On the Thursday, November 13, 2025 episode of The Excerpt podcast: In honor of World Kindness Day — we’ve partnered with the Humankind team at USA TODAY for a deeper exploration on the topic of ...

I am so intrigued by people who are altruistic, people who are so selfless that they help generously without any expectations. Pessimistically, we assume that people like this are rare to come by.

The stress hormone cortisol reduces altruistic behavior and alters activity in brain regions linked to social decision making - but only in people who are better at imagining others' mental states, ...

Gill Hicks underwent a shift in purpose after a terrorist attack. Source: TEDxSydney/Flickr A sense of purpose means having a central, overarching goal (or goals) that provides a sense of motivation, ...

For years, philosophers and psychologists have debated whether empathy helps or hinders the ways people decide how to help others. Critics of empathy argue that it makes people care too narrowly – ...

If "Batman" appears on the scene, we immediately become more altruistic: in fact, research conducted by psychologists from ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about the psychology of leadership, tech and entrepreneurship. Benevolent acts are often motivated by selfish intentions, ...

A ltruism isn't just reserved for fictional heroes. A new study has shown that Batman inspires everyday people to be more ...