Auteur : Oakley, Barbara A. 1955-

Maison d'édition : Oxford University Press

Date de publication : 2012

Collation : xxviii, 465 p. : ill.

ISBN : 9780199738571

Langue : Anglais

Table des matières : 1. Pathological altruism : an introduction -- 2. Empathy-based pathogenic guilt, pathological altruism and psychopathology -- 3. A contextual behavioral approach to pathological altruism -- 4. Codependency and pathological altruism -- 5. Self-addiction and self-righteousness -- 6. Pathological altruism and personality disorder -- 7. The relevance of pathological altruism to eating disorders -- 8. Animal hoarding : how the semblance of a benevolent mission becomes actualized as egoism and cruelty -- 9. Everyone's friend? The case of Williams syndrome -- 10. Pathological certitude -- 11. Altruism and suffering in the context of cancer : implications of a relational paradigm -- 12. Considering pathological altruism in the law from therapeutic jurisprudence and neuroscience perspectives -- 13. Pathological altruism : victims and motivational types -- 14. Does no good deed go unpunished? The victimology of altruism -- 15. Suicide attack martyrdoms : temperament and mindset of altruistic warriors -- 16. Genocide : from pathological altruism to pathological obedience -- 17. Too much of a good thing? Foreign aid and pathological altruism -- 18. Was Gandhi a "pathological altruist"? -- 19. A contrarian perspective on altruism : the dangers of first contact -- 20. Is pathological altruism altruism? -- 21. Altruism, pathology and culture -- 22. Culture-gene coevolution of empathy and altruism --23. The messianic effect of pathological altruism -- 24. Battered women, happy genes : there is no such thing as altruism, pathological or otherwise -- 25. Empathy, guilt and depression : when caring for others becomes costly to children -- 26. Autism, empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory and pathological altruism -- 27. Seduction super-responders and hyper-trusters : the biology of affiliative behavior -- 28. Empathic distress fatigue rather than compassion fatigue ? Integrating findings from empathy research in psychology and social neuroscience -- 29. Hell's Angels : a runaway model of pathological altruism -- 30. Altruism gone mad -- 31. Pathology, evolution and altruism

Résumé : Many harmful deeds—from codependency to suicide martyrdom to genocide—are committed with the altruistic intention of helping companions or one's own in-group. Therefore it is worthwhile to study how well-meaning altruism can shade into pathology. Although the term pathological altruism has been used to a limited degree in psychodynamic circles, there has been inadequate study of the phenomenon in general, and almost none from a biological, genetic, and evolutionary perspective. In essence, pathological altruism might be thought of as any behavior or personal tendency in which either the stated aim or the implied motivation is to promote the welfare of another. But instead of overall beneficial outcomes, this altruism instead has irrational (from the point of view of an outside observer) and substantial negative consequences to the other or even to the self. This volume presents psychological, neuropsychological, biological, and evolutionary approaches that help account for pathologically altruistic behavior, and goes on to discuss its diverse and profound societal implications. Each of these approaches points to one disturbing truth: What we value so much, the altruistic “good” side of human nature, can also have a dark side. The result is a nuanced counterbalance to the study of altruism and a call for further research.

Mots-clés : Altruisme

Cote : BF 637.H4 O11p 2012