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It was a warm December evening in São Paulo, Brazil. Holiday lights sparkled, families chattered, traffic horns echoed.
As visiting professors, we were at Mackenzie University to collaborate with an innovative Brazilian neuroscientist. We were to teach a new course on the science of happiness and creativity, and how the two intertwine. One of us [June Gruber] is a psychologist who studies the importance of emotional diversity and even the “dark side” of happiness, the other [Sabrina Marques] is a Cuban American artist who engages students in the art of creativity as a pathway to meaning.
But what we learned about well-being didn’t happen in the classroom. In an instant, we learned our greatest lesson on the streets of Brazil.
After sampling pastel de queijo coalho and balão só neu for dinner, we walked back to our hotel, chatting about our next day’s class. Suddenly, two men overtook us from behind, pushing their way in between and forcing June to the sidewalk. One man pinned June’s arms to the ground, and the other man repeatedly struck her upper body and hand where her phone was clutched.
In a classic fight-or-flight response, June huddled in a protective turtle-like posture covering her head while being shaken roughly. Sabrina watched in horror while the men tried to “subdue [June] with violence” (as the police report later described). It was unclear how much longer—or further—things might go. We both knew we were in danger.
In the blink of an eye, Sabrina launched a hefty kick into the man clutching June’s arm. Sabrina had never done anything like this before, making an irreversible choice under strong conditions of uncertainty. We both knew that Sabrina made a risky decision, foregoing her own safety to increase the chances of enhancing June's. Yet she did so automatically. The man stumbled forward from the impact of her kick and in a moment of discombobulation, the two men sprinted off down the street. Despite a scraped and bleeding ankle and a sore arm, June was relatively unscathed.
Extraordinary Altruism
Sabrina was what psychologists refer to as an extraordinary altruist. Altruistic behavior is a puzzle, a sort of kindness paradox. Altruism occurs when people do things to support or improve the welfare of another at a sometimes high risk to their own well-being. Why are people like Sabrina altruistic?
Psychologist Abigail Marsh has found that extraordinary altruists, such as people who donate their kidney to a complete stranger, show care for even socially distant others, express patterns of neural activity when witnessing others’ pain that are similar to the patterns they express when experiencing pain themselves, and may even possess a unique capacity to transcend their own self-interests.
But can a single act of altruism ripple out to other bystanders?
There were many people on the street that night. The classic John M. Darley and Bibb Latané bystander effect studies from the 1960s and 1970s made the surprising conclusion that participants were less likely to help if others were around. For example, when an individual dropped a coin or a pencil in an elevator, only 5 percent of people helped by picking up the item when others were present, compared to 40 percent helping when they were alone with the person in need. In the presence of others, there was a diffusion of responsibility.
As our attackers ran away, Sabrina screamed in Portuguese (her father had grown up in Porto) that her friend had been assaulted. We then watched an altruistic ripple effect take hold among those around us. Helping propagated like waves in a pond, extending out from the epicenter of the assault.
Within seconds, a kind stranger ran up to let us know that one of our attackers had been caught. We followed the stranger down the street to see a crowd of concerned neighbors, evening strollers, and a flock of Brazilian police officials gathered. An older gentleman stood by our side asking us how we were doing. Another man sped down the street on a motorcycle to help police apprehend the second assailant a few blocks away. (We never got to meet and thank the motorcyclist.) A third sweet soul stayed back in the crowd, quietly exchanging calm and reassuring looks with both of us, as we stood there shell-shocked and trembling.
At least in the collectivist context of Brazil, the selfless kindness that was demonstrated suggests that the boundaries of altruism extend far wider than researchers have assumed. Those who helped us in Brazil supported Daniel Batson’s acclaimed empathy-altruism hypothesis. They empathized with our feelings of fear and being threatened and as a result, were not bound by selfish tendencies or self-preservation. They stepped in to help even when there was no clear personal gain and also some risk.
We humans are social animals, with a deep-rooted tendency to empathize with others. Channeling this goodness, we can overcome the bystander effect and reach across the chasm to help. And the more altruism we witness, the more likely we are to help others. The attack was traumatic for sure, but the witnessing of human strength and kindness will stick with us far longer.
