Self-Interest and Personal Responsibility Redux
Although self-interest is recognized as a powerful force underlying the behavior of animals and humankind, its ubiquity and influence on performance in and adjustment to all aspects of life are frequently underestimated and discredited because self-interest is, mistakenly, equated with mean-spirited...
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Veröffentlicht in: | The American psychologist 1987-01, Vol.42 (1), p.3-11 |
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Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
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Zusammenfassung: | Although self-interest is recognized as a powerful force underlying the behavior of animals and humankind, its ubiquity and influence on performance in and adjustment to all aspects of life are frequently underestimated and discredited because self-interest is, mistakenly, equated with mean-spirited selfishness and viewed as an inhibitor of the commonweal. In this article several positive and beneficial consequences of self-interest are presented, along with the proposition that personal responsibility, in the service of self-interest, is an effective tool for enhancing personal well-being and, hence, for contributing to the public good. Illustrations of the salutary outcomes of self-interest are drawn from psychology and from economics but are doubtless evident in the behavior of organisms observed from other scientific and disciplinary perspectives. |
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ISSN: | 0003-066X 1935-990X |
DOI: | 10.1037/0003-066X.42.1.3 |