility of every individual, whether personal or professional to have the desire to promote a harmonious social structure, where members of the community create reciprocal relationships to improve the quality of life for all (Van Baalen & Jansen, 2006).

References:

Leahy, R. L. (1979). Development of conceptions of prosocial behavior: Information affecting
rewards given for altruism and kindness. Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 34-37
Trivers, R. L. (1971). The evolution of reciprocal altruism. The Quarterly Review of Biology,
46(1), 35.
Van Baalen, M., & Jansen, V. A. (2006). Kinds of kindness: classifying the causes of altruism
and cooperation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19(5), 1377-1379.