Search....
CTRL+K
Search....
CTRL+K
Generosity is an interesting beast. As a charity CEO, I have seen it expressed in many different ways. The best kind of generosity comes with warmth and good old NSA – no strings attached. This kind of generosity is glorious to witness and is the backbone of charity work all over the world. The worst kind smacks you over the head with their husband’s cheque book.
I wrote a whole chapter about kindness and another on charity in my latest book, but I have continued to wonder about the ‘why’ of generosity. Why do some people give with nothing expected in return, even when they don’t have much themselves? Why do others use it to wield control and command kudos?
So I do what I always do when I don’t understand why people behave the way they do and I consult the neuroscientific research.
The origins of human generosity go back to when knuckle-draggers evolved into hunter-gatherers. Survival of the species relied on a herd mentality of care where older, fitter humans helped younger, slower, cuter ones. Those who didn’t participate in sharing or self-sacrifice for the herd were removed by natural selection. I wish stingy bastards in 2019 were the same: removed by natural selection.
Nature and nurture
According to science, humans are a combination of nature and nurture when it comes to generosity. The brain rewards you with a shot of feel-good dopamine when you are generous. That delicious hormone literally sizzles through your bloodstream when you take your imaginary generosity gland for a whirl. It is a biological boomerang: give to someone who needs it and the joy will bounce right back at you as a warm fuzzy feeling of reward and delight.
Humans employ two things when they are assessing whether to be generous: logic and empathy. The distraction of the decision-making part of the brain causes people to be more generous. Logic introduces an assessment of benefit and loss for giver and receiver. If the giver sees they can make a difference to the receiver without any significant loss to themselves, we have a winner in the logical generosity department!
Why so stingy?
So what makes a stingy bastard? Or worse, someone who is generous for all the wrong reasons. It seems to be the work of the nature/nurture/values trifecta. All three of which are done and dusted by the time humans are young adults. Meet an older person who lacks generosity and you really can’t convince them to repave their neural tendencies and nurtured behaviours with values of generosity and welfare. Unless you can appeal to their ego.
If you are born with less neural empathy (nature) than the next guy, you will be less likely to give. But that part of your brain is not fully developed until humans are 30. This explains why teenagers can be such breathtakingly selfish creatures. Teen brains lack neural empathy.
Article written by LUCY BLOOM and subscribe to our Podcast Channel
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: How Mallory Brown Redefines Humanitarianism with Empathy and Action When you think of a humanitarian, you might picture someone delivering aid, raising funds, or advocating loudly for change. Mallory Brown does all of that—but she does it differently. She shifts the spotlight from the “problem” to the “person,” using […]
Practice These Skills to Become a Great Resilient Leader When my friend Petra was diagnosed with cancer, not once, but twice, life gave her no choice but to be strong. When she went into remission for the second time, she decided she was going to wake people up to the precious gift of time. Through […]
It is a common understanding of a vast majority of leaders that the employee engagement is a company’s most important asset. But in reality, that is only true if the majority of the workforce is fully engaged in their work. If not, they are either adding minimal value or are actively working against the organization. […]
In the realm of event planning, the synthesis of logistics and emotion; practicality and inspiration, defines the fine balance that meeting planners must navigate. Tasked not only with orchestrating flawless execution but also with crafting experiences that resonate with attendees long after the event concludes, meeting planners recognize the pivotal role of Transformative Influence of […]
Leadership Hack: How Sticky Notes Can Help Your Career Sticky notes have been my savior. And I don’t mean in a “don’t forget the milk” kind of way. True, sticky notes are great for grocery lists, but what I’m talking about here is how a few small squares helped me become a better leader, and […]
When the Show Doesn’t Go On: Hard Lessons From a Speaker No-Show If you’ve ever booked talent for a high-stakes event, you know the pressure: a packed ballroom, a waiting audience, and the expectation that everything will go perfectly. But what happens when your star speaker… just doesn’t show? We recently faced that nightmare with […]
Hispanic Heritage Month 2024, celebrated annually from September 15 to October 15, offers a unique opportunity to recognize the history, culture, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. This month-long celebration began as a week-long event in 1968, initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and later expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover […]
“No doubt about it, the best speakers know the Power of Storytelling. The best writers are good storytellers, the best leaders are good storytellers, and the best teachers and trainers and coaches are good storytellers for Storytelling In Business. It might even be argued that the best parents are good storytellers.” Evidently, storytelling is not […]
Our Mission:
© All rights reserved 2025. Designed using Voxel
