The Science of Being Nice
Why are some people so much more unselfish than other people? So much more likely to help, give to charity or do things that seem to benefit society and not themselves?
Why do some kids always make their beds in the morning?
Researchers have been struggling with this kind of question for some time. The best answer so far has been that doing good gives emotional satisfaction or pleasure to the person doing good.
Perhaps. But it is a somewhat circular argument, much like the doctor in a Moliere play who, when asked how a sleeping pill works, said “by virtue of a dormative [sleep] principle.” Similarly, one can infer that if people do good, it gives them pleasure. Not much is being explained here.
Now scientists have come up with another theory, based on more credible science. Apparently, there is a region of the brain that lights up—is more active—in unselfish people than in selfish ones. This part of the brain, called the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC) is concerned with apprehending the intentions and activities of other people. It is not, according to scientists participating in the study, involved in the brain’s self-reward system, which would come into play if people were nice to simply make themselves feel good. Among more selfish people, pSTC activity was comparatively small.
The pSTC brain area has less to do with the sense of reward than apprehending the intentions and actions of other people. As one of the scientists involved in the study, Scott Huettel (Duke University) explained, this portion of the brain has to do with perceiving stimuli in an environment that could impact others—a crouching tiger about to jump on a fellow hunter, for example. Studies of the unselfish study participants also suggest that their ability to watch or comprehend the emotions and activities of others is an important component of their behavior.
Much more research is needed to make any clear determinations. Nonetheless, the evidence linking what (crudely) seemed to be purely personal traits with little basis in social evolution to physical locations in the brain suggests that there is far more about social organization and development to be learned in the laboratory.
Why then, be nice? Your brain, whether through nature or nurture, may be wired that way. It may make you happy, and certainly makes those you help happier. It is good for society. Why not, then, always be nice?
Why not make that bed?
