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Altruism and Depression

University of Illinois

Frederick H. Kanfer

University of Illinois

The present study investigated depressives' level of engagement in altruistic activity. Thirty-three depressed and 114 nondepressed college students indicated whether or not they had recently performed each altruistic and egocentric activity on a checklist. In addition, their standards regarding altruistic behaviors were assessed. Compared to normals, depressives reported a significantly lower level of egocentric activity, but they did not differ from normals in their level of altruistic activity. Depressives exhibited significantly higher altruistic standards. Altruistic standards covaried with altruistic activity level in normals but not in depressives. These results were interpreted from the perspective of a formulation that posits that self-preoccupation in depression tends to reduce the accessibility of altruistic standards and thus diminishes the likelihood of altruistic behavior.

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