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What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?

The empathy-altruism hypothesis is rooted in the study of pro-social behavior and attempts to explain when and why people help. Altruism is the unselfish regard for the well being of others. To explain this behavior, Batson (1991) proposed that altruism is associated with the degree of initial empathy (the emotional response felt toward the welfare of another), the benefit to the empathic person, and the ease of psychological escape. Batson feels that “the motivation behind some helpful actions is truly altruistic”. However, others, such as Cialdini (1988) argue that altruism does not exist and that helpful behavior is better explained by the relationship of the other to the self known as oneness, defined by Cialdini as being a measure of perceived self.

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